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Well, the speakers for my computer (an old Boston Acoustics 5.1 set from like 2002) finally poo poo themselves - there's a ton of crackling. So I guess I'm in the market for new speakers. I'm on a pretty strict budget (poor college student), but I'd like something that doesn't sound like crap, preferably of the 2.1 variety, since I have nowhere to put rear speakers. Any suggestions?
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Sep 13, 2010 18:28
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If you can scrounge up the cash, the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 pretty much blows away everything else, and even gives full sterio setups a run for their money.
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Sep 13, 2010 19:26
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Nomenclature posted:If you can scrounge up the cash, the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 pretty much blows away everything else, and even gives full sterio setups a run for their money. I have a home theater set up in the same room (it's a Panasonic SA-HT40) would connecting it to my computer with a fiber optic cable be a good solution? Just trying to figure the cheapest way out of this.
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Sep 14, 2010 03:03
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KillHour posted:I have a home theater set up in the same room (it's a Panasonic SA-HT40) would connecting it to my computer with a fiber optic cable be a good solution? Just trying to figure the cheapest way out of this. Why didn't you mention that in the first place? http://www.monoprice.com/products/search.asp?spcDB=10229&spcWord=Audio+Cables+-+Optical+Toslink&keyword=toslink
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Sep 14, 2010 03:07
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eddiewalker posted:Why didn't you mention that in the first place? I didn't think about it, since I'm a retard. The front speakers are to my right, though. Wouldn't that sound weird playing games?
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Sep 14, 2010 03:31
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What's the best value 5.1 or 7.1/2 receiver? I'm looking to spend under a grand for the whole setup including speakers, so I've been looking at Onkyo (which I have been recommended). This is just going to be replacing a cheap-o 2.1 setup I currently have on my TV. I'm guessing 5.1 is on its way out, so I'm probably not going to find some great deals on those, and 9.2 seems way to expensive and overkill for what I want. I've been looking at the Onkyo TX-SR508 and Onkyo HT-RC260, any word on the two of them? I don't know if I'll even use a 7 speaker setup at the moment, so a Onkyo TX-SR308 might be better, but if I get the 7 speaker setup I could always just expand on it in the future... Also open to recommendations on any other recievers, like Pioneers or Denons. I'm tech savvy but don't know a lot about sound systems, so I'm kinda in the dark here. Kaboobi fucked around with this message at 16:29 on Sep 14, 2010 |
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Sep 14, 2010 16:27
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So my Cambridge Audio A3 made a loud popping noise today and the transistor has cracked in two, apparently not economic to repair. I want a new amp so I can listen to 128k MP3's through my existing crappy speakers that came free with a Denon integrated Midi system. I don't mind if it sounds awful, I don't mind if it looks awful, and I would prefer it if I could find it second hand, but I cannot afford more than £30 and I would preferably like to spend less. When I say this people seem to be absolutely horrified, and the last shop I called tried to persuade me to instead buy something that cost eight hundred pounds. Surely two transistor amps, a heatsink, and a few capacitors must be available for less than the £50 that even second hand Cambridge Audio A3's go for?
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Sep 14, 2010 16:45
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Zegnar posted:So my Cambridge Audio A3 made a loud popping noise today and the transistor has cracked in two, apparently not economic to repair. For that kind of budget, look at some of the t-amps from china all over eBay. They're all based on the same Tripath chip, and built straight from the same manufacturers spec sheet. Not wall-shakingly powerful, but they work. An example that comes up just searching "t-amp" http://cgi.ebay.com/Tripath-TA2020-...#ht_4617wt_1137
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Sep 14, 2010 16:57
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eddiewalker posted:For that kind of budget, look at some of the t-amps from china all over eBay. They're all based on the same Tripath chip, and built straight from the same manufacturers spec sheet. Not wall-shakingly powerful, but they work. Thanks I've found a used 'Lepai 550' for £4 shipped  So by the Monster Cables formula that means I should leave 40p for interconnects... for once that sounds about right!
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Sep 14, 2010 17:02
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Kaboobi posted:What's the best value 5.1 or 7.1/2 receiver? I'm looking to spend under a grand for the whole setup including speakers, so I've been looking at Onkyo (which I have been recommended). This is just going to be replacing a cheap-o 2.1 setup I currently have on my TV. There's a "Best receiver under $500" thread in this subforum. I'm still in love with my Pioneer 9040TXH, but I don't think there's a 2010-equivalent.
