Is This Even Possible?

S

siriusproper

New Member
i am very new to pc audio. for years i have lived with the standard issue pc speakers that have come with whatever system i owned at the time. well a couple of weeks ago the pot went bad in my little Dell speakers and i replaced them with a cheap sub/sats from Radio Shack, and while they easily distorted, the sound at lower volumes was pretty good and opened up some possibilities for me.

i did some research and settled on Logitech Z-2300 2.1 speakers. well by this time i am into this pc sound upgrade, and decided to upgrade my integrated sound card with a SB Audigy SE. overall i am somewhat satisfied, but i think the Z-2300 sats need some help in the clarity and mid-range, so last night i ordered a pair of M-Audio AV40 speakers.

so now that i have these speakers coming, how do i hook them up?? i have been all over the 'net trying to find someone that has added 2.0 speakers to a 2.1 system, with minimal results. i would like to keep the system as a 2.1 system instead of a 4.1 because i want to place all of the speakers in front of me, and i am not sure how it will effect sound quality if i use the sound cards rear channel for speakers that will face me...or if at all.

sorry for going long, but i hope someone/s will help. :o

TIA,
Mike
 
It is possible to select in your creatives software quadraphonic stereo to be able to plug one set in the front jack and one in the rear. Also depending on how your satellites connect to the subwoofer, you could possible drive them off that signal but I do not recommend that. Does your sound card have a sub out? You could possibly place the Logitech system on that and disconnect the speakers and hook the m-audios up the front out jack.
 
THERMAL-REACTOR said:
It is possible to select in your creatives software quadraphonic stereo to be able to plug one set in the front jack and one in the rear.
Click to expand...

i would not mind doing that, but i don't know how the sound card would mix the sound for 'rear' listening and i actually have the speakers facing me near-field in the front.

THERMAL-REACTOR said:
Also depending on how your satellites connect to the subwoofer, you could possible drive them off that signal but I do not recommend that.
Click to expand...

no i don't recommend that either. the sats from the Z-2300's are not amplified, but the AV-40's are. the sats connect into the sub, the sub connects into the volume/bass control, which in turn connects into the sub output from the Audigy.

THERMAL-REACTOR said:
Does your sound card have a sub out?
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yes, that is what the system is connected to now, albeit via the volume/bass control.

THERMAL-REACTOR said:
You could possibly place the Logitech system on that and disconnect the speakers and hook the m-audios up the front out jack.
Click to expand...

that is a very viable option! i only paid $83 for the entire Z-2300 system, and to me the sub is worth that alone, so i would have no problem removing the Z-2300 sats (they really are not that good) and using the M-Audio speakers in their place. correct me if i am wrong, but this solution seems to still be a 2.1 system, and address the issue of seperate amplifiers for the sub and M-Audios. nice idea...thanks!


Mike

edit: i mis-stated. the system is currently using the front channel jack. i need to research further to determine if there is a sub-out.
 
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siriusproper said:
that is a very viable option! i only paid $83 for the entire Z-2300 system, and to me the sub is worth that alone, so i would have no problem removing the Z-2300 sats (they really are not that good) and using the M-Audio speakers in their place. correct me if i am wrong, but this solution seems to still be a 2.1 system, and address the issue of seperate amplifiers for the sub and M-Audios. nice idea...thanks!
Click to expand...

Presumably your computer will have two mini-jack outputs? (One rear, one front). This solution above will kind-of work like this, but it's certainly not optimal. The satalites from these systems don't go very low, so to compensate the sub's range goes pretty high, well into the range your m-audio's will be playing, which could end up with it sounding fairly dodgy. Also note that your sub and satalites will have different volume controls.

Ultimately, these 'enclosed' 2.1 and 5.1 systems are designed to stay as a system. If you want to run a fully customisable 2.1 / 5.1 system you have to buy a seperate amp to run it all.

This solution with the seperate outputs for the '2' and '.1' may work, but it'll be far from perfect, and the m-audios will sound (I suspect) considerably harsher than your current setup.


I'd honestly say the easiest solution is the cheapest; keep the z2300s as they are, and use a software EQ to tweak it a bit. The logitech stuff actually sounds pretty good in the grand scheme of things - I've tried speakers worth over 5 times more against my z5500s and they haven't been a patch.

