HELP! iBook through stereo speakers?

Mr. Monsieur said:

Does anyone know if it's possible/a good idea to play my computer audio through my new iBook? I've got nice large Sony stereo speakers, but they don't have an amp. Can I use the amp in my stereo? Do I need to buy an external amp and run it straight into the speakers (without hooking it up to the stereo)? Any thoughts/help would be MUCH appreciated!

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Do you mean you want to play the iBook audio out through your stereo and into your speakers? There are cables available at Best Buy, etc, that have a headphone jack on one end and a pair of RCA jacks on the other. Assuming your stereo has aux inputs that you're not using, you hook one end into the iBook headphone port and the other into the stereo. The only problem with this is that the headphone port is at a lower signal level than line level, so you will have to run your stereo a little louder than you normally do, and/or turn the volume on the iBook all the way up.

But I do this on occasion to listen to iTunes on my Technics receiver and Bose speakers....in this configuration, the volume knob is at about 10:00, with 6:00 being zero volume (so something like 30-35%, whereas I usually am happy with the volume of my CD changer on the same system at about 8:00 (more like 15-20%), if this makes any sense.

If you want to do better than that, you would need a pre-amp to boost the iBook to line level, but probably not worth it....

i second that,..i dont use bose..wish i cd..but i hv hooked up my ibook with sony receiver and yamaha speakers, with the rca cable..works like a charm...so yeah the pre amp wont be necessary imo..

cheers

If the stereo is struck by lightening maybe.

Mr. Monsieur said:

Thanks for the responses...One of the concerns I had (a friend mentioned that this might be an issue) is that even if I use a surge protector for the laptop, the laptop could get fried through a power surge coming through the stereo, via the speakers...is this possible or just an old wive's tale?

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I think the stereo itself should have surge protection between the speaker lines and the input lines. If you think about it, your CD changer and your DVD player and everything else hooked into the stereo receiver are under the same risk. And also, since the signal power in the speaker lines can be like 30 or 40 watts and the signal power in the line level line is less than 1 watt, if you think about it, even the normal variation in the speaker lines would fry your components if this were an issue.

What you are exposed to would potentially be surges on the power coming into the stereo receiver. You should have it on a surge protector of some kind, just like you do the computer, to protect both.