Will this work (Re: I know nothing about speakers .... so please help)

[unclet]

I need to start looking for some speakers for my jukebox I am planning on building.  I have been acquiring parts for it for a little while now and I am now thinking about speakers. 

My ears do not require the perfect CD sound of the music being played.  Actually I am quite happy with regular old computer speakers and was simply thinking of putting about 6 round computer speakers (decased) on my jukebox cabinet and connecting them together and hooking them into the speaker jack in the computer.   The mp3 files I have are mostly ripped at 128Kbs and they sound fine to me.   

So having no interest in getting any amps, subwoofers (dont know what that is anyway), tweeters (again ... no idea) or nice big old speakers, I was wondering if getting some small round car speakers or something would be in order instead of using plain old computer speakers?   Would simply switching from computer speakers to stereo speakers provide me with better sound?    I am assuming the sound would be the same since it is all generated by the onboard sound from the motherboard, but I thought I should ask.

Lets say I get some sound card which has the ability to support some nice sounds, do I simply splice some stereo speakers to this sound car and that is it?  Not really sure how to connect speakers to a computer which are not "computer speakers".

Like I was saying ...... I no nothing about speakers .....  so I guess I am just looking for cheap suggestions as to what I could do cheaply?

[MPTech]

I'm not a stereo expert, so my solution is a simple one.
There are many different levels / prices of PC speaker systems from a simple stereo / 2 speakers to elaborate surround sound.
For my planned Juke (I'm also still acquiring parts), I picked up a Klipsch 2.1 system from an ebay auction for $35! http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=66307.0  They have some slight damage to the exterior (a scratch & chip on the sub) but I plan to install it in the cab so saving about $115 bucks was a great bargain.
They simply plug into the sound card, so no cutting or splicing is required.  They sound great as-is, but for my cab, I'm going to install a set of Pioneer 3-ways to replace the satelite speakers.  This will look & sound better.  My understanding is if you go with car speakers, you'll probably need something to power them (amp), which the Klipsch has as part of the sub.  It also has a volume & bass adjustment component that can be removed from the speaker and mounted in the cab where I choose.  (this volume / bass component also has a headphone jack and a port that I could plug an Ipod into and play tunes directly to the speakers with the pc off if a liked)
Is this the best system money can buy? No, but it's a great value and simple solution that will look good too.

If you don't go with a PC sub/Amp, like this, and want the car speakers, you'll need to run a car amp, but then you'll need some kind of 12v converter to power the car audio. (at least that is my understanding) Again, I'm no stereo expert, and I like to keep it simple.

Hope this helps some, and post back with your findings and decision.

[unclet]

So, I guess if I do not want to splice speaker wire together then I would need to get a soundcard?   I have a couple of free PCI slots in the computer so I am assuming a cheap sound card might be feasible.  Although, lets say I want 4 to 6 speakers on my cabinet, would a sound card be able to accomodate these many inputs or will I need to splice them together anyway to plug them into the sound card?    I know nothing about sound cards either   

I guess I envisioned my jukebox having 4 to 6 speakers around the cabinet which I thought would originally just be spliced together and connected to the speaker jack of the computer.   Anyway, not sure if a sound card could help out here or not (instead of me splicing stuff).   What connections are on a basic sound card anyway?  It is just older RCA jacks (Left/Right)?  Do the sounds card with multiple jacks only set up to support surround sonud (2 front, one center and two back speakers) ....... if so, then I am not sure I would want to connect surround speakers for a cab.   Oh well,  I will try to look around to find this out, but if anyone has an insight, that would be great as well.


 

[MPTech]

I don't think running and splicing the speakers from the PC speaker would work well and I'm pretty sure you won't get stereo out of them (but it may still work).
The sound card has a different jack (not RCA, but similar) that supports all of your speakers (2, 2.1, and surround sound) no splicing would be necessary if you bought PC speakers and no addtional amp would be required (unless the PC speakers came with it). If you wanted to run 4 or 6 speakers, again, a simple solution would be to buy a y-splitter (or 2) and buy another set of PC speakers (or 2 more sets of PC speakers). Then plug them all into the 1 jack on the sound card. The only issue with 3 sets of speakers is you will have 3 sets of volume controls too. Or you can set them all and adjust them with the software.
Do you have a Best Buy (or such) near that you could go and check them out?

You can buy a decent sound card for under $30.

[unclet]

Yes there is a Best Buy near me.   Are you saying I should go in there and look at the computer PC speaker setups they have on show, or are you saying I could get a cheap sound card in there and perhaps some extra PC speakers (and some Y-splitters)?