Having said all that, let us know how this '2 outputs' idea works, and how it sounds, it's kindof interesting
 
This solution with the seperate outputs for the '2' and '.1' may work, but it'll be far from perfect, and the m-audios will sound (I suspect) considerably harsher than your current setup.
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I don't see why this would make it harsher, you are going to have to hook the m-audios up the the front out jack anyway. Plus they are made for full sound so where they drop off in the low range the sub will pick up. Also just by adjusting your equalizer you could make them only play from mid up but I would just leave them as is.

Edit: If this is your card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102010 Then just connect the M audios to the green and your subwoofer to the black. Try this and please reply if this works.
 
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THERMAL-REACTOR said:
I don't see why this would make it harsher, you are going to have to hook the m-audios up the the front out jack anyway. Plus they are made for full sound so where they drop off in the low range the sub will pick up. Also just by adjusting your equalizer you could make them only play from mid up but I would just leave them as is.

Edit: If this is your card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102010 Then just connect the M audios to the green and your subwoofer to the black. Try this and please reply if this works.
Click to expand...

a full review following the weekend. after 2 days with these speakers, i must say M-Audio AV40's rock!

btw, other than Monster can anyone recommend interconnects?


Mike
 
siriusproper said:
a full review following the weekend. after 2 days with these speakers, i must say M-Audio AV40's rock!

btw, other than Monster can anyone recommend interconnects?


Mike
Click to expand...

"High End" interconnects are a waste of money. Most of the time it's just just standard wire with gold plated connectors.
 
ronster667 said:
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=3.5+splitter&oe=utf-8&cid=6470128084810295116#ps-sellers
is this what you ment you want to run both sets of your speakers off one jack?
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yes accept i needed RCA plugs.

ronster667 said:
well this would do it the logitechs sound really nice and they can bump the crap out of a room, my friend brent has those got them on sell for like 70 bucks man they are worth it, cant even turn them up half way its way to loud
Click to expand...

evaluating sound is so subjective and so personal...what appeals to one, might not to another.

to my ear the sats from the Z-2300's are tinny and distant, and enter clipping pretty easily.

the M-Audio AV-40's, while not audiophile level, are clear, rich in the middle, and very well balanced. for near-field, desktop level speakers, they have exceeded my expectations.

the only issue i presently have is the AV-40's are plugged into the Z-2300 sup which has a 40w rms output for the sats, and the AV-40's have their own 20w rms amplifier as well. i found the AV-40's could be overpowered, if not using the gain judisciously. my fix is going to be a Behringer 802 8-Input Mixer, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t..._shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=A14L2MX88GSRVI&v=glance, to remove the M-Audio's from an amplified source and give me more control of the output.

is this overkill? has anyone had experience with this kind of set-up?


Mike
 
siriusproper said:
yes accept i needed RCA plugs.



evaluating sound is so subjective and so personal...what appeals to one, might not to another.

to my ear the sats from the Z-2300's are tinny and distant, and enter clipping pretty easily.

the M-Audio AV-40's, while not audiophile level, are clear, rich in the middle, and very well balanced. for near-field, desktop level speakers, they have exceeded my expectations.

the only issue i presently have is the AV-40's are plugged into the Z-2300 sup which has a 40w rms output for the sats, and the AV-40's have their own 20w rms amplifier as well. i found the AV-40's could be overpowered, if not using the gain judisciously. my fix is going to be a Behringer 802 8-Input Mixer, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t..._shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=A14L2MX88GSRVI&v=glance, to remove the M-Audio's from an amplified source and give me more control of the output.

is this overkill? has anyone had experience with this kind of set-up?


Mike
Click to expand...

I have a similar behringer mixer, which I used to mix my pc out, tape out and guitar out through, on the way to my PMC speakers (pre z5500s). It sounds rubbish - whatever it does to the sound is bad (or certainly is with my model, which I assume is the previous version of what you're looking at).

You're still gonna have 2 seperate volume controls, but that's not such a bad thing if you want to balance the bass.

My concern is still this - the 'subs' on the 2.1 and 5.1 systems aren't really subs - they continue quite high up the frequency range (because obviously and 2 or 3" speaker cannot go low enough to cross over with genuine sub frequencies). I'd be worried about that point, where your m-audios are playing what the sub is playing (and since you'll be running the m-audios from a source that hasn't been filtered now, it could sound messy).
 
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