Powered audio

[keilmillerjr]

Hello!

What have people been doing in terms of powering a pair of regular audio speakers? I ordered a golden tee coin door, and it has volume up and down buttons inside it. It would be great if I could use that, or possibly add a rotary knob to that panel. Or possibly control volume through arcade controls and my ipac? Keep in mind that I will be using lubuntu if something needs drivers.

I've seen a Ching fu pc sound cards, as well as a few ching fu specific amp boards that might do this. I don't know. Let me know what's up. I'm looking for something better than cracking open a set of cheap PC speakers.

[keilmillerjr]

Here is some of the ching fu products I found:

FEIXIANG252B TA2021B 25W+25W Computer Sound Card Amplifier-EF2

DIY Class D Stereo Amplifier Board 50W * 2 TDA7492 HIFI Audio Amp Board

I think the first item might work well... but it's a ching fu brand. That worries me a bit.

[BadMouth]

Most people who don't use PC speakers use a cheap mini amp like these:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=lepai amplifier&_fscr=1

You can add a double potentiometer inline before the amp to control volume. 
(they also sell ones pre-made)

I've been wanting to try one of these, but haven't had an opportunity:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=300-385

[Fursphere]

I just bought one of these for a build I'm doing -

http://www.amazon.com/Pyle-PCAU44-2x120-Stereo-Amplifier/dp/B0036VO55G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363008241&sr=8-1&keywords=pyle+2x120

I should have it working this coming weekend.   Keep in mind for these little amps the wattage listed is a flat lie.  They use some really screwy math to come up with the numbers.  That 120watts per channel is probably a lot closer to 15watts per channel in real life.

Before that concerns you - most powered computer speakers at 5 to 8 watts, and are plenty loud enough.

[keilmillerjr]

Cool. I'll probably go with one of those Pyle units.

Can I adjust the computer output volume with the ipac and Linux (lubuntu)? If so, I could set the amp volume appropriately and control the computer volume with the factory volume up/down buttons on my golden tee coil door.?

[BadMouth]

Cool. I'll probably go with one of those Pyle units.

Can I adjust the computer output volume with the ipac and Linux (lubuntu)? If so, I could set the amp volume appropriately and control the computer volume with the factory volume up/down buttons on my golden tee coil door.?

I'd email Andy at Ultimarc about that.
My guess is that if you can do it with a keyboard that has volume keys, you can do it with the iPac, but that's only a guess.

[Mental]

The Lepai TA2020 amps are pretty nice for what they cost. You can get one from China for around $20.

[keilmillerjr]

Thanks guys!

[jasonbar]

My brother got me a decent Altec Lansing PC left/right/sub stereo system. It had a standalone box for the controls, meant to sit on your desktop next to your keyboard. I cut a hole in the cabinet & panel-mounted it to the right of the coin door, where there was already a big hole from the dollar bill acceptor. In retrospect, I wish it were not so low. It might have been nice to have mounted it behind the trackball or along one of the side faces of my big CP, if that were indeed possible...but then it would have made my CP even more crowded... :]

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff97/infernolab/Arcade%20Game/01fullcabinet.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff97/infernolab/Arcade%20Game/11powerswitchlightstereocontrols.jpg

-Jason

[surface tension]

Cool. I'll probably go with one of those Pyle units.

Can I adjust the computer output volume with the ipac and Linux (lubuntu)? If so, I could set the amp volume appropriately and control the computer volume with the factory volume up/down buttons on my golden tee coil door.?

You can definitely do this with the minipac, but I'm not sure about the ipac.

[Fursphere]

Cool. I'll probably go with one of those Pyle units.

Can I adjust the computer output volume with the ipac and Linux (lubuntu)? If so, I could set the amp volume appropriately and control the computer volume with the factory volume up/down buttons on my golden tee coil door.?

I received mine yesterday.  Hooked it up to two 7" Pyle speakers (not in ea cabinet, just free standing) and drove it with my iPhone (Pandora).  Seems to work pretty good.

Keep in mind the 120watt one I listed is 120watts PEAK - its really 20watts per channel sustained.  Which is fine.