Please help with PC audio system.

[Alorand]

Ok, I freely admit that all of my life I have been ignoring audio quality. Using the audio chip on board my motherboard and a set of old Logitech 5.1 speakers.
I decided to change that this time, and while putting my PC together bought a set of Infinity TSS-800 5.1 surround speakers on sale for $250. thinking I would spend about $90-150 more buying cables and a good sound card, and enjoy good audio quality for years to come.

Then I started looking at what cables I would need and was shocked to learn that the amplifier in the subwoofer only powers the subwoofer, and I need something called a 'receiver' to actually make my speakers work.

Now the Speakers arrive tomorrow according to the tracking information. And I have make the decision then whether to send them back and get my money back, and suffer along without knowing what good sound quality is
OR
Figure out how I am going to fit both a receiver and a soundcard into my somewhat limited budget.

Please, o wise and beneficent audiophile sages, you are my only hope.
(too over the top? )

What should I do and what do you think I need to buy to make this work as cheaply as possible.

Additional information: My computer is in a 7' x 12' room, and the speakers are going to surround a 6' x 6' area with up to 3 people sitting in it. (I like playing my computer games with friends)
I also have access to soldering irons and electrical engineers I can convince to help me if a Do-It-Yourself solution is somehow possible for building an amp and getting the data from the sound card.

 

[sholling]

The cheapest solution is to look on Craigs List for a used 5.1 or 7.1 receiver but make sure you test it and that it has a digital input. The bright side of a receiver is that if your motherboard's on-board sound card has digital out (optical or coax) then you probably won't need a new sound card. That's because when using the digital out you're just feeding the receiver bits and the receiver does the work. Or if you want new and you're in then US the Accessories For Less has factory refurbished Onkyo receivers from $160-190 or more that will do what you want. These two are the latest models and I'd probably go for the 508 for the auto calibration feature.

TX-SR308
TX-SR508

Save a few bucks (like a lot) by getting speaker wire, subwoofer cable, and your optical cable at monoprice.com.

 

[Alorand]

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Are you sure that I can get by without buying a dedicated soundcard?

I have MSI's P67A-GD65 motherboard, which has both coaxial and optical S/PDIF out, and analog audio ports for each channel.

If I am understanding you correctly, the S/PDIF outs carry a raw unprocessed audio signal, that instead of being processed by the on board or dedicated audio chips, is being processed by the receiver.

If it is true that a receiver works as both an amplifier and a sound card then that is great news. I should be able to afford one of the ones you linked to depending on how much the cables cost.

By the way, any advice on what I need to look for when choosing good cables?

 

[audit13]

If your pc has an hdmi output, your receiver has an hdmi input, and your receiver will decode the audio signal (Dolby Digital DTS, etc.), you could connect a single hdmi cable between your pc and receiver since hdmi carries both audio and video.

I wouldn't spend a lot on cables because it isn't necessary. Check out monoprice.com for some good prices and info.

 

[sholling]

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Are you sure that I can get by without buying a dedicated soundcard?

I have MSI's P67A-GD65 motherboard, which has both coaxial and optical S/PDIF out, and analog audio ports for each channel.

If I am understanding you correctly, the S/PDIF outs carry a raw unprocessed audio signal, that instead of being processed by the on board or dedicated audio chips, is being processed by the receiver.

You got it.

If it is true that a receiver works as both an amplifier and a sound card then that is great news. I should be able to afford one of the ones you linked to depending on how much the cables cost.

See if this toslink cable fits your budget. They have other lengths as well but you want the ones without the fancy metal tip.

By the way, any advice on what I need to look for when choosing good cables?

Don't spend a lot of money on fancy cables it's completely unnecessary. There are members running $2000 speakers with $0.20 or $0.25/foot Monoprice 14 or 12ga speaker wire. For short runs like that 16ga speaker wire should be plenty, or you can splurge on 14ga but sometimes satellite speakers don't have room for bigger cables. I haven't seen your speakers so I can't say for sure. You'll also need a good coax subwoofer cable and I'm going to guess 6' but they have longer and shorter.

 

[Alorand]

Reading a list of audio terms off of another site, describing audio quality, and I got a sense of what I have been missing all of these years. So happy I decided to invest in better sound quality this time around. Although I bet the speakers I got would not get the highest praise by true audioholic standards.

Ok, well with your advice I got the cables figured out.
50 ft of 14 gauge reduced oxygen copper wire
10ft optical 5.0mm toslink to toslink (or HDMI if I get that figured out down below.)
6ft coaxial for the subwoofer

I am planning to go with the second Receiver you linked to. The Onkyo TX-SR508.
Are the ones off of Accessories4Less refurbished? Thats what I assume 'Factory Reconditioned' means.
Would it then be worth another $25 to buy a new one off of Amazon?

As far as HDMI outputs, I don't have one on my motherboard, but I have a number of spare ones on my Graphics card - Radeon 6950.
I heard there was a way to feed the digital sound out through that, and that it would sound better, somehow, for playing Blue-ray movies.
Something about having a wider bandwidth then the S/PDIF Toslink.

 

[its phillip]

If it's only $25 more for a brand new unit, I'd definitely get the new one...and yes, you can use the hdmi port on the video card for your audio as well.

 

[davidtwotrees]

..........as long as the new one for $25 more was from an authorized seller. No warranty is no warranty, new or not.

 

[sholling]

Ok, well with your advice I got the cables figured out.
50 ft of 14 gauge reduced oxygen copper wire
10ft optical 5.0mm toslink to toslink (or HDMI if I get that figured out down below.)
6ft coaxial for the subwoofer

Looks good. I usually spend the extra $2-3 and pick up a spare toslink cable just in case I damage one over time. It's cheaper than ordering a replacement later.

I am planning to go with the second Receiver you linked to. The Onkyo TX-SR508.
Are the ones off of Accessories4Less refurbished? Thats what I assume 'Factory Reconditioned' means.
Would it then be worth another $25 to buy a new one off of Amazon?

For $25 I'd go with Amazon as long as it's an authorized seller.

As far as HDMI outputs, I don't have one on my motherboard, but I have a number of spare ones on my Graphics card - Radeon 6950.
I heard there was a way to feed the digital sound out through that, and that it would sound better, somehow, for playing Blue-ray movies.
Something about having a wider bandwidth then the S/PDIF Toslink.

HDMI is a must for the best Blu-Ray audio I'm just not sure if there is any kind of a millisecond video delay by routing video through the receiver. Probably not with pass-through but I don't know for sure. Personally I like the extra HDMI ports for a second or third monitor.

 

[emaja]

+1 on Monoprice. Great cables at a great price.

I also encourage you to look at Onkyo. I have the SR608 and am absolutely THRILLED by it. I am using it for my HT setup, so I needed more HDMI inputs than the 308 or 508 already mentioned.

Onkyo has some great receivers in their price range.