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Connecting speakers to a PC.

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Connecting speakers to a PC.

Postby Mike G » 16 Oct 2021, 22:13

I've got a pair of speakers I've had for many a long year which are now sitting around doing nothing. They just have speaker cable attached with bare ends, as they used to clamp into a thingamejig on the back of my hi-fi, when hi fi was a thing. Is there any way to connect them to my computer? I presume I need some sort of adaptor to take them from bare wires to a jack plug. Is that it, or is there anything else required? Or is it a lost cause?
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Re: Connecting speakers to a PC.

Postby TrimTheKing » 16 Oct 2021, 23:37

You can but you’ll need some kind of amp to drive them.

There are a number of cheap options on eBay but I can’t vouch for their quality.

For £25 this one might be worth a punt…

LEPY LP-2020A Amplifier https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00C2P61FO/ ... UTF8&psc=1

I found a cheaper one for £12 but it had mixed reviews. The £25 one gets good reviews.
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Re: Connecting speakers to a PC.

Postby RogerS » 17 Oct 2021, 05:25

Do PC's come with phono sockets for audio these days ? I know Macs don't.
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Re: Connecting speakers to a PC.

Postby Mike G » 17 Oct 2021, 06:54

Brilliant. Thanks Mark. I suspect that I'd still need to buy cables to connect the amp to the PC.

Does this all mean that there is an amplifier built into ordinary computer speakers?
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Re: Connecting speakers to a PC.

Postby RogerS » 17 Oct 2021, 07:25

Mike G wrote:....

Does this all mean that there is an amplifier built into ordinary computer speakers?


Well, built in to the computer rather than integrated in the speakers, at a guess. But these days, TBH, they could be !

Just a thought. Speaker impedance. Chances are you'll be OK but we had a Sony surround sound system and the speakers were an odd impedance and couldn't be driven from 'normal' amps.
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Re: Connecting speakers to a PC.

Postby wallace » 17 Oct 2021, 08:55

I have a head phone jack plug which goes into an amp via the aux input. Then I can play music from my phone in my shed.
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Re: Connecting speakers to a PC.

Postby AJB Temple » 17 Oct 2021, 09:36

Active speakers have amplifiers built in Mike. If you had those you would know. Generally they are quite expensive.

There are lots of mini amplifiers suitable to take input from a PC. Generally they require a mini jack plug 3.5mm. Eg the FOSI range at the cheaper end https://www.amazon.co.uk/Channel-Amplif ... DLCBP&th=1. They even have a little valve amp (but don't expect miracles).
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Re: Connecting speakers to a PC.

Postby Eric the Viking » 17 Oct 2021, 10:15

PC loudspeakers have usually had amplifiers built in. They're low-power, typicaly anywhere between two and five watts/channel. The '5.1 surround sound' stuff may be a bit more, but because the speakers are usually used very close to both screen and listener, and because they are electrically efficient, they don't need much power. It's why you usually have a 'wall-wart' power supply to power them, and they have volume controls etc. on one of the speaker pair. That's why with HiFi loudspeakers instead you need a separate power amp, just like traditional HiFi.

What comes out of a PC motherboard (even if it says "Speaker connection" somewhere or has an icon for that) is usually 'line level'. This is roughly the same as the level of the interconnecting cables we use between HiFi units*. It's like that partly for cheapness and partly for safety - you can't damage anything (usually!) if you put a plug in the wrong hole on the back of a PC. If there is a separate "line out socket" it will be functionally the same as the speaker connection. The difference will be that it may show up separately in the controls on-screen.

Most motherboards just have the one stereo "line out" socket, or a set of sockets for 5.1 multi-channel stuff. If you want to use a pair of speakers, connect the amplifier either to the line out connection or to the front-left and front-right channels of the 5.1 group of sockets, and then make sure you set the PC to stereo ouput, and NOT 5.1.

The reason for this is that film dialogue is almost always routed to the centre channel in a 5.1 system - it is almost always not mixed into the front left-right stereo pair (there are good reasons for this practice). When films (e.g. on telly) are listened to in stereo, the centre channel is automatically added to the left and right channels by the TV so you can hear it - otherwise all you'll get are music and sound effects - actors will probably seem to be miming!. Your PC may not default to the same behaviour, so if you get everything except speech it's not a fault - you just need to alter the sound settings.

Hope that helps.

E.

*technically it's a compromise at -10dB below 'proper' line level (0dB), but the latter is only used in professional applications. Again it was in part a cost-saving by manufacturers: -10dB kit was much cheaper and easier to make, and less damage is caused if you send domestic line sources into microphone or phono inputs by mistake!
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Re: Connecting speakers to a PC.

Postby Woodster » 17 Oct 2021, 10:40

I think everyone’s covered the question. I’ll add though that our old HiFi separates weren’t doing anything so I bought a Yamaha DAC for £120 so I could use it with our iPads. It works very well and the sound is good.
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Re: Connecting speakers to a PC.

Postby TrimTheKing » 18 Oct 2021, 08:19

Mike G wrote:Brilliant. Thanks Mark. I suspect that I'd still need to buy cables to connect the amp to the PC.

Does this all mean that there is an amplifier built into ordinary computer speakers?


Well the amp I mentioned has spring clips for connecting to your speakers but yes you’ll then need a cable to go from the audio out on the pc. That could be any one of a number of connection types, a photo of all the ports on the back of your computer would help determine.
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Re: Connecting speakers to a PC.

Postby flying haggis » 18 Oct 2021, 09:07

audio out on the back of a pc is usually a 3.5mm stereo jack socket coloured green. you will need a cable like this to go from pc to the aux input of your amp
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304187748776 ... SwXPVhWIxw
other sellers are cheaper but this pic was nice and clear
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