Using a PC as a stereo amp??

[SniperXX]

Ok I was thinking, is it possible to use a pc as a speaker amp? Like modify a stereo speaker or one from a home theater to hook straight to the pc without a stereo reciever or amp? I know a good deal of stuff about stereos and home theaters but haven't heard or seen anything on this. Can anybody help me? :)

If I were to test this :eek: on one of my older junk rigs whats the worst that could happen to the PC or speaker? Will it kill both or the speaker or sound card?

[Deathknight]

Well you can have your pc act as a preamp but if you want to amplify the signal you are going to need an amplifier of some form. Your sound card just won't put out that strong of a signal to get much use out of that setup without an amp.

[SniperXX]

What if I tryed with with like 1 or 2 speakers as a test. I want to know since I blew out my 500W reciever recently and when I returned from a lan my creative 4.1s dont work! :cry: I really dont want to be stuck with headphones for long...

[Deathknight]

Go ahead and try it ;) I am not sure how you even intend on wiring it though.

Even little pc speakers are amplified however. There just isn't any amplification coming off of your sound card. Most headphones can be driven off of your soundcard, but they even make headphone amplifiers to give headphones a power boost. There just isn't any hardware in your pc does this. If you manage to wire floor standing speakers up to it I doubt there would be even enough power to drive the speakers enough to make sound.

[SniperXX]

Yeah I too am trying to figure the power, I bet PCI doesnt give much juice... maybe I may reseach this some more and figure out a way to power the speakers via some alternate power (PSU DC or an AC one, I forget what speakers use) and still get the output from the sound card. Kinda like those headphone ones you said, I have seen them too and am wondering if its possible to wire up my own and not be too expensive.

[Supertrucker]

it wont work being directly wired to your sound card, and it could damage your soundcard. the only cheap alternative is a small (think 35w x 2) car audio amplifier hooked up to your psu if you have a solid 12v rail and use a patch cable to connect the headphone out of the sound card to the rca input of the amp.

or go spent 20 dollard on a cheap 2.1 set to get you by till you fix or replace the good speakers

[Deathknight]

Well if you are not looking for superb clean power you can get a 2 channel stereo amplifier for pretty darn cheap. You can easily output the sound from your soundcard onto that.

[X86Dude]

Pc amplifier-------->http://www.hoontech.com/english/products/amplifiers/pa2000i.html


I have a friend that uses one of them "amps" with some left over Z560 satellites and it works good except for one thing....no bass. :D

[Deathknight]

Intersting thing there ;) Only issue I can see with it if you want to run a stereo off of it is that it does not have speaker binding posts on it (output method: RCA connectors). A simple adapter should solve that issue though.

[deeman]

worse comes to worse use an old ghettoblaster or even your tv you can buy or even make a 1/8 to rca adapter i have mine going from the computer to my stereo then from the stereo to the tv works great .

[SniperXX]

Originally posted by X86Dude
Pc amplifier-------->http://www.hoontech.com/english/products/amplifiers/pa2000i.html


I have a friend that uses one of them "amps" with some left over Z560 satellites and it works good except for one thing....no bass. :D

Pretty interesting... could work temperaryly... sadly no bass?? What if the speakers have good bass?

Also, thats 60W max for all speakers right? But for $70 I might as well get a 500W refurb reciever from overstock.com for $150ish. :(

[X86Dude]

Z560 sats with no active subwoofer= no bass.
He has been trying to get me to rewire the sub so it will work with the PA200i but has yet to offer the right motivation for my time.
If you were to use bookshelf speakers (like those KLH's that are always on sale) you would get bass. ;)
70$ ?
How do you figure?
MSRP and retail are two very different things............http://digitalaudio.co.kr/cgi-bin/kk.cgi?action=view&bnum=41 :D

[emericanchaos]

Originally posted by SniperXX


Pretty interesting... could work temperaryly... sadly no bass?? What if the speakers have good bass?

Also, thats 60W max for all speakers right? But for $70 I might as well get a 500W refurb reciever from overstock.com for $150ish. :(

if you're going to spend $70 on that why not spend $45 on Z 340's?