I am a 100% newbie when it comes to speakers and I need quick help.

[AirForceElite]

Hello again folks.

For pretty much all of my computer life, I never had any speakers that were priced more than $20.

Nor I had headphones, as all my headphones were dollar store bought.
Anyways, that was for small intro.

Thanks to Boxing Day, I was able to buy Logitech X-540 which is a 5.1 speaker system for very cheap from Best Buy.

Due to the fact that I never owned even a 2.1 system (always had plain speakers) I don't know how this stuff works.
Can anybody help me with the following questions:

1) What sort of cables do I need to connect 5.1 speakers to PC?

2) I have a built-in sound card that comes with motherboard and it has 3 holes: Microphone, Speakers/Headphones and LineIn (don't know what it is for). So where do I plug it in?

3) Where is the Subwoofer have to be in relations to me? Facing me directly? on the side?

4) How do I listen to something that has will utilize 5.1 technology? All my mp3's are in stereo, so that means 2 channels only...right?
So what happens when i listen to an mp3 that has only 2 channels on 5.1 speakers? Does the sound come up from all speakers or just some?

 

[0roo0roo]

the Logitech X-540 aren't expensive, they are low end 5.1. don't expect much sound quality from them.

the set should include all wires required.
your m/b might not have 5.1 output.
subwoofer should be under yourdesk/near the wall/touching the wall. it shouldn't be too far from the speakers if it is to blend with the sound. esp with little dinky systems like thsi one where the sub puts out some midrange sound as well. being next to a wall generally reinforces bass, in a corner if its close will do more, but it maybe too much. boosted lousy bass is still lousy
and yes it must be on the floor.

music is stereo. some media players will fake expand this to 5.1 using echoey effects. whether this sounds good to you is personal opinion. some soundcards probably give you a choice on what kind of output to put out. fake expanded stereo sound or simply putting out same left right signals in the rear speakers and ignoring center channel. to be honest you aren't going to get much musical quality out of that set. it was built to deliver cheap directional sound for dvd and video gaming.

apparently it has a "matrix mode". just stereo expansion. just use that.