Topic: want to put some big speakers in the living room to playback computer tunes

[ljsurfer2002]

I am moving into a new place and will have the home computer in the bedroom, and I want to buy a few larger speakers and set them up in the living room to also be able to playback the music from the computer. The HD's onthe computer is where all the music is, and the desktop speakers are great when i'm in that room / at the computer. but i'm envisioning a nice playback (cheap. this is just the starter setup) for the living room to have for parties / guests where I can que up a nice playlist on the computer and have it come through the living room.

i don't have a lot of $$ so i'd be looking on craigslist. what should I look for? I guess two large speakers and a mixer / amp ? If I get more then 2 speakers with the red / black wire terminating ends I can still wire two and two to have like two 'L' channels and two 'R' channel speakers? and then what .. maybe a Y male 1/8 > female | female 1/8 audio splitter to put into the audio out of my sound card and then run a long male 1/8 -- male 1/8 from there to the mixer? is there a wireless solution?

what about these

http://rokulabs.com/

http://www.slimdevices.com/

i'm looking at just simple solutions and I don't mind stringing a wire across the floor to get the sweet playback in the living room. thoughts? photos of your setup? .. thanks!

[ljsurfer2002]

I guess I need something like this:

http://i3.ebayimg.com/05/i/06/cf/7c/3d_1_sbl.JPG

where the red /black screw on knobs are where you put the big speaker's wires.

[Ed.]

You'd need an amp or a receiver of some sorts to power the speakers unless you got powered speakers.  But other than that its fairly doable.

Depending on how fancy or cheap you wanted to go, you could run digital from your puter to the receiver or go cheap and just run an out from your line-out jack to the rca ins on a receiver/amp and you'd be all set.

[ljsurfer2002]

what is the difference between an amp and a mixer and a receiver ? and if I wanted to buy a regular / used one off ebay / craigslist what price am I looking at. $100 ?

yeah I don't have digital out on my soundcard, unfortunately I sold that with my MD-home unit Sony MDS-510 back when times were tough analogue would be OK though .. yeah line-out to rca ins on the receiver and that would be it

[ljsurfer2002]

but yeah, if didnt want a wire running from the room to the living room, the only way would be those wireless router / streambox things like I linked to?

[Ed.]

yep, just run line out from your sound card to rca in on a receiver/amp.  I've never run to a mixer before, so I don't know that one.

But for a receiver/amp you just run rca-in and then speakers hook to the speaker terminals on that as well.  The receiver/amp has volume knob and whatnot.  They pretty much do the same thing though.  A receiver usually has multiple ins and radio as well.

As for wireless, I don't know, I'm sure there's something though.

[Nick's Picks]

the slimdevices box is pretty slick, and would set you up perfectly.
you need some powe though, and perhaps one of those Clari-T amps would be in order?
http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/t-amp_e.html

the squeeze box feeding this a signal, and then you controll it all from the PC.
very 2006 !


fwiw, all of this, brand new, would be under $300.
then add speakers.