As for having three sets of volume controls ........ this is why I thought splicing all the PC speakers together would be good.   Basically, splice all additional PC speakers together on to one set of PC speaker boxes and then plug the one PC speaker boxes into the back of the computer into the speaker jack.     Then I could have "one" volume knob to deal with as well.

Which leads me to another question.   It is pretty easy to ex tend a volume knob from a set of PC speakers to the front of a jukebox cabinet?   Is it as easy as entending some wires from the volume knob POT to the actual volume knob itself enough so the volume knob can be mounted somewhere on the cabinet?   Also, could I use a different volume knob (ie: one which looks more appropriate to have mounted on a jukebox cabinet, instead of a littleugly PC speaker knob)?

[unclet]

Also ,a quick question regarding stereo speakers.   Lets say I get some cheap stereo speakers from a set of older home stereo speaker boxes.  Would I have to worry about the speakers being shielded or not when I put them next to my computer?    Not real sure what "shielded" means, so if someone could explain what I should look for, that would be great.

Not sure I am going with stereo speakers, I just want to learn different things before making a decision.

[rovingmind]

Also ,a quick question regarding stereo speakers.   Lets say I get some cheap stereo speakers from a set of older home stereo speaker boxes.  Would I have to worry about the speakers being shielded or not when I put them next to my computer?    Not real sure what "shielded" means, so if someone could explain what I should look for, that would be great.

Not sure I am going with stereo speakers, I just want to learn different things before making a decision.

yes you would, if they are going next to the monitor.
Shielded speakers have a metalic lining either encasing the speaker magnet/coil structure itself or as part of the box. 

This liner keeps the EMF of the speaker magnet/coil from deflecting the beam of the picture tube by blocking the magnetic pulses created when a current is passed through the speakers voice coil.

Its going to depend on your actual cabinet design.

[richms]

Also ,a quick question regarding stereo speakers.   Lets say I get some cheap stereo speakers from a set of older home stereo speaker boxes.  Would I have to worry about the speakers being shielded or not when I put them next to my computer?    Not real sure what "shielded" means, so if someone could explain what I should look for, that would be great.

Not sure I am going with stereo speakers, I just want to learn different things before making a decision.

Only if you have a CRT monitor, LCDs are not effected by magnetic fields of the magnitude that speakers have.

[unclet]

On a CRT monitor I understand a non-shielded speaker will distort the display image if it is close enough to the monitor but will it actually hurt the monitor hardware itself.  I mean what if I try mounting non-shielded speakers somewhat close to a monitor to see if it has an effect on it ...... is there a chance it will break (or damage) my monitor if it turns out the speakers are too close to it after all ..... or will the monitor be fine after I remove the speakers from being so close?

Also, if I get a pair of non-shielded speakers, then how can I shield them myself?  Simply put up a barrier between the speaker and monitor itself?   What kind of "metal lining" would be required?

[Edgedamage]

Could you not just make a nice little juke cabinet and have the line out from the audio card running to your home stereo? That's how my local bar does it.

[unclet]

Well, my home stereo is no where near where the jukebox cabinet will go and also my jukebox cabinet plays videos so I would like the sound coming from pretty close to where the video is playing.  Basically, having the sound coming from across the room would be bad.

I guess I will think of something.   

[rovingmind]

http://www.andrewrondeau.com/Voight%20Pipes/shielding.html

I havn't done this myself, i would just get some shielded drivers from www.partsexpress.com instead of trying to make something else work.

[unclet]

Will this work?

Would it be possible to simply buy a cheap home stereo receiver which allows for 6 speakers to be connected and then connect the computer's audio "out" jack to the receiver's RCA audio "in" jacks?   I could then connect the speakers to the receiver and be done.

I could leave the volume of the receiver to be on "high" and control the volume via software through the Windows Media Player application.

Let me know if this seems like it should work.

[DigitalFusion]

thats how I am doing it.  Right now I just have the computers speaker jack into an RCA splitter into the in of the receivert. 

(BTW - u cant just splice a bunch of speakers together as you will raise (series)  or lower (paralelkl) the impedence of the speakers, possibly destroying the speaker or the source)

[unclet]

Ok, then a receiver seems like the way to go .....

[unclet]

Ok, lets say I get a receiver with surround sound speaker connections (2 front, 1 center and 2 rear), then would I connect all 6 speakers to the "2 front" connectors only?   Or perhaps they make receivers with multiple "front" speaker connections?

