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Hooking speakers to computer?
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cowguy:
Alright I opened the cheapy speakers and disconnected the wires from the speaker and hooked them up to my other ones and it works fine.  Not super loud, but works.
Zebidee:
Thing is, most hifi-stereo speakers are hi power and 8-16Ohm, and but your PC speakers are most likely low power and 4Ohm and the amp is driving a signal for that.  That s why the volume is so low.  And the impedance is wrong.  So this setup will only ever sound OK, but never great.

I suggest that you try to find an old stereo amp and use that with those speakers of yours.

Otherwise, a cheap option is to find some good quality PC amp/speaker units or other 4 Ohm speakers.

If you have some old PC speaker units around, get the best sounding ones (I like using Harmon-Kardon units) and pull the amp out of that.  My cab needed 4" speakers and the HKs only have 3" speakers, but I found another PC speaker unit that 4" speakers and cannabalised that.

PC speakers are a good choice because they usually have magnetic shielding built in, which means it won't f*ck with you monitor.  You can often find them cheap at auctions and garage sales, or even people giving them away.  You can do some chopping and changing between amps and speakers, so long as they are roughly the same ratings (like most desktop PC speaker units would be). 

As long as there isn't an extreme difference in their power ratings, You won't blow your speakers by attaching a 4ohm amp to 8 or 16 ohm speakers.  But you can do it the other way around, eg by connecting 4 ohm PC speakers to a hifi amp designed to drive 8ohms+.


SteveJ34:
Another option if you want to use existing speakers is to pick up an inexpensive amp like:

http://tinyurl.com/379ng8

I used a similar unit for jukebox setup to power existing speakers I had onhand.

You will  need to make or buy an rca jack to mini phono jack cable and use the line out of your sound card or motherboard.

Good Luck!
cowguy:
Thanks for all the help, but is there any way to hack the speakers that I have already to output higher?  I'm very short on cash and can't afford to spend anything.
Zebidee:

--- Quote from: cowguy on May 27, 2007, 09:27:49 pm ---Thanks for all the help, but is there any way to hack the speakers that I have already to output higher?  I'm very short on cash and can't afford to spend anything.

--- End quote ---

Without spending money? Turn the volume up?

Seriously, you should try to buy an old stereo amp for about $10, just like SteveJ34 amd I suggested.  I use an amp similar to that on my cab with 8 ohm speakers, and it sound fantastic!  You might even find something like this at a garage sale or recycling centre for almost nothing.  Get an old stereo complete if you need to.  It doesn't have to be fancy, just cheap and functional.
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