To All (Especially MODS),
I realize that this thread isn't a hot deal but after searching through 1500+ posts to try and find if it was possible to connect these speakers and sub thru a Receiver, DVD player, VCR, or etc ... i concluded that it was an inefficient use of my time and wanted to try and save some fellow AT'rs the time. Which in the long run will save them $$$$.
Hopefully everyone will be able to contribute and answer questions that alot of us have.
I also will include some reviews and tech specs. Hopefully someone else can fill iin the holes.
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TEch Specs:
Total power output: 400W RMS. Satellite 212W RMS (4 x 53w). Subwoofer: 188W RMS.
Maximum SPL: 114dba
Frequency response: 35Hz to 20 kHz
Signal to Noise ratio: >100db (A)
Input impedance: 10,000 ohms
Here is some input from fellow owners:
< I got mine today and immediately tried to figure out how to set them up to my receiver so I could set up a home theatre in my living room. For those of you that were thinking about doing the same thing and haven't tried yet, let me tell you now-these speakers are not meant to be hooked up to a receiver (unless you just want to hook the speakers up without the subwoofer-but then where's the fun in that? ). Not to say it can't be done, but let's just say it's going to take some radio shack accessories and alot of wire splicing to get the job done. If anyone has tried to do this, please post your results.
Awesome speakers, btw. >>
Your reciever is outputting "speaker" out, not line-out I suspect.
You need to have a line-out to run to these speakers.....rather, the sub-inputs. If you use the "speaker" outputs from your reciever you'll be putting amplified signal into an amplifer...which then inturn amplifies it again....this is assuming the amplifer will even do this as many will just cut out to prevent overload.
These are amplified computer speakers.....not home theatre speakers designed to be run off any amp. If you do however have an amp that you feel will not overpower them, then you should be able to connect the 4 speakers to your receiver/amp and connect the subwoofer to the sub preout on your receiver (since most subs are self amplified anyway). Your other option is if you have preouts for all 4 channels on your receiver, connect those to the sub and let the logitech amp take care of powering the speakers. However neither of these methods are recommended since most amps will overpower the speakers anyway.
There are products that will take a speaker level output and convert it to line level. I think these are commonly found in auto audio applications, or at least they used to be. I've used them in the past to create a ghetto home theater (back when no one had home theater, btw). Picture this, output of TV audio to input of 2 channel stereo. Output of 2 channel stereo to main speakers. Speaker level to line level device wired in parallel with main speakers. Line level output of device to another 2 channel stereo. Output of this 2 channel stereo to 2 12" passive subs. Anyway, pretty hack but sounded unusually good. They run around $20, I believe. Just be aware that the signal at the line level has an extra dose of distortion now that it has run through the amp section of your stereo. This will probably be unnoticeable on the Logitechs though. As nice as they are, we're not talking about audiophile quality here.
Just got these yesterday. They work with any stereo component with a headphone out jack, you may need the 1/8" headphone adapter. They sounded great hooked up to the headphone jack on my DVD player. For $115 delivered these were a great deal. To bad there are not more input/output options then I could have bought 2 sets and used one set for 2 channel stereo and the remaining speakers/sub for a 5.1 DD/DTS bedroom setup. I wonder how much the 5.1 version will cost.
guys and gals . would these make good home sterio speakers? for a small Studio Apt?
i have a sony DTS reciver. (dont worry i can bypass my amp) Ill wire it to the PRE out's
ive ben looking for small speaker's in this price range
I've heard that adding a 3 --> 2 prong AC adapter helps. The subwoofer must be picking RF interference and the input jack is acting like an antenna. Other than that, you might have a bad cable somewhere.
For anyone who's interested, I figured out that you can connect the z560 to a HT receiver using the subwoofer pre-out (w/ a Y-cable) or the preamp-outs (w/ a Y-cable). If you want a cheap receiver with preamp-outs and DD-decoding, trying the Sherwood 6090R for $150-200. I want Dolby Prologic II for simulated 5.1 sound for everything except DVDs, so I'm going to try either the Onkyo TX-DS494 or Kenwood VR-507 -- both have subwoofer pre-out -- for $300.
Since z560 can connect to an unamplified audio source, line-level (the preamp-outs and subwoofer pre-out) would be ideal. Or the headphone jack of another audio source (like CD player, TV set, VCR, portable stereo, etc.).
The z560 has 1/8" inputs for front and rear speakers.
