Hooking up a HiFi speaker to my laptop

[polar_foxx]

Hello,

I'm not a huge music fan, but I like to listen to it pretty loud every once in a while... and preferably in non-terrible quality too

A nice 2.1 music system would completely satisfy my listening needs, but i just can't stand the way they look.. with all the wires and stuff . 2.1 music systems also lack the mobility I would like. It would be a hassle to unplug it and carry it over to the kitchen to provide the music while I'm cooking.

So what I'm looking to buy is 1 big HiFi speaker; and this is what my 'system' should look like in the end:
http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo19 ... peaker.jpg

Mod Edit: Removed image tags. Click on link above to view.


What are your thoughts about this?
Will the music sound bad if it's coming from just 1 speaker?

What kind of cables will I need to connect the two together? My laptop (Thinkpad T60) just has a standard headphone jack and I have no idea what kind of sockets the speaker will have..

I am not looking to buy an extremely powerful speaker. Just something old, big and cheap.. (not more than 50 euros in an e-bay auction).


Since i don't know absolutely anything about HiFi speakers (except for the fact that they are usually not designed to be connected to laptops), any commments would be greatly appreciated.

Pictures of cables/sockets/speakers would also be great..


Thanks a lot!

[GomJabbar]

You will either have to get self-powered amplified speakers or buy an amplifier. The speaker in your image does not look like the self-powered type.

I believe you could get bluetooth trancievers and transmit the signal from your Laptop to the speaker system wirelessly, but it would take some research on the actual hardware that can do this. Some ThinkPads have a bluetooth transceiver built-in, but you would still need a bluetooth receiver at the amplifier or self-powered speakers.

OTOH, bluetooth headsets are fairly easy to find. All you would need is a laptop with bluetooth built-in or buy a bluetooth dongle for your laptop (or desktop PC).

[polar_foxx]

wow, thanks for the quick reply!

I really liked your suggestion too. I don't have Bluetooth in my laptop, but using a USB dongle to transmit the signal to the self-powered speaker seems like a really elegant solution.

.. only how would I connect the bluetooth receiver to the speaker? :S

.. also this sounds a little over-budget for me. I think I'd rather connect the speaker and the laptop via the headphone socket..

[GomJabbar]

A quick search on Google pulled up this bluetooth receiver for amplifiers and headphones. I am sure there must be others.

http://www.htfr.com/more-info/MR282984

EDIT: Here is the matching transmitter. http://www.htfr.com/more-info/MR282974

[polar_foxx]

Great! The bluetooth adapter and transmitter seem like an interesting way to connect practically anything to anything else. : ))

Now how about the speaker?

My google search revealed that self-powered speakers are a very specific (and expensive) item because they try to integrate the sub-woofer aspect into themselves, in order to produce a lot of high-quality bass.
- That I don't need, because I'm not planning to use the 1 speaker to throw huge parties anyways.


But how were loudspeakers made before this subwoofer trend became really popular?
I'm totally lost

Could it be that what I'm looking for matches more the description of an amp than that of a loudspeaker?

[GomJabbar]

You can get reasonably priced self-powered speakers from $20 US on up. Of course, the more you spend, the better they are. I have a pair of $20 Altec Lansings that I bought a couple of years ago for where I work. They definitely sound better and have more volume than the built-in speakers on my ThinkPad T42.

Search for "computer speakers". Here is one such search in the $10 - $100 US price range.

http://computers.pricegrabber.com/speak ... r+speakers

[mgo]

I really like the 2nd generation Bose wave radio. A cable is needed from the ThinkPad audio output to the Bose input, but one could run a fairly long wire for it. Quality and sound volume is excellent without any distortion. The little Bose beats many large speakers for base response and clean sound.

I suppose one could cobble up some sort of wireless link to the radio as well, but I have no experience with that sort of thing.

The Bose isn't cheap...it's over $200.00 US, but worth it to me.

[TheRedFox]

I have a rather nifty pair of speakers that plugs into USB (for power), and the eighth inch audio input. they're small, but pretty good, I'll try to find the brand later. also, I don't know what you'll find, but one of the most useful cables is an eighth inch to RCA. RCA audio is one of the most common standards for good speakers, amplifiers, etc. 8th in to RCA adapters are easy to find at any Target, Radio Shack, etc.
hope that helps

[polar_foxx]

Thanks for the replies and the involvement!
Though I'm afraid I might have asked my question in the wrong forum

What I'm looking to buy is someting very close to this:


So my main questions/concerns go much more in the direction of oldschool HiFi speaker technology, rather than that of computers

The easiest solution to my 'music' problem is probably to buy a good pair of 2.0 speakers, such as these
http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Labs-Gig ... 08&sr=8-23

But they wouldn't look nice in my room.

So I was really looking to see if anyone had any experience with the speakers that were being manufactured in the early 90s or even the 80s.

[GomJabbar]

Speakers like those would work fine as long as you buy a power amp to drive them. You should check wattage rating and the impedance rating (expressed in ohms) of the speaker(s) that you want to use and get a power amp that is rated for at least that much wattage and at the speakers rated impedance.

For example: if you get speaker(s) rated for say 50 watts (power) at 8 ohms (impedance), you should get a power amp with at least 50 watts output at 8 ohms. Note that power amps often have several ratings. As an example, one amp may be rated 100 watts @ 8 ohms and 200 watts at 4 ohms.

Note that many receivers (but not all) have power amps built into them. A receiver means "radio receiver" - usually AM/FM.

EDIT: It is hard to tell for sure, but those speakers may have a power amp built into them. Generally though, AFAIK, speakers of those vintages do not have built-in power amps.

[killer]

polar_foxx, I have been a fan of Mission speakers for years. Mission sound quality is brilliant. The model 707 speakers (from the 1980s) can still be found on Ebay. They are not too big (about 30cm square footprint) but they are powerful. As GomJabbar says, you'd need a power amplifier to drive them. An amplifier capable of 100 watts per channel would drive 707s well enough for your neighbours to leave home.

[ajkula66]

killer wrote:

Mission sound quality is brilliant.

Agreed 1000%. You've brought back some fine memories with this post, thank you...

Now, if you really want to go nuts with semi-vintage sound, how about some JPW (AP3 is by far the best small speaker I've ever owned, at least to my ears) or if you want to go high-on-the-hog, KEF...

Throw in Audio Innovations 500 amp (better yet, 400 for warmer sound) and you're all set...

Now replace the laptop as the audio source with Thorens TD 160 Mk I and we're getting somewhere...

[Peak2Peak]

Now replace the laptop as the audio source with Thorens TD 160 Mk I and we're getting somewhere...

... or maybe a Nottingham Analogue Ace Spacedeck, SME-10 or Mitchel Orbe

[Troels]

polar_foxx,

If the speakers you buy are old, you should be prepared to get speakers with lower sensitivity than newer speakers today. While there are exceptions to the rule, i'd suggest you try to get the specifications before buying, at least to make sure if you will be ok with a modest/normal 25x2W @ 8 Ohm class A-B amplifier, or not.

If they are going to be used when you sit nearby them, i'd advice against normal "far-field" speakers, which sound their best when one is 4-6 metres away from them or something. That's where "studio monitors" come into play - they're mostly near-field, so they are designed to sound correct at 0.5 m-2-2.5 metres distance.
You can get them without a built-in amplifier too, if you want, and there are many price clases in here. Some manufacturers like Adam focus only on the serious monitoring market, so their entry-level price is relatively high, but you get what you pay for. You could try to see what ESI, M-audio, Roland or Edirol offers.. maybe they have something.
50 € isn't much in that business, so buying second-hand would be a good idea..

[GomJabbar]

I don't know about buying second-hand. Woofers (especially) do wear out. I have worn out a couple of pair of good woofers in my lifetime.

[killer]

I don't know about buying second-hand. Woofers (especially) do wear out. I have worn out a couple of pair of good woofers in my lifetime.

Are you prepared to testify to that?