Newbie PC Speakers and receiver help.

Dan-T · 06-25-2004, 04:24 PM

Hi. I'm pretty new to home theater, I'm more of a car audio guy, but I decided I need a better setup for watching movies than just listening through the tv's speakers. Anyway.... I have a set of Klipsch promedia 5.1 speakers on my computer, however I don't use them often anymore and I wanted to use them on my tv instead. Is there anything special that I need, any problems I might encounter, or would everything work perfectly? Also... I'm looking for a good receiver to hook the speakers up to... but my budget is around $200. Can anyone reccomend any good receivers around that price range that would work good with the klipsch speakers? Thanks in adavance.

Wayne A. Pflughaupt · 06-25-2004, 11:05 PM

Hi Dan,

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but judging from what I see at Klipsch’s web site, you have a connection problem right off the bat: The Pro-Media 5.1 uses three 1/8” mini plugs; your TV will have only two RCA outputs at best.

Regarding your plan to use the Pro-Medias with a budget receiver, that will be a bit of problem too, for much the same reason. It appears that the five main speakers will connect directly to the receiver, which is good. But the problem will once again be those three input cables. You’ll have to figure out which one to connect to the receiver to get the sub to operate. Hopefully it shouldn’t be a problem, but you will need to get a 1/8”-RCA adapter from Radio Shack to do this.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Dan-T · 06-26-2004, 10:17 AM

Hi. Thanks for the reply.

The klipsch speakers I have I couldn't even find on klipsch's website anymore... they're the older model 5.1's. Would that make a difference? I tried to post a picture of them but since I'm new it won't let me... but anyway... Are the mini plugs you're refering to the ones that connect to the back of the computer?

Thanks again for your help.

Wayne A. Pflughaupt · 06-26-2004, 11:19 AM

I think this may be the one:

I found it on Klipsch’s site - click sequence from the home page: Multimedia Audio/Classic Products/Pro-Media:
http://www.klipsch.com/product/produ...romediaclassic

Quote:

Would that make a difference?
Are the mini plugs you're refering to the ones that connect to the back of the computer?

No it wouldn’t make a difference, if these are your speakers. This is what I was looking at last night when I posted the reply. Yes, I was referring to mini-plugs that plug in the back of the computer. They bring a line-level signal to the Speakers.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Jack Briggs · 06-26-2004, 01:15 PM

Since speakers seem to be the primary topic here, I've moved Dan's thread to the Speakers/Subs section.

Dan, first, welcome to HTF. You've come to the right place to start your home-theater journey.

FYI, the Basics area is strictly for general discussion at the beginner level but not for asking for specific recommendations on which speaker (or receiver) to buy. An example of a Basics-type question/post would be: "Can I use PC speakers in a home-theater system?"

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Paul Chalk · 06-26-2004, 04:18 PM

I remember discussing this a lot on the Klipsch Promedia forum back in the day. We figured out that you can hook the Promedias to a receiver with 5.1 preouts. Preouts are RCA outputs that send an audio signal to an external amplifier. You'll need three 1/8"-RCA adapters to connect the mini-plugs to the receiver preouts.

Connecting the Promedias this way allows them to be self powered with their internal amp and it allows the sub to do all the bass management. When setting up the speaker settings on the receiver, just make sure all speakers are set to Large and the sub is set to Yes.

So when you're looking at receivers, make sure they have preouts for all six channels.

Dan-T · 06-26-2004, 09:14 PM

Thanks for all the replies.

So can anyone reccomend a receiver that would work good for what I'm looking to do?

I'm thinking about just buying a home theater in a box set up... but really wanted to keep my cost to a minimum... and anything would be better than just the tv's speakers at this point anyway.

JimMIT · 06-26-2004, 10:57 PM

Dan-T

You may be hard-pressed to find a 5.1 receiver which has pre-outs for all channels for $200.00. I couldn't find any 5.1 receivers with pre-outs for all five speakers. I did some quick checking on a few of the more popular receiver lines and did find the following 6.1 receivers with pre-outs for all speakers:

Marantz SR-4400, 6x80w, MSRP-$499, Cambridge Soundworks, an authorized internet Marantz dealer has it for $399.99.

Onkyo TX-SR701, 6x100w, MSRP-$800, J&R Music and Computer World, an Onkyo authorized internet dealer, has it for $599.99.

Harmon Kardon AVR230, 6x50w, MSRP-$549, One Call and J&R Music and Computer World, both HK authorized internet dealers, have it for $379.99.

I realize all of these are over your budget, but at these price points, they are all pretty good receivers. I'm not real familiar with the Marantz line, but when shopping for receivers, I did look at Harmon Kardon. If you can manage $379.99, that AVR230 is a nice little receiver. I believe it to be well built and fairly full featured.

If HTIB is your cup of tea, there are a few to choose from, most about $400 and up. I found an Onkyo HT-660B which MSRP's for $399 and is a clearance item at One Call, an authorized Onkyo internet dealer, for $246.88. A step up would be a Denon DHT484XP which MSRP's for $549 and is offered at Abt Electronics, a Denon authorized internet dealer, for $499.

My checking was done fairly fast, so you might want to double check the specs and prices. All of this checking was done by just going to each manufacturer's website and looking at their product lines and the sites of a few of their authorized internet dealers. With a little time and effort, you could probably find a few more products and might even do better on prices.

Good luck!

Dan-T · 06-27-2004, 06:55 PM

Thanks again for everyone's help.

I think I've decided to leave the klipsch speakers on my computer and just buy a HTIB... most likely the onkyo ht-660b.

Thanks again everyone.