I use a Y-cable (1/8" --> RCA red and white jacks) from Radio Shack. It costs like $2.50. If your TV doesn't have variable audio out, just use the audio out from the VCR. So basically:
antenna/TV cable from wall ---> RF in on VCR, RF out from VCR to tv set --> audio (red and white) out from VCR --> Y-cable --> subwoofer.
You might need some 1/8" --> 1/8" extension cord. It's like $10 for 25 feet from Radio Shack.
I'm not sure if you have the split the 1/8" jack from the Y-cable into 2 1/8" jacks so then you can connect to the front and rear if you want sound from all 4 speakers.
When connecting to any 2 channel source, use only the green plug and then use the M3D button to enable the rear speakers. That's mostly what it's for. The M3D processor will then provide a pseudo-surround sound effect for you. You could also use another Y and plug all 4 channels into your TV but then you'll only get 4 speaker stereo. BTW, if you adapt the 1/8" to RCA for a TV or something and you need an extension, make sure to extend the RCA cable rather than the 1/8" - RCA is much better shielded.
1st EMail Response: FROM RyogaHibiki. Thanks for the reply.
Yeah, I got it to work, but it isn't an ideal solution and it got pretty messy, but it works-sorta...
1) Don't plug anything in until you're finished or you might blow out your speakers! (If my receiver didn't have a built-in surge protection-I would of kissed my speakers good bye).
2) Go to radio shack and get a female mini-plug input to L/R male output connector. Attach this to your front speakers mini-plug. Buy a short RCA cable and cut it in half. Splice each of the open wire ends so that it splits into two bare wires each (make sure they can't touch, otherwise they'll short out). You can then plug these wires into the wire connectors to your receiver.
3) Now you have a 2.1 setup that works pretty well. Unfortunately, the same trick doesn't quite work with the rear speakers since the receiver connectors aren't the same. So I pluged the rear speakers directly into my receiver.
4) Now comes the tweaking. You'll probably need to adjust the receiver volume with the speaker remote volume so that you can hear all the speakers. Also, if there isn't enough bass, the front speakers sound kinda 'tinny'.
Alot of people get credit for contributing. Sorry i didn't mention anyone but my eyes are going crazy right about NOW!!!
ANY input is very much appreciated.
Thanks,
BG
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Moved from Hot Deals by AnandTech Moderator
I realize that this thread isn't a hot deal but after searching through 1500+ posts to try and find if it was possible to connect these speakers and sub thru a Receiver, DVD player, VCR, or etc ... i concluded that it was an inefficient use of my time and wanted to try and save some fellow AT'rs the time. Which in the long run will save them $$$$.
Hopefully everyone will be able to contribute and answer questions that alot of us have.
I also will include some reviews and tech specs. Hopefully someone else can fill iin the holes.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
TEch Specs:
Total power output: 400W RMS. Satellite 212W RMS (4 x 53w). Subwoofer: 188W RMS.
Maximum SPL: 114dba
Frequency response: 35Hz to 20 kHz
Signal to Noise ratio: >100db (A)
Input impedance: 10,000 ohms
Here is some input from fellow owners:
< I got mine today and immediately tried to figure out how to set them up to my receiver so I could set up a home theatre in my living room. For those of you that were thinking about doing the same thing and haven't tried yet, let me tell you now-these speakers are not meant to be hooked up to a receiver (unless you just want to hook the speakers up without the subwoofer-but then where's the fun in that? ). Not to say it can't be done, but let's just say it's going to take some radio shack accessories and alot of wire splicing to get the job done. If anyone has tried to do this, please post your results.
Awesome speakers, btw. >>
Your reciever is outputting "speaker" out, not line-out I suspect.
You need to have a line-out to run to these speakers.....rather, the sub-inputs. If you use the "speaker" outputs from your reciever you'll be putting amplified signal into an amplifer...which then inturn amplifies it again....this is assuming the amplifer will even do this as many will just cut out to prevent overload.
These are amplified computer speakers.....not home theatre speakers designed to be run off any amp. If you do however have an amp that you feel will not overpower them, then you should be able to connect the 4 speakers to your receiver/amp and connect the subwoofer to the sub preout on your receiver (since most subs are self amplified anyway). Your other option is if you have preouts for all 4 channels on your receiver, connect those to the sub and let the logitech amp take care of powering the speakers. However neither of these methods are recommended since most amps will overpower the speakers anyway.
