Computer geek doesn't know much about audio... Asking for advice to build "something".

[Don Harvey]

Hi guys,
I registered to these great forums specifically to ask for advice and ideas about my situation. I'll try to be as brief as possible, but I really want to give as much information as possible in order to get good feedback about the feasibility of building "something" decent with all the hardware I have on hand. I'm writing in the "General AV" section because I'm really not sure which particular subject my questions lean toward, so feel free to move it if you see the need to.From my limited knowledge on the subject, I'm thinking amplifying is the root of my project. So here goes...

I have a pretty awesome media server with a huge amount of media (television mostly, movies and shows) that I enjoy very much. The files on the server vary hugely in terms of bitrate and quality, but most of them are rather high quality 1080p stuff. The audio streams on them are generally AC3 5.1 quality, but there are also many HEVC files with some 6 channels audio tracks, which I believe is AAC. I'm playing all this through a Nvidia Shield TV box, which is more than capable of handling high quality stuff, I believe. However, my TV is very modest; an old LG Plasma 720p, 42". Does the job, but it only has one audio out port (optical out) which I use to send the audio signal to a Phillips HTL2150 soundbar w/ subwoofer. The soundbar pretty cheap and it kind of sucks, to be honest... It's just a pain in the ass to use and I find the sound from my old Logitech X-530 computer speakers to be a lot better when it comes to loud music, at least (and that's with only 2 of the 5 speakers of the X-530 system). I also feel like I'm missing out on the surround and multi-channel track possibilities from my shows and movies.

That said, I just randomly found some speakers in the crawl space of the house I'm provided for my work. They were abandoned by the previous occupant. They seem to be pretty old, but of decent quality and I'm wondering if I could rig up some kind of homemade theater system with all that. Here's what I found:




They must be old as I can't find much information online except the manual. It's clearly missing the center piece which I suppose acts as the amplifier. Now, I remember building an amplifier in high school with some very inexpensive parts, a bit of soldering and an acrylic case. Is there some kind of replacement amplifier that I could buy on amazon for dirt cheap that could make these four pieces actually work? Also, could I connect that big "Left" speaker to my Phillips subwoofer instead of the sound bar just to see what happens? Is there a danger to damage one or the other?


I also found those Mv-42, which look a lot less old (the look brand new actually). I understand that these don't require any other piece and work as a pair.Do you guys see any interesting way to make this all work together to make something fun for movie watching?


Sorry for that long post. Anything you guys can tell me will most likely be enlightening no matter if a setup is possible at all. I'll conclude by saying that I have tons of wires of all possible types, so no problem on that front. Also, I own these two devices that could be useful, but I don't think the Scarlett recording interface can be of any use when it comes to televisions...


Thanks in advance!

 

[jinjuku]

Are you wanting just HT surround? If so you will want and AVR connect the nVidia Shield to it. Then you could use a combination of the powered and pre-out section of the AVR to tie it all together.

 

[Don Harvey]

Are you wanting just HT surround? If so you will want and AVR connect the nVidia Shield to it. Then you could use a combination of the powered and pre-out section of the AVR to tie it all together.

Hey thanks! I have no idea what HT surround mean and what an AVR is, but I'm googling the terms as I write this.

 

[HardHead]

HT = Home theater.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[shadyJ]

I would stay away from the JVC speakers. They look like complete junk. The M-audio speakers should be a lot better. The JVC speakers might be OK as surround speakers, but no way I would use them as front stage speakers. I would not use that subwoofer looking thing under any circumstances.

The focusrite preamp is not built for anything other than 2 channel sound. There are ways to get a subwoofer involved there if you want, but there is no way to get surround sound mixes out of that thing.

As jinjuku said, if you want surround sound, you will need an AVR, and you will want to hook it directly up to the computer's HDMI output.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Hey thanks! I have no idea what HT surround mean and what an AVR is, but I'm googling the terms as I write this.

AVR = Audio Video receiver. Which is basically a combo unit which includes all components to switch, decode, process, control and amplify audio as well as pass-thru and/or process video signal.
You would connect your Nvidia shield TV to such AVR with hdmi and hdmi out from avr to your tv.
Your current speakers leave quite a lot to be desired. These M-audio are basically slightly upgraded version of cheap pc desktop speakers. with 3" woofer you shouldn't expect much bass out of it. 80hz-20khz specs is boolshit. You would need avr with analog pre-outs in order to use these. Most low to low-mid models don't have it, but your best bet is to aim for mid to mid-hi end pre-owned AVR models. I believe you could fairly easily find a suitable model on local craigslist at $100 or cheaper. We could help if you provide closest large US city to you.

As for pair of DACs you have - well - these are mainly useless for HT, but could be used if USB is your only option to get sound out of pc, besides (likely to be) noisy built-in analog out.

TL;DR: I agree with others above - look for used a/v receiver at about $100 point which supports at least HDMI 1.3, ie: circa 2006-2007. Denon, Marantz and Yamaha are in vendors I'd recommend.
You would also need a decent subwoofer so keep an eye for one as well.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

The M-Audio's are great stereo speakers, you will like the Sound Quality. I would try to find a way to make them work for you. They will sound much better than your Logitech's, even without a subwoofer.

Because they are self-powered, you only need line level (preamp out on an AV receiver or Pre-Processor) to get them to work.

The JVC speakers are best left in the attic where you found them. Mid-Fi at best, and not very good Mid-Fi at that. The M-Audio's will blow them away.

Does your monitor have a headphone output (the jack like you find on a smartphone)? You could use that straight into the M-Audio's.

If not, for about $30 (and up) you can buy an optical to 2-channel converter which will connect to the M-Audio speakers using a stereo RCA-RCA cable.

For a more elaborate system (5.1 multichannel) you can use an AV receiver, just make sure it has line level outputs for at least the front L+R channels to use with the M-Audios. You could add another pair of speakers and a centre channel speaker.

If that proves difficult you can use an AV receiver with what is called a Line Out Converter (LOC) that will hook up the speaker outs for front L+R to the M-Audios. Normally used in Car Audio applications but that doesn't matter, they are passive (no power required) so will work fine. You would need 3 more speakers (1 centre + 2 rears, plus a subwoofer) for a complete 5.1 system.

You don't have to do this all at once however; the optical to stereo RCA box and your existing M-Audios will get you started. You can change to the multichannel system later as funds allow.

EDIT: Looks like you already have the optical to analog converter (the smaller black box in your pictures). Hook up the optical cable to one end, a stereo RCA-RCA cable to the other (the M-Audio will also accept a RCA-Headphone mini jack cable) and into the AV-32's. Try it now, you have all the stuff you need to give those speakers a listen and decide how you like them.

The Focusrite is a nice device but I don't see an optical input. Since you would then need the smaller black box in the signal chain anyway, there is no need to add it into the mix.

To set it up, turn the volume on the AV-32's down all the way to zero, use your TV remote to set a volume "number" onscreen about maybe half way up, then turn the volume on the AV-32's up until you get a level as loud as you would want to listen. Then just use the remote to change volume from there.

Place the AV-32's so that the front baffle is a bit forward (closer to you) of the screen. You can also place them so they are completely past the screen if you have stands or something to put them on. The more "air" around the speakers, the better they will sound.

Don't place them too far apart; maximum would be the same distance apart as you sit viewing the screen, but closer (half the distance apart compared to your viewing distance) is about as close as you would want. You can "toe them in" (angled towards you) a bit. Experiment to see what sounds best.