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Sep 14, 2010 17:08
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eddiewalker posted:There's a "Best receiver under $500" thread in this subforum. I'm still in love with my Pioneer 9040TXH, but I don't think there's a 2010-equivalent. Didn't even see that, thanks!
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Sep 14, 2010 17:35
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Can anyone suggest a sound effects site where I can either purchase or find free downloads? Specifically, I'm looking for rain and thunder sounds. Any help would be appreciated. I'm more concerned about quality than price, really.
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Sep 16, 2010 17:15
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Where can I find a male to male headphone cord that won't break at the jack after a month? I plug my phone into my cars stereo and each cable I use only ever lasts me about a month before the wires breaks inside the insulation right at the jack, it's rather annoying as it doesn't matter how I baby it, they always last a month.
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Sep 17, 2010 05:52
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Ashex posted:Where can I find a male to male headphone cord that won't break at the jack after a month? Are you buying straight jacks, or 90 degree bent jacks? If you've been using one, try the other. I've used the same one that I bought for like 1.99 at radio shack for like 4 years now. Maybe you need to find a heavy duty cable or something.
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Sep 17, 2010 06:28
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MichiganCubbie posted:Are you buying straight jacks, or 90 degree bent jacks? If you've been using one, try the other. I've used the same one that I bought for like 1.99 at radio shack for like 4 years now. Maybe you need to find a heavy duty cable or something. I tried using a 90-degree bent jack last time around and had the same issue. Would temperature be a factor? It's pretty cold in the morning when I first plug it in so that cable is a bit stiff.
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Sep 17, 2010 07:00
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Ashex posted:I tried using a 90-degree bent jack last time around and had the same issue. Would temperature be a factor? It's pretty cold in the morning when I first plug it in so that cable is a bit stiff. Well, I'm in Michigan and never had that problem, so I doubt it's temperature. Are you really rough with them? Do you pull them out by the wire or by the plug?
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Sep 17, 2010 13:57
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MichiganCubbie posted:Well, I'm in Michigan and never had that problem, so I doubt it's temperature. Are you really rough with them? Do you pull them out by the wire or by the plug? I generally pull it out by the jack (should mention that sometimes the phone slides off the seat onto the ground which might jerk the cable) and leave it sitting on the seat. I've been using standard computer audio cables since they're a bit thicker which I figured would help. Odd thing is when I had a cassette adapter I used the same one for 5 years before I got this stereo now I'm replacing cables every 1-2 months 
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Sep 17, 2010 19:54
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Ashex posted:I generally pull it out by the jack (should mention that sometimes the phone slides off the seat onto the ground which might jerk the cable) and leave it sitting on the seat. I've been using standard computer audio cables since they're a bit thicker which I figured would help. Odd thing is when I had a cassette adapter I used the same one for 5 years before I got this stereo now I'm replacing cables every 1-2 months Maybe you broke the plug in your stereo or something? That seems really crazy.
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Sep 18, 2010 04:18
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This might be obvious, but if you are pulling the plugs straight out, try rotating them back and forth as you are pulling to minimize the force that you need. Otherwise, it sounds like a bad jack or plug. I would grab a cheap M-F extension cable from DealExtreme or MonoPrice, leave it plugged into your stereo and plug your headphones into that. If you keep breaking cables, your headphone plug is bad. If it stops, your stereo’s jack was bad.
