Reciever Question

shizdan

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
1,056
Well i am begging to get al my components ready to buy for my 2.1 System and i had a few questions.

1 - Alot of the receivers are 5.1, and have HDMI.....Which I don't need...So in essences do i even need a reciever?

2 - My budget is like $400 Shipped for everything
 
Hold on, in your other thread you said you might get the powered monitors and a subwoofer. POWERED speakers don't need amplification. PASSIVE/UN-POWERED speakers will need amplification of some sort - be it from a receiver or an integrated amplifier.

What speakers and subwoofer have you decided on?
 
If you never intend on using more than 2 speakers, buy an amp if it presents better sound/value for the money.
 
Other topic I guess? http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1359161

If the speakers are powered, no receivers needed at all, your sound card can be used as a crossover.

If the speakers aren't powered, get a used stereo amp, there are tons of great and cheap vintage amps you can find which often cost fractions of the parts alone. The subwoofer is usually self-powered, no problems there. Just connect to subwoofer output of soundcard.
 
Other topic I guess? http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1359161

If the speakers are powered, no receivers needed at all, your sound card can be used as a crossover.

If the speakers aren't powered, get a used stereo amp, there are tons of great and cheap vintage amps you can find which often cost fractions of the parts alone. The subwoofer is usually self-powered, no problems there. Just connect to subwoofer output of soundcard.

Oh i get you now :eek:
 
A downside with using a sub with a stereo amp is the loss of the amps volume control.
All volumes must be adjusted in Windows otherwise the Sub and speaker levels (in relation to each other) wont remain as you set them.

I havent looked at stereo amps for a while so I'm not sure if there are any that can route a subwoofer as well.
To get the volume control back you could make a volume box that adjust the subs level as well as the stereo speakers.
Alternatively, get a receiver that supports a subwoofer.

edit: just thought, there is another way.
Get a sub that takes a high level input from the stereo amps speakers output.
I have 2 subs, one is wired this way.
Research a bit to find one in your price range.
You may need to buy second hand (no bad thing!!).
 
So for a 2.1 POWERD set-up what would i need
-2 powerd moniters
-Sub
-But what do i need to connect them all up to my soundcard
 
Before getting powered monitors, choose a subwoofer, sometimes they have speaker-level stereo inputs from an amplifier and speaker outputs, sometimes they have stereo line-level inputs and outputs, sometimes, they have a mono input only.

You won't necessarily need to get powered monitors if you subwoofer has satellite amplifiers.

If your subwoofer has stereo in/outs, or if you use a stereo amplifier, all you need is a 1/8" stereo male to RCA cable from your local RatShack. If your subwoofer has a mono input, you'll need a second cable to connect in the sub/center output of your sound card.
 
So for a 2.1 POWERD set-up what would i need
-2 powerd moniters
-Sub
-But what do i need to connect them all up to my soundcard

Self powered speakers plug directly into the soundcard.
You may need stereo 3.5mm to RCA or 3.5mm to 3.5mm jack leads depending what the input to the speakers are.
 
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