• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Adding Speakers to Setup

Trinitrotoluene

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 2, 2004
Messages
180
I have had my Z-2200 speakers for about a year and was looking to add a center channel and possibly rears to my audio setup which includes the Audigy2 zs card. Is this possible using another amplified source to power the speakers, and the analog line outs from the audio card? Or should I buy prepowered 2.0 speakers for the rear? but what about the center?


BTW I already have an old stereo receiver that is currently not being used.
 
you can do it all, but you will have to adjust volume on all the sources independently
 
bjornb17 said:
you can do it all, but you will have to adjust volume on all the sources independently

Since I got these z-2200 speakers for only $50 at the time do you think I should just buy another pair of higher quality 2.1 speakers, turn the sub down and use the two speakers for the rears? Is a center channel that important when you sit only a couple feet away from a monitor? I can't find any higher powered 2.0 speakers.

In response to the volume adjust, doesn't the volume adjust control all three analog outputs on the audigy2 zs? If I set the volume on both pairs of speakers they they I should be able to control them with just card.
 
Trinitrotoluene said:
Since I got these z-2200 speakers for only $50 at the time do you think I should just buy another pair of higher quality 2.1 speakers, turn the sub down and use the two speakers for the rears? Is a center channel that important when you sit only a couple feet away from a monitor? I can't find any higher powered 2.0 speakers.

In response to the volume adjust, doesn't the volume adjust control all three analog outputs on the audigy2 zs? If I set the volume on both pairs of speakers they they I should be able to control them with just card.

If you change the volome through windows only, then you shouldnt have any troubles :)
Ideally, you would want to get a similar pair of speakers to the ones you already have, since they will have the same sonic characteristics. Also, there would be no need to turn down the sub, it will probably sound better with it at normal volume levels to round the sound out. Just for games, not having a center channel isnt a big deal. Even for movies, if you sit a couple feet away, it wont make much of a difference i guess. you could just have the audigy downmix it to 4.1 and it should sound fine :)

I hope this helps :D
 
indeed, 4 sats is perfectly fine for computer use. Center channels are really for multiple listeners and listening angles.

What sort of budget are you talking about? I posted a deal in [H]otdeals on a pair of passive studio monitors that might be good to match with your old stereo reciever.
 
GodsMadClown said:
indeed, 4 sats is perfectly fine for computer use. Center channels are really for multiple listeners and listening angles.

What sort of budget are you talking about? I posted a deal in [H]otdeals on a pair of passive studio monitors that might be good to match with your old stereo reciever.

hmm, I was thinking of maybe just purchasing another pair of used z-2200 for around 50-60 bucks. Should I buy some surround speakers and use the stereo instead?
 
No. Relegate the Logitechs to surround duty, and get some real speakers for the front. You should use your old stereo for the front channels in two-channel music, and use the surround channels for games. Keeping the levels aligned will be a bit of a PITA, but once you calibrate them, it shouldnt' be so bad.
;)
 
GodsMadClown said:
No. Relegate the Logitechs to surround duty, and get some real speakers for the front. You should use your old stereo for the front channels in two-channel music, and use the surround channels for games. Keeping the levels aligned will be a bit of a PITA, but once you calibrate them, it shouldnt' be so bad.
;)

What about the subwoofer that connects to the logitech and the use of them for the rears?
 
TNT,

The Logitechs you have are 2.1, correct? As such, any bass they receive will be passed to their subwoofer, so if you simply go with stereo x2 for music, you'll get their bass response in combination with that of your front speakers, but keep the better quality of whatever speakers you put up front.

Just on the record, I'd also recommend what GMC said. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that after you got a decent pair of bookshelves, you'd probably not even want to have your Logitechs hooked up at all.
 
BO(V)BZ said:
TNT,

The Logitechs you have are 2.1, correct? As such, any bass they receive will be passed to their subwoofer, so if you simply go with stereo x2 for music, you'll get their bass response in combination with that of your front speakers, but keep the better quality of whatever speakers you put up front.
.

So for listening to stereo music, the rears should not be making any sound correct? How would the sub then push bass if they are off? Do I have to just turn the rears off for listening to mp3s?



Any recommendations for bookshelfs for around $100?
I heard these are pretty nice for the price: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=298518&is=REG
 
Trinitrotoluene said:
So for listening to stereo music, the rears should not be making any sound correct? How would the sub then push bass if they are off? Do I have to just turn the rears off for listening to mp3s?



Any recommendations for bookshelfs for around $100?
I heard these are pretty nice for the price: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=298518&is=REG

What I meant was to set your sound card/ media player to play stereo*2, where it duplicates the the front two channels to the rear two.

For 100ish dollar bookshelves, one I've heard good things about are Paradigm Titans. Haven't heard them myself, but they are supposedly a good value.

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrmoni&1115818397

I can't say that I know anything about the speakers that you found there, but I'm sure that they would be nicer than the Logitech's.
 
Trinitrotoluene said:
What about the subwoofer that connects to the logitech and the use of them for the rears?


Hmm, perhaps it can't be done elegantly, but the availibility of a spare receiver makes going witt traditional speakers for better front channels an attractive option. Were I you, that's the avenue I'd try to steer down.
 
one last question, when I run the analog L/R out from the audigy2 into rca inputs then to the bookshelfs, there should be no degredation in sound quality correct? Is the audigy doing all the decoding while the receiver is just amplifying the signal to the speakers?
 
Back
Top