I have an old pair of Bose 201 speakers that I have not used in many years. Is it worth getting a small amplifier for them, or would a set of newer powered speakers be noticeably better?
As for connections, would a sound card such as the Sound Blaster Zx allow me to output to this pair of speakers, perhaps a powered sub, and to an AVR?
The Zx has these outputs:
Speaker Out : 3 x 3.5mm jacks(F/R/C-Sub)
Optical Out : 1x TOSLINK
I think it would meet my needs. Are TOSLINK used here, and Optical on the receiver the same thing?
My current Sound Blaster X-Fi has these outputs:
Line OutFront/Rear/Center/Subwoofer/Rear Center
SPDIF Out
I am not sure this will work for also connecting to my receiver.
Also, what about volume control? With either of these options I would have to rely solely on the volume control in Windows. Is there a way to have a physical volume control that can also be used?
As for connections, would a sound card such as the Sound Blaster Zx allow me to output to this pair of speakers, perhaps a powered sub, and to an AVR?
The Zx has these outputs:
Speaker Out : 3 x 3.5mm jacks(F/R/C-Sub)
Optical Out : 1x TOSLINK
I think it would meet my needs. Are TOSLINK used here, and Optical on the receiver the same thing?
My current Sound Blaster X-Fi has these outputs:
Line OutFront/Rear/Center/Subwoofer/Rear Center
SPDIF Out
I am not sure this will work for also connecting to my receiver.
Also, what about volume control? With either of these options I would have to rely solely on the volume control in Windows. Is there a way to have a physical volume control that can also be used?
Last edited: