What can i do with these - help please :)

R B Customs · 20 Aug 2006 at 18:57

Hey guys.
im not really that good with audio set ups.
at the moment ive got the usual £35 surround sound speakers, which are okay.

but i have an X-fi sound card and i think its a sha,e not to use it to its full !

_______________________________________________________________

Heres what ive got
a pair of denon ( by mission ? ) SC-M10K's

im not sure how they measure up but i think they were abotu 85 quid
( if you cant read the label let me knwo and ill type it out)

what can i do to get these to work from my PC.
is it a case of choppign up soem wires and sticking them in place of my existing 2 satalite cheapo's? or will this blow my sub up ?

or

do i have to buy a seperate amp, and if you which would be a good, cheap as possible one to go for.
it doesnt have to do anything except put sound from my X-fi to my speakers. so im not interessted in gucci features and twelve million inputps / outputs and dishwashing facilities. just quality for price

Thirdly, i presue if i have an amp to power these 2 speakers i wont need a seperate sub.

fish99 · 20 Aug 2006 at 20:49

Yep, you need a stereo integrated amp, and you probably won't need a sub. You mention wiring them into your current PC speakers - it is possible to do that in some circuimstances but you really shouldn't, you could blow the amp in your sub or you could damage the Denons if the amp isn't powerful enough to drive them. More importantly they're unlikely to sound good like that since the amp in your sub will probably be poor quality.

Do the sensible thing and steer well clear of that option.

You want to be looking on ebay for used amps, you should get something for £40-50, or if you have the money to buy new then something like the Denon PMA255UK for £99 would be ideal. If you want something small there's the Sonic Impact t-amp for £25 (+ £20 for an adaptor), which is a great little amp for the money.

Dr.EM · 20 Aug 2006 at 21:23

Yep, using the subs outputs isn't wise, apart from what fish99 mentioned, the outputs are high passed (very much so usually as the satellites are so small), so your bass will still come from the sub.

As mentioned, you need a stereo integrated amp and going s/h will get you the most for your money (some real bargains around, wish i'd got my kit s/h :rolleyes:

). You also need speaker cables (not bi-wire, those speakers don't use it and it is quite pointless anyhow imo) and a 3.5mm minijack to 2xphono lead (if you are in an electrical shop, ask for a lead to connect an ipod to a hi-fi). You may also need bananna plugs for the speaker wires as a lot of modern amp terminals are rubbish for screw down connection (daft new EU thing). Should sound a lot better!

R B Customs · 21 Aug 2006 at 11:35

cool thanks a lot.

i can get bannana plugs, and ive got a ton of gucci speaker cable (muy dads into ausdio setups, but unfortunatly not PC's lol and hes away for a few weeks)

ive seen a t.amp on my google travels. ill look into it.
i dont suppose audio equipment can really deteriate or get 'old' can it ?

any input on what these speakers are like ? i seem to remember having them in my room back when i was a noob lol. so i wouldnt have known good sound if it hit me in the dface.
thanks a lot
Rick

InvaderGIR · 21 Aug 2006 at 12:12

Well on the amp side of things I have a Sony TA-FE370 and it's good, has all the Hi-Fi seperates inputs, and and 'Aux' input...my pc input, it's a good little amp, something like 70W per channel.
But buying new sound stuff doesn't mean it's brilliant. I have a mate that gets old amps from the dump (people buy a new one and chuck the old one) and most of his Hi-Fi system is from there and it has an amazing amount of quality and volume. His main amp is proably from the late 80's to mid 90's and even now it still packs a punch.

Thos speakers appear to be fairly decent construction and should give some nice audio. I have some 40w JVCs that must be getting on for or around 10years old and the pack one mean punch.

The only thing to do really is just try them and see.

InvG

Dr.EM · 21 Aug 2006 at 12:34

Yep, amplifier construction hasn't changed much, so older amps will still sound fine.

The T-amp is supposed to be good and is a neat option for simplicity and compactness. Bear in mind you'll need an external power supply though to run it from the mains (£20 or so usually). If compactness isn't so essential then a normal Hi-Fi width amplifier can be had for a similar price and should be more powerful (if you need it).