There are products that will take a speaker level output and convert it to line level. I think these are commonly found in auto audio applications, or at least they used to be. I've used them in the past to create a ghetto home theater (back when no one had home theater, btw). Picture this, output of TV audio to input of 2 channel stereo. Output of 2 channel stereo to main speakers. Speaker level to line level device wired in parallel with main speakers. Line level output of device to another 2 channel stereo. Output of this 2 channel stereo to 2 12" passive subs. Anyway, pretty hack but sounded unusually good. They run around $20, I believe. Just be aware that the signal at the line level has an extra dose of distortion now that it has run through the amp section of your stereo. This will probably be unnoticeable on the Logitechs though. As nice as they are, we're not talking about audiophile quality here.
Just got these yesterday. They work with any stereo component with a headphone out jack, you may need the 1/8" headphone adapter. They sounded great hooked up to the headphone jack on my DVD player. For $115 delivered these were a great deal. To bad there are not more input/output options then I could have bought 2 sets and used one set for 2 channel stereo and the remaining speakers/sub for a 5.1 DD/DTS bedroom setup. I wonder how much the 5.1 version will cost.
guys and gals . would these make good home sterio speakers? for a small Studio Apt?
i have a sony DTS reciver. (dont worry i can bypass my amp) Ill wire it to the PRE out's
ive ben looking for small speaker's in this price range
I've heard that adding a 3 --> 2 prong AC adapter helps. The subwoofer must be picking RF interference and the input jack is acting like an antenna. Other than that, you might have a bad cable somewhere.
For anyone who's interested, I figured out that you can connect the z560 to a HT receiver using the subwoofer pre-out (w/ a Y-cable) or the preamp-outs (w/ a Y-cable). If you want a cheap receiver with preamp-outs and DD-decoding, trying the Sherwood 6090R for $150-200. I want Dolby Prologic II for simulated 5.1 sound for everything except DVDs, so I'm going to try either the Onkyo TX-DS494 or Kenwood VR-507 -- both have subwoofer pre-out -- for $300.
Since z560 can connect to an unamplified audio source, line-level (the preamp-outs and subwoofer pre-out) would be ideal. Or the headphone jack of another audio source (like CD player, TV set, VCR, portable stereo, etc.).
The z560 has 1/8" inputs for front and rear speakers.
I use a Y-cable (1/8" --> RCA red and white jacks) from Radio Shack. It costs like $2.50. If your TV doesn't have variable audio out, just use the audio out from the VCR. So basically:
antenna/TV cable from wall ---> RF in on VCR, RF out from VCR to tv set --> audio (red and white) out from VCR --> Y-cable --> subwoofer.
You might need some 1/8" --> 1/8" extension cord. It's like $10 for 25 feet from Radio Shack.
I'm not sure if you have the split the 1/8" jack from the Y-cable into 2 1/8" jacks so then you can connect to the front and rear if you want sound from all 4 speakers.
When connecting to any 2 channel source, use only the green plug and then use the M3D button to enable the rear speakers. That's mostly what it's for. The M3D processor will then provide a pseudo-surround sound effect for you. You could also use another Y and plug all 4 channels into your TV but then you'll only get 4 speaker stereo. BTW, if you adapt the 1/8" to RCA for a TV or something and you need an extension, make sure to extend the RCA cable rather than the 1/8" - RCA is much better shielded.
1st EMail Response: FROM RyogaHibiki. Thanks for the reply.
Yeah, I got it to work, but it isn't an ideal solution and it got pretty messy, but it works-sorta...
1) Don't plug anything in until you're finished or you might blow out your speakers! (If my receiver didn't have a built-in surge protection-I would of kissed my speakers good bye).
2) Go to radio shack and get a female mini-plug input to L/R male output connector. Attach this to your front speakers mini-plug. Buy a short RCA cable and cut it in half. Splice each of the open wire ends so that it splits into two bare wires each (make sure they can't touch, otherwise they'll short out). You can then plug these wires into the wire connectors to your receiver.
3) Now you have a 2.1 setup that works pretty well. Unfortunately, the same trick doesn't quite work with the rear speakers since the receiver connectors aren't the same. So I pluged the rear speakers directly into my receiver.
4) Now comes the tweaking. You'll probably need to adjust the receiver volume with the speaker remote volume so that you can hear all the speakers. Also, if there isn't enough bass, the front speakers sound kinda 'tinny'.
Alot of people get credit for contributing. Sorry i didn't mention anyone but my eyes are going crazy right about NOW!!!
ANY input is very much appreciated.
Thanks,
BG
---
Moved from Hot Deals by AnandTech Moderator
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