[Spidey9534]

Hey all,

I'm looking for some helpful input on upgrading my PC output sound wise. I currently use my home desktop system in a back bedroom/office space I setup sometime ago. I have some cheap Altec Lansing speakers and a sub plugged into the equally cheap (possibly substantially cheaper) mobo audio output from my Nvidia chipset. It sounds surprisingly....well like a cheap computer setup!! It has done fine for announcing MS XP doinks and bells and other little sounds. It has even done a great deal of service as a gaming platform and rendered those nasty monster sounds and gun fire quite well.

Still, I'd like to take advantage of all the music that I have ripped to the hard drive to stream to my squeeze box in the living room on the big rig. I also have a nice pair of Epos ELS-3's just gathering dust and they seem like they would really work well in the office. So....can someone give me some tips/suggestions on powering these speakers from my PC. I really don't want to invest in an super expensive audio card (unless that's my best option). Can those cards drive speakers or do you need amplification anyway? I have seen some suggestions on this forum regarding $800~ audio cards and I'm not interested in spending that much money on this project. I was hoping to keep the cost at less than half that or $400~. I thought maybe some kind of digital amp setup with adjustable gain (maybe some kind of gain clone or?).

So if I use the card output and then the Epos ELS-3 speakers what are some suggestions on driving these speakers?

Thank you in advance for any/all your input

Matt

[JohninCR]

I've been really happy with my M-Audio soundcards.  $100 gets you one
of these http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOAP2496

There's been a lot of press about the Sonic Impact Super T.  If you can
get by on 10-15W/ch, then it's a good answer for $140 at Parts Express
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?Partnumber=300-956&raid=27&rak=300-956

Depending which Altecs you have, the included amp for them is probably
putting out 5-10W/ch and more for the sub, so you might want to try
splicing your Epos into your existing setup to replace the crap computer
speakers.  That a free upgrade and will probably surprise you soundwise
and give you an idea exactly how much power you really need to drive
your speakers.

[Spidey9534]

Thanks for the tip on the soundcard! I ordered one today.

The Sonic looks like it should have enough guts to drive the speakers on paper. I'm not planning on cranking anything in my office space, just some nice music listening levels.

I'm going to take your advice and take a closer look at the sub and see how difficult it might be to splice the Epos into it.

[JohninCR]

Spidey,

Don't splice the Epos into the sub.  Just cut your current speaker wires for the PC speakers and
replace them with the Epos.  If you have a sub, then it could be spliced in to replace the computer's
sub.  I ran that exact way for over a year in my office starting with the old Altec 4.1 with the little
squarish speakers and rectangular sub.  That unit is 4x20W + 80W for the sub.  If your current volume
and fade control is at the speaker, you have to be more careful and only cut right at the speaker.
I still have that cannibalized unit in service for the kids and they love it.  The amps on those little
Altec rigs aren't bad at all.  It's the speakers that are crap.  You just can't expect much from a single
2" or double 1".

[Spidey9534]

Ordered the amp today.  I'll check out the sub power and wiring as you suggested after the mail man delivers the new parts to install.

[Spidey9534]

JohninCR

A big thanks to you for the suggestions!!! I got everything installed and hooked up to my PC today and all I can say is WOW! Who needs a sub. That little digital amp has the Epos rockin' and I've never heard a PC sound anything like this before. A tremendous value IMHO. As I write this I'm shuffling through my iTunes collection and enjoying every minute. It's really nice to get this quality of sound without having to listen to it being broadcast down a long hallway.

Thank you again,
Matt