How to Set Up a Computer to House Speakers

[BucsMAN3K]

So my brother moved into a new house. This house has 6 speakers (2 in the living room, 2 on the pool deck, and 2 in the garage), that are all wired through the attic and are bunched in a signal hub in the living room.

My brother wants me to figure out if there is a way he can play the crap loads of music he has on his computer, but have it fed through all these speakers.

I know basically nothing about speakers/audio hardware, so I was wondering if anyone could give some advice.

What I have figured out so far is this:

I need to first transmit the signal from the computer room to the hub with all the speaker cables. For this I have found
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...eative+Labs-_-29999007


Second I'm guessing I need to somehow amplify this signal and have it transmitted to the 6 speakers. But I'm not sure what I need to do this. A receiver? An amplifier? Do I need 6 channels for all 6 speakers? Or can I use two channels but have it for 3 sets of 2?

Again I really know nothing about audio hardware so any advice or explanation of how I need to do this is greatly appreciated.

 

[BassBomb]

What are they all wired to? If its a reciever with standard RCA input then all you need is a simple

Stereo Mini -> RCA L/R cable

Run stereo mini from the speaker out of your computer, to the inputs on your reciever and you are set

 

[BucsMAN3K]

Originally posted by: BassBomb
What are they all wired to? If its a reciever with standard RCA input then all you need is a simple

Stereo Mini -> RCA L/R cable

Run stereo mini from the speaker out of your computer, to the inputs on your reciever and you are set

They are currently wired to nothing. That's what I'm trying to figure out. I think I may see if my brother can find out from the current owners what kind of receiver they used. But basically I'm looking for something that can power 6 speakers. 3 sets of 2. The speakers are wall mounted and not that large.

Also, the computer room is separated by a decent distance from the living room where all these speaker wires are currently not connected to anything. I'd rather not have to reroute these wires or other wires from the computer room, which is why I was considering the wireless solution I linked above. I believe that should work as input to to the receiver right?

 

[BassBomb]

I think a 7.1 reciever would be able to do it as 3 sets of two (non independent however) used in a "6 channel stereo" mode

 

[krotchy]

Get a decent/cheap 7.1 audio receiver that can do an All Channel Stereo output mode. I know all Onkyo's have this, and basically it just takes the stereo signal and outputs it directly to L/R, Side L/R and Rear L/R (and also both channels are mixed to the center). The Onkyo 506 is a great choice for him to look into.