R B Customs · 21 Aug 2006 at 18:44

So what kinda numbers am i lookign for when buying an amp ?

my speakers say :
rweccomended ampilfier output power: 20-50 w/ch
i take it what means watts per channel

does it matter if the amp is over 50 watts per channel ? or is it the toehr way around ?

and 6 Ohms... well i have no idea what that means

Dr.EM · 21 Aug 2006 at 18:59

You could go a bit over the power or probably a bit under so long as you don't play it too loudly. If it is underpowered and you put it up high, the output stage of the amplifier will clip and this supplies DC to the voice coils which quickly burns them out. Chances are you'd hear it at that level as severe distortion. With too much power, the voice coils may overheat near the maximum output level (though 2x50w RMS should be very loud!). A lot of amps fall into that power range, and the ones likely to be in your price range should be around 30/40WPC (though the sonic-T is 14WPC nominal). If you find say a 70WPC you like, I wouldn't worry about using it, your not likely to go near full anyway.

The impedance, 6 ohms, is not a problem. 8 is more common, but most domestic amps can supply 4 to 8 ohm speakers. It is only a problem if the amp is not rated to supply anything under say 8 ohm. A lot of amps will have 2 sets of speaker outputs, these amps are usually rated 4 to 8 ohms. If you are using both sets though, the speakers most both be 8 ohm or over, but they can supply 1 set of 4 ohms.

R B Customs · 21 Aug 2006 at 19:09

thanks a lot for that explanation. i dont think its ever been writen as plain as that !
my mates on the look out for me as he reckons his gransda has a hosue full of amps lol

i woudlbnd care but my dads just checked one out ( at the tip) the other week !!
i suppose i could look there, its only round the corenr

thanks again
btw... are we allowed to give ebay item numbers on this sound forum ? i cant see how amps can fall under competition for OCUK ?

Rick

R B Customs · 22 Aug 2006 at 18:18

As a stop gap ive 'borrowed' my dads amp from downstairs, its a denon thing but i love it as its just... an amp lol. no millions of buttons,. just volume, bass, balance, treble

lovin it

ive only got it til he comes abck from holiday though

im liking this hi-fi sound. but i kinda miss the big boomy sub i used to have.
btw, do the mesh / fabric black covers for the speakers serve ny purpose other than looks?

Rick

fish99 · 22 Aug 2006 at 18:26

Keeping the dust off

R B Customs · 23 Aug 2006 at 10:51

Sorry to be Such a noob.
but is it better to control the volume from my PC or on the amp ? or both?

like having it at full whack on my PC and usign the amp to control the volume ?

i dont understand which one will be better / safer

and how can i tell if those little tweater speakers are worjing on these speakers?
i cant feel anything

Rick

squiffy · 23 Aug 2006 at 11:05

Set the gains on your PC to 100%, then control volume from the amp itself.
You should be able to hear high frequencies from the treble drivers, ttssh tssh sound from cymbals that sort of thing.

Don't touch the tweeters, you'll knacker them. They don't move like the mid/bass driver does.

fish99 · 23 Aug 2006 at 11:20

Personally I wouldn't set wave or windows master volume to 100% because Creative cards have a history of hissing/distorting at full volume. I've never used an X-Fi XM but the components can't be that expensive. I'd be more inclined to go for around 60-80% on both. Experiment though.

tom_nieto · 23 Aug 2006 at 13:13

I've had good and bad experiences either way with varying setups and my only answer to the volume problem is to try it and see what works best for your setup. Neither will damage the other exactly, although you will cause some harm if you're running at extreme volume levels.

With my current system using onboard sound (/spits) I can easily hear the onboard analogue artefacts above a certain volume, but frankly it doesn't matter if the amp is on high (it hisses slightly above 12 o'clock) or the amp is low (analogue artefacts slightly more prevalent). I need to get a DAC or a decent sound card.

EDIT: or listen to my CDs more