Hooking my pc up to old speakers

dvdfan

I have a stereo system which has several speakers connected to it and it plays the radio or cds. What would be involved in connecting these speakers to a pc so i can play songs directly from my pc. The speakers are connected through the roof so its not as simple as just buying new speakers i would need to connect the current ones to the computer.

The speakers connect to the system by an exposed wire which is inserted into the back of the stereo system, you push down on a type of button which leaves a gap to insert the exposed wire into and then let go and the wire is trapped. You know the ones im talking about:rolleyes:

Unfortunately there is no such connection on that back of my pc so id say id need some sort of converter or special sound card. Any ideas, maybe theres a connection in the stereo that allows me to connect directly between pc and stereo to use the speakers.

Basically, i have a couple of thousand songs and i want it to play into the speakers rather than burning tons of cds and constantly changing them around as it only holds 5 cds at a time

Redisle

Does your stereo have rca inputs??
red and white round sockets?
like the red ones on the end of this?
http://www.shoppingcentre.net/shop/images/STEREO-PLUG%20-2X-RCA-SOCKET-GOLD.jpg

dvdfan

Ill check it out tommorrow im not sure, but there is loads of different connnections at the back. If there is what does this mean, can it be done then??

chalkitdown

You should be able to connect the sound output of your computer, usually a mini jack(headphone connection) to your stereo system by connecting it with the appropriate lead to the AUX in connection of your amplifier. Not the ideal solution but if you keep the sound level low on your computer it should be fine.

chalkitdown

It just came to me that the easiest way might be to connect something like an itrip to your headphone out socket and tune your radio in to the signal thereby avoiding cables altogether. They are available for about €25.

dvdfan

chalkitdown wrote:

It just came to me that the easiest way might be to connect something like an itrip to your headphone out socket and tune your radio in to the signal thereby avoiding cables altogether. They are available for about €25.

Can you explain that to a dummy please:o

I want to play songs downloaded to my pc over speakers connected to a stereo system. So i connect an itrip (whats that like an ipod?) to the headphone out socket on the stereo system and that makes a wireless signal to the pc???

Sorry but im just not up to date on this sort of stuff:o

chalkitdown

An itrip is the brand name of a particular version of the device that I'm recommending. They are a small FM transmitter that you would use to connect your ipod or such to your car radio without wires. There are plenty of different models available and any should do. Petes stock them for €25. Here is a link to the device.
http://www.ipod-europe.net/category/34/ipod_itrips_fm_transmitters.htm?idCategory=34&gclid=CISfiNH48osCFQHtlAodti2mPA

chalkitdown

Sorry I just reread your post, you would connect the device to the headphone socket of your computer and tune it in on FM on your stereo's radio.

dvdfan

Ok, last stupid question. Basically say i plug this into my compter headphones out and set the itrip for arguments sake to 99.5fm and then start playing songs on my pc. Then i tune the radio on my stereo to 99.5fm and it will start playing whatever sound is on my pc, whether that is songs or a video or the sound of a game i happen to be playing. Is this correct??

If so your a bloody star and this will be perfect

Lastly is there any sound quality issues and am i better of paying the extra few quid for a better sound quality.

chalkitdown

Yes it will do exactly that! The only issue would be the distance that your stereo's Ariel is from your computer, you may have to move it closer or use a cable instead. Good luck.

chalkitdown

I should read the post fully first! The sound quality should be the same, more or less, from any make. I would advise you to google the subject first with regard to not only sound quality but range of transmission.

dvdfan

The pc is sitting on top of the stereo system so shouldnt be a problem all the same.

Hows this look i presume fm transmitters are all the same

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=329782&view=detailed

or would you choose a different one from this list

http://www.komplett.ie/k/kl.asp?bn=10697

chalkitdown

That's why you should google the different models! I'm not sure, but what i would do is go to your nearest electronic shop and buy one there as if it didn't work satisfactorily you could return it without difficulty, whereas buying online would make that difficult. I'm not sure where infinite bliss is, but if it's near Dublin there are a lot of places that stock them. One place near O'Connell bridge has them for €20, sorry don't know the name, they sell mobiles in the window on Batchelors walk. But now that I know that your stereo is beside your computer maybe a cable from your headphone socket to your stereo would be easier, if not as flash! Hope this helps.

TerrorFirmer

I'm such an idiot. I was trying to work out how to do this the last day, and in the end, I just thought bah it's not worth it. I never thought about a simple fm tuner...

dvdfan

From the bit of reading ive done it seems there decent quality but in some cases you can get alot of noise distortion if you have to increase the volume. Whats the name of the cable i would have to connect the stereo to the the pc??? Im in Athlone so online would be the best option as pc stores here aint the best, the likes of komplett.ie or amazon.com would be my best option but without the name of the cable i would be lost

snappieT

dvdfan wrote:

From the bit of reading ive done it seems there decent quality but in some cases you can get alot of noise distortion if you have to increase the volume. Whats the name of the cable i would have to connect the stereo to the the pc??? Im in Athlone so online would be the best option as pc stores here aint the best, the likes of komplett.ie or amazon.com would be my best option but without the name of the cable i would be lost

It's a mini-jack (3.5mm) to RCA.
Theres an Argos in athlone, right? They have it for less than a tenner, cat number is 534/3638

dvdfan

Cheers for that, love boards, id never figure all this out in a million years, yeah we have an argos. So when i use this to connect the pc and stereo do i just play the music on the pc and it auto plays. What do i need to set the stereo to, cd player, tuner, aux ???

snappieT

dvdfan wrote:

Cheers for that, love boards, id never figure all this out in a million years, yeah we have an argos. So when i use this to connect the pc and stereo do i just play the music on the pc and it auto plays. What do i need to set the stereo to, cd player, tuner, aux ???

Plug the stereo jack into the speaker output on your PC. Plug the White & Red connectors into the back of the stereo.

Set stereo to Aux, play away!

dvdfan

Great, thanks a million chalkitdown and snappieT for the help