Logitech 5.1 speakers and Mac Pro

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With our Sony Vaio came Logitech 5.1 speakers. They plug into 5 or 6 color coded ports on the back of the Sony tower. Now that I have the Mac Pro coming (the 27th of Dec.) I was wondering if there was any type of adapter that can be had to route these directly or indirectly, single or dual use) into the Mac and/or PC.

If not, any recommendations as to a decent sound system for the Mac Pro? Not over the top, just, a nice sound system that is not budget busting. As always, Thanks.

 

[Eidorian]

http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-FireW...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1198533360&sr=8-1

 

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I took a look at this and it sounds good I just couldn't see if it had enough ports for the 5 connectors for my base and satellite speakers. Seems it only takes three.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

could you show us a picture, I've never seen 5-6 wires for any computer systems...

What you seem to be hinting at is that there is the amp in the laptop. Do the speakers and subs go directly into the computer or do they run through the sub/amp...

 

[bmb012]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/cu...f=cm_ciu_pdp_images_0?ie=UTF8&index=0#gallery

Yeah, 3 stereo minijacks. Check out the description.

 

[Big-TDI-Guy]

Audio is ALL a matter of taste - so disregard any immediate flames I may get, or strong opinions.

But in my taste / opinion - the Logitech Z5500 gives a LOT of bang for your buck - I've had mine (I think almost 3 years now?!?) - and back THEN I got them for less than $200 off of Amazon.com.

Multiple inputs (mp3, optical, spdif (coax) and the triple-input you have right now). The only issue I had - was a semi-poor filtered amplifier (it would pick up electromagnetic "pops" from hi-current light switches and motors being turned on) I picked up a 20 dollar EMI protected power strip (a good idea for your computer anyhow) and it's been fine ever since.

Advertised @ 1000W peak (but I'd say realistically 350W RMS) - but with a 10 inch sub, it hits very low, but is not over powering. Handles mids and highs surprisingly well. Does dolby decoding all by itself, blah blah blah.

So if you can grab one for 200 or less - I'd say they can't be beat.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

TDI guy gave a great review and suggestion.

If you want a 2.1, the Altec Lansing FX6021 is a great option, I still don't understand what you are talking about your speakers...

 

[Big-TDI-Guy]

My friends old Sony had that - though his speakers were not Logitech -

It uses a 5 or 6 wire setup - with each plug carrying only one channel. (front left, front right, center, and so on...) The other variant of this is also a 1/4" headphone style jack, each carries 2 channels per plug (front left/right, rear left right, center/sub).

Newer setups now encode the data - to carry more information in a digital format. SPDIF (optical) can carry 5.1 channel sound on a single fiber. As does the digital "Coax" plug. The latter 2 tend to sound better, as it's raw data being sent - and seems to pick up less noise.

But anyhow - I had been under the impression that the OP was speaking of the 1/4" jacks.

 

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could you show us a picture, I've never seen 5-6 wires for any computer systems...

What you seem to be hinting at is that there is the amp in the laptop. Do the speakers and subs go directly into the computer or do they run through the sub/amp...

It's a Sony Vaio Desktop.

 

[Cave Man]

could you show us a picture, I've never seen 5-6 wires for any computer systems...

It's the PC Way (TM) . Most PCs ship with analog 5.1 (or 7.1) discrete outputs. These are often sent via 3 or 4 stereo plugs to an appropriate stereo speakers.

Macs all ship with dual-function analog stereo (max 5-channel surround)/digital optical (capable of passthrough of media audio files) via a TOSLINK cable. This is the better way since it lets the receiver do the decoding work, and not the Mac. The Mac will send Dolby Digital, DTS or whatever happens to be encoded in the file (provided passthrough is supported by the app, such as DVD Player app and VLC; Quicktime doesn't, yet ). The Mac only has to worry about dealing with the video.

Quite frankly, for $250 you can get exceptional sound from a HTIB with optical input. I have an Onkyo system that's a couple of years old. Its successor, the HT-SR600, is a 5.1 DD/DTS system with receiver and 6 speakers, including the passive subwoofer for the LFE signal of DD/DTS, thus provides an inexpensive basis for a very nice home theater/entertainment system. Unless the computer is in a small room, this is really the way to go, IMO.

Some of the PC guys are catching on. There are new versions of the VAIO that ship with the Santa Rosa chipset, which has optical audio out built into it.

 

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Thanks eidorian, just got it from Amazon. Also, just got home and haven't had the chance to set it up yet. However, this thread has plugged in a lot of holes that I was missing. There are only three pins, not 4 or 5 as I stated. Not used to all the fluff. Thanks to you all. (even those that wandered off message! )

 

[Big-TDI-Guy]

Thanks eidorian, just got it from Amazon. Also, just got home and haven't had the chance to set it up yet. However, this thread has plugged in a lot of holes that I was missing. There are only three pins, not 4 or 5 as I stated. Not used to all the fluff. Thanks to you all. (even those that wandered off message! )

FYI - if you got to Z5500s - the sub surround (at least on the one I got) was very tight. (the surround is the "rubber" piece going around the outside of the cone) So do not crank the volume all the way up (especially with bass) until you've been running it for around 4 or 5 hours. To allow the surround to "soften up" - this will make it sound better, and prevent you from tearing or rupturing it.

This goes for anything else aside form the 5500 that can thump out some serious bass and has a lot of cone-throw.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Tucom]

FYI - if you got to Z5500s - the sub surround (at least on the one I got) was very tight. (the surround is the "rubber" piece going around the outside of the cone) So do not crank the volume all the way up (especially with bass) until you've been running it for around 4 or 5 hours. To allow the surround to "soften up" - this will make it sound better, and prevent you from tearing or rupturing it.

This goes for anything else aside form the 5500 that can thump out some serious bass and has a lot of cone-throw.

Best of luck to you.

This loosening up of the surround is called the "break in" period of a speaker, and applies to all drivers (the part in of the speaker that moves to produce the sound), not only larger bass drivers; tweeters need their break in time, too.

It is very important to let a newly purchased speaker to run at low to medium volumes for a couple months, at least a couple weeks, as to let the driver loosen up, or break in.

Peace