I guess I want 6 speakers all playing the same sound levels, so I am not sure whether I should connect any of the 6 speakers to the "1 center" or "2 rear" speaker ports on the receiver.    Perhaps the "center" and "rear" ports are just for surround sound stuff and I should not rely of them to give me good normal sound like the 2 front ports of the receiver would ......

Basically, what type of receiver should I be looking for?   A receiver which allows 6 front speakers to be attached?  Or possibly I should just use the 1 center and 2 rear ports for additional speaker connections? 

I want to take the sound out of my PC audio jack and somehow get 6 speakers playing the same sound levels.

I told you I am speaker stupid ...... please help

** Oh yeah, say I have the speakers in the picture attached.   There are two 10" speakers (woofers) and 2 tweeters.   I have no idea what these things do for me, but I think I can get these speakers cheap.   I would like to take the big 10" speakers out of the box and install them in my jukebox cabinet.   Can I connect these subwoofers to the receiver as "normal speakers" or must the receiver have special "subwoofer" input ports to allow for this?  Also, how can I connect the tweeters?  Are the tweeters connected to the woofers somehow already?   I guess, how can I take these speakers and mount them on my jukebox cabinet.

[draginit]

to take the pre-amped speakers out of the box in the pic,.you will need a crossover for each channel. that is exaclty how mine is set up using 8 ohm speakers thru a 6.1 reciever.  example; you would wire the FR channel to the "in" of a crossover and there will be two outs from the crossover. one for the woofer and the other to the tweeter. most are labeled "W" and"T". i got mine at partsexpress for less than 25$ each. so if you just run a 10" woofer and a midrange for each channel that will be plenty loud.  believe me, my juke knocks the walls apart! (just be sure to match 8 ohm speakers with an 8 ohm reciever)
-IMO 6 speakers thru the other reciver ports like center, surround etc. are only there for movies, music is only stereo, nothing more. 200 watts per channel split thru the crossover is plenty. i use the insignia 6.1 reciever,  but there are tons to choose from with the same power.
-lastly, most recievers ive seen these days that are worth buying with enough power for a project like this have one rca jack for a pre-amped woofer setup, hence the "5.1,6.1,and now the 7.1". thus the reasoning for splitting the signal to a woofer with a crossover thru the FR and FL channel.
just my 2cents....
-oh, and one other thing i thought,..be sure to get a sound card and recieveir with the  optical option for the best sound, it really makes the difference IMO

[unclet]

Your description about crossover stuff has confused me.  Dont know what "pre-amped speakers" or "crossover for each channel" mean at all?    Seems complicated, not to mention having to spend $50 on crossover hardware. 

I am a cheap/simple person who thinks the audio sound from my PC sounds good enough so my sound will most likely come from the audio jack from my computer and not use a sound card at all.  Probably just split the audio from the PC's audio "out" jack (using a Y-splitter) and then connect to the receiver's audio "in" jacks using RCA cables.  Now I would like to connect speakers to the receiver.

I would like to connect the speakers (in the picture I posted) as well as a couple more simple speakers for sound.  The receiver I am thinking of using has 2 front, 1 center, 2 rear and then 2 additional speaker jacks in case you want to connect 2 additional speakers (ie: mount them outside on the patio, or somewhere else inside the house).   Anyway, I found out I can turn on the 5:1 speakers as well as the 2 additional speakers at the same time.   So I am thinking I could connect the speakers (in the picture) to the 2 front speaker jacks and then connect two more speakers to the 2 additional speaker ports and have them all turned on at the same time.  Does this seem feasible?

Now, the two speakers in the picture I posted (which have a tweeter and woofer together) have black/red audio connectors on the back of each speaker box.  I was assuming this would allow me to connect these speakers directly to a receiver to the Front-Right and Fron-tLeft speaker connectors of the receiver.   Will this work so I can hear music?    Now, instead of keeping the tweeter/woofer inside the speaker box, which they are currently mounted, I would like to remove them so I can mount them where I want them to be on my jukebox cabinet.    I would assume I could do this and still connect them using the black/red connectors supplied.  Is this true?

