Ideas for connecting Klipsch computer speakers & sub to receiver

[kalrith]

I have this other thread going right now, but I'm still not sure if I'm going to upgrade my main receiver (Panasonic XR55) and move it into the computer room or if I should buy a budget receiver for the computer room. I had grand plans about upgrading my whole living-room system and moving it into the computer room, but I'm having second thoughts about spending thousands more dollars than I really need to. When I watched Spiderman 3 in Blu-Ray the other night, I was very pleased with the sound.

I have the Klipsch Promedia 4.1 speakers for my computer, and for various reasons want to connect them to a receiver rather than directly to the computer (mainly that my control pod is starting to fail, and I want it to be easier to connect my DVR to the computer speakers). My two concerns are what to look for in a receiver since they are 4-ohm speakers and if it's possible to connect my computer sub to the receiver.

In case you're wondering what my current setup is, here it is:

• Pioneer 5080
  Panasonic XR55
  PS3
  DirecTV HD-DVR (HR21)
  Polk R50 (mains)
  Polk CSi25 (center)
  Polk R15 (surrounds)

 

[Slick5150]

4ohm speakers are going to put more strain on a receiver and can cause it to overheat. That being said, I was using a Yamaha receiver to power 5 Klipsch Promedia GMX speakers (also 4ohm) for years without problem. A quality receiver can generally do ok with it (even if it doesn't officially support it), a cheaper one might struggle/break.

I think you're out of luck with the subwoofer though. Unless I'm mistaken, the only input on the subwoofer is the dedicated control pod input, so there wouldn't be a way to get a signal to it from the receiver.

 

[kalrith]

From some more research I've read of others connecting the promedia sub by connecting the two 3.5mm cables into this and then this adapter and connect that into the sub connection on the receiver. Here are the threads I found on the subject:

• http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/90052.aspx
  http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=899322
  http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=928517
  http://forums.klipsch.com/foru...224/933774.aspx#933774

What do you guys think of that idea?

 

[Muadib]

I'm lost. What are you going to do with the Polk setup?

I used to have the Promedia 4.1 speakers. The sub blew when I was playing Warcraft 3 one day. I can't imagine using them for home theater.

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: Muadib
I'm lost. What are you going to do with the Polk setup?

I used to have the Promedia 4.1 speakers. The sub blew when I was playing Warcraft 3 one day. I can't imagine using them for home theater.

I just threw that in there to give a little background to my story. My original thoughts were to upgrade my Polk setup and then move the Polks into the computer room. Now I'm thinking that that would cost too much for someone who really enjoys the sound of the Polks. I guess I added information that was irrelevant to the main point of this thread, but I keep second guessing myself and can't decide whether or not the Polks are good enough for my HT setup.

I won't be using the Promedias for my main home-theater system. They'll be used for 85% computer usage (music & games), 10% satellite-TV usage, and 5% DVDs.

 

[alcoholbob]

So is the only reason you need a receiver is for amplification? Is the promedias perfectly suitable for you? If you want something better you could upgrade your front channels and then use the 4 satellites as rears and rear surrounds.

As far as the subwoofer, I don't know what kind of input it uses but on the PM 4.1 the preamp input looks similar to s-video (but isn't obviously). I don't know if you can find an adaptor to plug it into a receiver to be honest.

As far as power...tiny satellites with 1" tweeters and 3" midranges are never going to strain an amplifier--the midrange drivers will explode from excursion before the amp clips, I guarantee you that.

 

[Muadib]

I agree that your Panny should have no problem driving the 4 speakers. I'm not so sure about the sub though. It's been years since I had them, but I don't recall anyway to hook the sub into the receiver.

The sub connects to the little control preamp with a din plug. The 3.5mm cables come out of the preamp into the pc. I just checked the manual to confirm my memory, and that indeed appears to be the case.

 

[Muadib]

DP

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: Astrallite
So is the only reason you need a receiver is for amplification? Is the promedias perfectly suitable for you? If you want something better you could upgrade your front channels and then use the 4 satellites as rears and rear surrounds.

As far as the subwoofer, I don't know what kind of input it uses but on the PM 4.1 the preamp input looks similar to s-video (but isn't obviously). I don't know if you can find an adaptor to plug it into a receiver to be honest.

As far as power...tiny satellites with 1" tweeters and 3" midranges are never going to strain an amplifier--the midrange drivers will explode from excursion before the amp clips, I guarantee you that.