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Sep 18, 2010 04:46
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Nomenclature posted:This might be obvious, but if you are pulling the plugs straight out, try rotating them back and forth as you are pulling to minimize the force that you need. I'll try rotating as I pull out to see if that helps. The cable I'm using started going out so I plugged the bad one in the stereo, loosely wrapped the cable around the cup holder and plugged the good one into my phone and it's working fine. If I touch the other side I get static and either channel cuts out so I'm pretty sure the stereo is fine. I've got a M-F extension cable that came with some headphones that has a really nice synthetic fabric sleeving so it's pretty flexible, I'll find a replacement cable and try that out. Ashex fucked around with this message at 07:32 on Sep 18, 2010 |
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Sep 18, 2010 07:27
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Currently researching out a 3.1 setup for $600, only caveat is that the center channel has to be less than 4" high to fit on the fireplace mantle below the TV. Mounting the TV any higher means we'd have to lean our heads head back pretty far, current height is comfortable. Receiver is an Onkyo TXSR607 just passing audio to TV speakers currently. I already have 16ga wire ran for speakers, and RG-6 Quad with RCA ends ran for the sub. Room diagram is below, has a vaulted ceiling with the peak going in the tv-couch axis. Due to WAF and room layout, that is the only place the sub can go. Will eventually add in-wall rears to bring it up to 5.1. Infinity Primus P162s for L/R Bose VCS-10 Center Channel Infinity PS28 Side-Firing Sub Are there other options that would give me a better bang for the buck? Edit: Room is 20x15 devmd01 fucked around with this message at 18:45 on Sep 21, 2010 |
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Sep 21, 2010 18:14
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You really should voice match your L/R and center speakers [note that I'm not advocating Bose], there's a lot of shared material between them. That said you're not going to be able to voice match much of anything 4" or less high with main speakers with 8" drivers.
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Sep 21, 2010 20:57
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Eight Is Legend posted:Sorry to repost, but can no one help me with this? I've got these exact speakers. What you are calling the receiver is really just the control unit for the whole system - there's no receiver to speak of in this system. The amp is inside the subwoofer itself. Is your control unit just not getting any power at all (no lights)? I don't think you'll be able to find a replacement for it since that connector is proprietary. A quick google search tells me that the control unit is pretty much impossible to buy. Check your actual power plug that's plugged into the wall if you haven't already. I've knocked mine loose a couple times.
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Sep 21, 2010 22:19
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I'm looking at buying this receiver and home theatre set up but it only has one HDMI output. This is a problem as I have different settings on my TV for games and movies. The settings are saved but input, and I don't want to be swapping the HDMI lead from one slot to another everytime I want to watch a film or play a game. I'd rather not go through the menus to adjust the settings each time either. Looking around, it seems the best way to solve this problem would be with an HDMI splitter as that will be much cheaper than purchasing a receiver with multiple HDMI outputs. Is a splitter the best solution to my problem? Are there any issues with splitters that I should be aware of? I guess another option would be to find a Home Theatre set up with two or more HDMI outputs but am I likely to find that for around the same price as this?
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Sep 22, 2010 11:30
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Amused Frog posted:I guess another option would be to find a Home Theatre set up with two or more HDMI outputs but am I likely to find that for around the same price as this? You'll probably have to pay double the price. When I surveyed the situation 6 months ago, 2 HDMI outs were very expensive. A decent enough splitter is around $30. Don't get the cheapest, don't get one without reviews, get one which can send signal to both outs at the same time without fiddling and if you run into trouble, return the splitter without analyzing it too much and get something else.
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Sep 22, 2010 13:59
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Hob_Gadling posted:You'll probably have to pay double the price. When I surveyed the situation 6 months ago, 2 HDMI outs were very expensive. Thanks very much. I'll start looking.
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Sep 22, 2010 14:22
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Is there such thing as an insertable volume wheel for 6.35mm headphones? I want something like those volume wheels you get on cheap airline headphones, but which can be placed between headphones and the source to change the volume. If not, is using a 3.5mm wheel with two 6.35mm adapters (one for each side) going to damage sound quality? I don't know why the separate sizes exist, so I don't know how useful those adapters are. This is to reduce the volume on a digital piano's headphone output, if that helps.
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Sep 26, 2010 00:17
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Janin posted:Is there such thing as an insertable volume wheel for 6.35mm headphones? I want something like those volume wheels you get on cheap airline headphones, but which can be placed between headphones and the source to change the volume. 1/4" and 1/8" TRS are electrically identical. The smaller 1/8" is more fragile, but that's a compromise made to keep portable gear small. Realistically, you're not going to notice any degradation in quality, or harm anything in any way. Does the piano not have a volume control? If it does and you're just wanting to do this so that two people can listen but at different volumes, something like this is the right way to do it: http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Rolls-HA43-Stereo-Headphone-Amp?sku=483850&src=3WFRWXX&ZYXSEM=0&CAWELAID=26040294 eddiewalker fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Sep 26, 2010 |
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Sep 26, 2010 00:24
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eddiewalker posted:1/4" and 1/8" TRS are electrically identical. The smaller 1/8" is more fragile, but that's a compromise made to keep portable gear small.