[draginit]

Now, the two speakers in the picture I posted (which have a tweeter and woofer together) have black/red audio connectors on the back of each speaker box.  I was assuming this would allow me to connect these speakers directly to a receiver to the Front-Right and Fron-tLeft speaker connectors of the receiver.   Will this work so I can hear music?    Now, instead of keeping the tweeter/woofer inside the speaker box, which they are currently mounted, I would like to remove them so I can mount them where I want them to be on my jukebox cabinet.    I would assume I could do this and still connect them using the black/red connectors supplied.  Is this true?

sorry, trying not to be confusing,,

ok, if the connector in the back of thoses speakers is just the red and black connector, then right, its not pre-amped.. and you should be able to just wire them into the FL and FR connectors of the reciever. but there must be a crossover somewhere in the box already to split the signal to the tweeter from the woofer. so if you do take them out, just leave them wired up the same. (those should bump pretty good with the right reciever)
-FYI, the ".1" referes to a woofer in a speaker setup, these recievers are not designed for multiple woofers. but can handle those speaker setups in the box like you show. otherwise this is why you would need to split the signal. basically what i explained before is what you will find inside the box..example for the "5.1" = 1 center, (usally directly on top of a tv) ,..2 mids(FR and FL, usually place directly to the left and right of the tv), 2 surround(usually to each side of the couch or sitting area) and the one woofer(placed anywhere convenient) hence the one subwoofer RCA output from the reciever to a pre-amped woofer and the reason to have a crossover in order to have a multiple woofer audio system....  6 total speakers for a 5.1 system, ;  and etc,. for 6.1 and 7.1.   
-it sounds more complicated then it really is....

I would like to connect the speakers (in the picture I posted) as well as a couple more simple speakers for sound.  The receiver I am thinking of using has 2 front, 1 center, 2 rear and then 2 additional speaker jacks in case you want to connect 2 additional speakers (ie: mount them outside on the patio, or somewhere else inside the house).   Anyway, I found out I can turn on the 5:1 speakers as well as the 2 additional speakers at the same time.   So I am thinking I could connect the speakers (in the picture) to the 2 front speaker jacks and then connect two more speakers to the 2 additional speaker ports and have them all turned on at the same time.  Does this seem feasible?

sounds feasible yes, but again, it will only be a stereo signal unless watching a movie or something and IMO wasting the potentioal of the reciever..but since quality is not a concern then yes you will difinitly get sound from these ports, but they will more than likely be half the volume of the main FLandFR..

I am a cheap/simple person who thinks the audio sound from my PC sounds good enough so my sound will most likely come from the audio jack from my computer and not use a sound card at all.  Probably just split the audio from the PC's audio "out" jack (using a Y-splitter) and then connect to the receiver's audio "in" jacks using RCA cables.  Now I would like to connect speakers to the receiver.

the y splitter may cause loss in sound quality on top of the poor sound quality from the pc out....i dunno, IMO sound quality should be #1, this is the music you are going to listen to.
-im no expert, just want to try and help, hopefully its not too confusing again.

I am a cheap/simple person who thinks the audio sound from my PC sounds good enough so my sound will most likely come from the audio jack from my computer and not use a sound card at all. 

If this is true, then why not just buy a quality PC speaker/sub system..KLIPSCH is probably the best out there for the money..

[unclet]

Thanks for clarifying this stuff ..... I think I understand a lot more now.

So, why am I not just getting a good set of quality computer speakers and using those ......  well, I really like the look of the BIG 10" speakers for the overall "look and feel" for the jukebox,   I also have some 10" blue neon speaker rings which need to be used to dress up the jukebox as well.   Basically, I needed a set of 10" speakers just to make the jukebox look like a nice jukebox since it adds character to the jukebox when you see BIG speakers in my opinion.   I also found those speakers in the picture (which I was told work great) for only $20 locally.   I do not think I can do better than that.  So, having BIG speakers with cool blue neon rings around them should really produce some sort of sound ..... right ..... otherwise people will know that I am speaker-stupid       Having big speakers will at least make me feel like I know what I am doing.

Anyway, thanks for the help ... I am sure I will have some more questions down the road, but hopefully I have a good handle on the speaker stuff now.   Using a receiver was the key for me I believe.

Thanks again for all your explanations

[rovingmind]

if you do that with the 10" sub you will want to have an interior cabinet dimenson for it to mount in that matches the interior size of the cabinet you have taken it out of.  If you also take it out of the cabinet and they are good quality cabinets should also be able to reuse the existing crossovers.  You will want to match the wiring back to the way it was to keep the polarities. 

[unclet]

Yes, my jukebox area where the speakers are going to be mounted should be of similiar size.   I also know, I need to re-mount the subwoofers/tweeters and all wires in the exact same way in which they were wired in the speaker box they came from.