Here are the reasons for using the receiver. The control pod for my speakers is flaking out on me to the extent that I lose sound from a couple of speakers when I just touch the volume nob on the speakers, so I don't use that any more; however, I recently lost all sound to one of my rear surrounds and have not been able to get it back. I would like to add a center channel for 5.1 surround sound. I would also like to be able to get sound from my DVR to the speakers without the computer having to be on (right now I have the DVR connected to the line in on my sound card).

I am pleased with the speakers, and I think it's just the control system that's flaking out. I realize they aren't the greatest speakers, but they work just fine for the gaming, music, and TV that I listen to. They would certainly be lacking for full-blown HT.

Originally posted by: Muadib
I agree that your Panny should have no problem driving the 4 speakers. I'm not so sure about the sub though. It's been years since I had them, but I don't recall anyway to hook the sub into the receiver.

The sub connects to the little control preamp with a din plug. The 3.5mm cables come out of the preamp into the pc. I just checked the manual to confirm my memory, and that indeed appears to be the case.

That is correct. However, did you look at my post above? I could leave the sub hooked up to the control pod and remove the control pod from the speakers. Then I'd be left with the two 3.5mm cables that normally plug into the PC. I could plug those cables into a cable with two 3.5mm female plugs and one 3.5mm male. Then I could plug the male into an adapter with one female 3.5mm and one male RCA and plug the RCA into the sub output on the receiver. Do you think that would work? Would there be any risk to the receiver to just try it?

 

[Muadib]

After reading the links you posted, it should work. Just to sure to set your speakers to small, and to set the crossover for the sub in your XR55 to 120 hertz. You should also max out the volume on the preamp, so the XR55 will control the volume of the sub.

 

[Raider1284]

I have a 2.1 klipsch setup hooked up to my denon receiver so I thought I would share how I got my sub working. I used the large headphone jack on the front of the receiver to connect my sub. I used adapters to hookup the normal (3.55mm?) sub headphone jack to the receiver headphone jack. My speakers are hooked up the the receiver directly using speaker wire. It works beautifully and I dont have to set any crossover frequencies since the mini receiver in the sub does it for me.

Thought this might be able to help you out.

 

[kalrith]

Thanks guys for the help. It definitely seems doable, which is encouraging. I'll probably try connecting it to the sub pre-out first. If that doesn't work I'll try Raider's method. I didn't want to put more money than necessary into my computer speaker system.

Now I just need to buy a receiver and hopefully find a cheap promedia center speaker.

 

[Slick5150]

Couldn't you just buy a replacement control pod off eBay or something? Seems like itd be a lot easier than what you're trying to do.

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: Slick5150
Couldn't you just buy a replacement control pod off eBay or something? Seems like itd be a lot easier than what you're trying to do.

That would be easier, but it would only reach one of my goals, which is getting the surround speakers to work again. I would like to add a center channel, which is impossible without hooking up the speakers to a receiver. I'd also like to be able to get sound from my DVR to my speakers without the computer having to be on. Dolby surround from the DVR would be another nice plus. Being able to control the volume with a remote would also be nice (although I suppose I could get a remote for my computer).

The control pods going bad seems to be a fairly common occurrence, so I don't want to have to deal with possibly buying another one every few years. Mine worked great for about 4 years and has been giving me a lot of problems for the past 4 years.

 

[Slick5150]

Ah, that's right. Well, like I said, I didn't have any problem connecting my Klipsch GMX system to a Yamaha receiver so that part shouldn't be a problem for you, but the GMX subwoofer had a dedicated subwoofer input as well so I could just hook that up to the receiver directly.

 

[iRONic]

This guy successfully mods the THX control pods.

I had a 4.1 system that had the BASH amp fail. I sent it to Klipsch for warranty repair. They couldn't get parts so they sent me a complete new Promedia Ultra 5.1 system.

I put a 3/4" plywood back and =/- connector on the 4.1 sub and hooked the entire setup to my crappy Sony HTIB receiver. It was much better than the Sony speakers and worked fine. The LFE channel did not use the 3.5" jack.

 

[DavidWebb]

Originally posted by: Raider1284
I have a 2.1 klipsch setup hooked up to my denon receiver so I thought I would share how I got my sub working. I used the large headphone jack on the front of the receiver to connect my sub. I used adapters to hookup the normal (3.55mm?) sub headphone jack to the receiver headphone jack. My speakers are hooked up the the receiver directly using speaker wire. It works beautifully and I dont have to set any crossover frequencies since the mini receiver in the sub does it for me.

Thought this might be able to help you out.

You don't by any chance have the klipsch 2.1 gmx multi-media speakers do you?