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Sep 26, 2010 00:29
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Janin posted:So the only difference between the sizes is one's harder to break? That sounds weird, but helpful! Thanks. That's the only difference. 1/8" is a relatively recent invention for the walkman-age.
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Sep 26, 2010 00:32
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I'm looking to buy a 5.1 surround sound system. Nothing too high-end, it's for a very small area and will be used mostly for gaming. Is this a decent one? Does it work well with Logitech Harmony remotes? Anything in that price range with more HDMI inputs? There's a warning in its user manual about unshielded speakers, is that an issue when they're placed near an LCD computer monitor?
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Sep 26, 2010 20:20
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How many HDMI inputs do you need? Fiddling with splitters is really annoying and it's the only way of getting more HDMI inputs barring a new receiver. It's a decent set (I think quite a lot of goons have already bought it based on recommendations here, maybe one of them is reading this thread), it should work with Harmony and unshielded speakers shouldn't damage LCD monitors.
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Sep 27, 2010 10:45
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I have 4 HDMI devices: A Tivo, 2 consoles, and soon one of the new Apple TVs. I'd like to have them all connected at once, but pushing one of them down to component wouldn't be the end of the world since I can have the Harmony take care of all the input switching. Thanks, I'll almost certainly get it now!
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Sep 27, 2010 14:49
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qirex posted:You really should voice match your L/R and center speakers [note that I'm not advocating Bose], there's a lot of shared material between them. That said you're not going to be able to voice match much of anything 4" or less high with main speakers with 8" drivers. Went and browsed the audio demo area of the company I work for, and the Polk Blackstone TL1600 set caught my eye, primarily because of the center channel being the right size. Cranked it up with some Batman Begins, and i'm sold. Gonna pick up a set tomorrow, the basically 50% employee discount on it doesn't hurt either. 
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Sep 27, 2010 16:11
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haveblue posted:I have 4 HDMI devices I'd rather get a HDMI 2-to-1 connector than connect anything with component. Just connect the two least used devices to Onkyo with it and you're set.
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Sep 27, 2010 16:23
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Hob_Gadling posted:I'd rather get a HDMI 2-to-1 connector than connect anything with component. Just connect the two least used devices to Onkyo with it and you're set. You can get a 1 to 2 HDMI "Y" adapter, but the other way around? Considering handshaking and CEC signals, HDMI is a two way street. If you had two output devices plugged into one display or receiver port, and the TV or receiver issued an "on" command, which device would respond, which would display, etc? Even though sometimes it works, improperly Y-ing analog signals into one input isn't a good idea. With HDMI there are good reasons that for needing a real switch. eddiewalker fucked around with this message at 17:32 on Sep 27, 2010 |
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Sep 27, 2010 17:18
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The Xbox 360 does most of the gaming, so it gets HDMI. The PS3 is the Blu-Ray player, so it gets HDMI. The Apple TV is HDMI only, so it gets HDMI (it will be used for streaming Netflix and HD content from the computer). The Tivo is just displaying lovely Time Warner digital cable, so it can get busted down to component. Problem solved.
haveblue fucked around with this message at 17:33 on Sep 27, 2010 |
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Sep 27, 2010 17:30
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eddiewalker posted:Even though sometimes it works, improperly Y-ing analog signals into one input isn't a good idea. With HDMI there are good reasons that for needing a real switch. You're completely right, adapters are for analog stuff and switches for digital. Still, something like this solves the problem of having to mess with anything except HDMI. I swear I tried so very hard to get my own receiver to work with other cables. The first component to give up was my special other who just wanted to watch movies and thus forced me to go shopping.
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Sep 27, 2010 21:47
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I'm trying to get hold of the Klipsch Promedia 2.1 set now that I've decided my room is too small for a proper setup of bookshelf speakers, but they seem to be nonexistant in the UK. I'm not sure if I even want to look at getting them shipped internationally with the weight/possible warranty issues. Any UK/EU people had luck finding them?
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Sep 28, 2010 09:05
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WizardShotFood posted:I'm trying to get hold of the Klipsch Promedia 2.1 set now that I've decided my room is too small for a proper setup of bookshelf speakers, but they seem to be nonexistant in the UK. I'm not sure if I even want to look at getting them shipped internationally with the weight/possible warranty issues.
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Sep 28, 2010 10:28
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