Hi, "newbie" here. I hope I've hit the right spot with this question.
I've taken my old (vintage?) stereo out to my workshop and would like to, on the cheap, listen to my vinyl while I take apart and rebuild old trumpets. My workshop is pretty small (18' x 8') so I don't need a high performance setup. In the last couple of years I've ended up with several sets of computer speakers (my school dumped them when they upgraded and I dumpster dived for them) and I was wondering if I can hook them up to my home stereo amplifier (without involving a computer) and listen to my LP collection? All of my internet queries yielded ways to use my home stereo speakers on the computer but not the other way around which (cheap bast*** that I am) is what I want to do. Any ideas?
Are the computer speakers powered or not? If they have an amplifier built in, they will require a power source such as a wall wart power supply or batteries. You can run a pair of powered speakers from your tape outputs on the receiver. The volume control on the speakers will set levels. You can run unamplified speakers from the speaker outputs of the receiver but most computer speakers are designed with very poor frequency response once you get more than a few feet away from them. They are designed for "near field" listening and simply cannot fill a typical room. You could find much better sound for under $50 at a big box store.
My "workshop system" is a Kenwood amp with two Bose 301 speakers (from 1976) and a Realistic (fairly high end before they became crap) turntable. I also have a tape deck and tuner (separate components) running through this amp. I was just thinking (since they were free anyway) I might be able to supplement the speaker output by somehow hooking up these computer speakers in addition to the Bose. If the 301's are jacked to the left and right speaker out(s) can I just plug these computer speakers (I think Altec) into the headphone jack and accomplish anything? All of these speaker pairs have power supplies that plug into the 110 wall outlet (must be the amplifiers you've all referred to). Does this additional information help in formulating your recommendations? Thanks for taking the time,
Jonesy, all the powered speakers can be sourced from the headhone jack, just get a splitter. Headphone out to rca in-like. I kind of question the integrity of the endeavor, but ya gotta love a music lover.
Not just a music lover but a cheap music lover. I'm getting the impression I probably should have just left the speakers in the dumpster but, as a taxpayer, it was horrifying to see what I know cost them hundreds, initially, next to vegetable peelings and busted up textbooks. Thanks for all of the feedback though; whether you intended to or not you made me feel welcome on your site.
As a taxpayer, donate the speakers to a worthy cause that's being underfunded on Federal funds. I bet there's other schools that would take them. Or some charity that would sell them for a few dollars to feed the homeless.