A 4.0 System with two amps?

C

CountChoculaBot

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 16, 2007
Messages
140
So I plan on buying a Sonic Impact T Amp along with some Insignias for my TV, but it has an iffy Audio Out. If I do order the Amp and Insignias, and it doesn't work out, could I use it to augment my PC speaker set up? I have a pair of Swan D1080MKIIs (built in amps) right now, which connect to my computer via a RCA > 3.5mm cable. Could I hook up the Insignias w/ the T Amp at the same time as my D1080MKIIs with something like this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16855997604
and get what is essentially a 4.0 speaker setup?
 
Yes you can do that but if the amps or speaker pairs sound different, you wont get a coherent surround sound experience.
You certainly wont get a good surround experience if you use the ipod sound splitter.
That will drive the same stereo sound to 4 speakers.
Why not connect 2 stereo wires to the soundcard and have real 4 speaker surround sound?
 
Or why not just get a receiver $200 or less. I always recommend mine.
 
lol sorry I was being kinda dumb... been too used to regular old 2.0 setups and forgot what the point of the other colored doohickeys on the sound card. Anyway, you're saying I independently connect the amps to the sound card so I have a total of two connections to the sound card, one from each amp? Also, I don't mind an inconsistency in sound due to different amps as long as it's horribly noticeable; I'll be using different speakers anyway, so I guess I should expect a minor difference?

I really don't want to get a receiver; this is meant to be a barely over $100 upgrade =\
 
Yeah, plug one amp to the front pair, the other to the rear pair.
Set your sound driver or control panel to 4.0 sound.
When you game, check to see that the game is using Windows default sound config or is set to 4.0.
 
Well that takes care of most of my worry... if the TV doesn't work with the Amp, at least I can use it for my comp. Thanks for the help :D
 
4.0 works just fine, I had a 4.0 setup for a number of years and in fact probably shouldn't have spent the money converting it to 5.1.

Don't worry about the sound being different on account of the amps. Any well designed amp is going to sound extremely similar to any other well designed amp. You may be able to pick out minor differences in listening tests, but it'll be far overshadowed by the differences in speakers and room acoustics.

One thing to note about the T-amp is that it is very low power. It'll do maybe 6 watts in to 8 ohms before distortion starts to rise quickly. Now that can be fine, or can be a problem depending on usage.

If you have the speakers fairly close (like 6 feet or less) to you and you are listening to something that isn't all that dynamic, like most modern music, it should be great. You'll find you'd rarely go over 1 watt per channel and still get a good listening level.

Where you can run in to problems is if the speakers are further away, and if you listen to dynamic material, like some movie soundtracks. You'll find that the amp just doesn't have the power to do the big hits it needs to.

So consider what you setup is before you get one. So long as the low power is ok, that's the only real down side. However it is something you have to consider since there's nothing that can be done to increase it (and you don't really want to know what a more powerful switching amplifier would cost).
 
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