PC Speakers

[arpande]

I am working on Windows 2000 Professional with the following specifications:

CPU---------------> P-IV 2.80 GHz
RAM--------------> 128MB
Hard Disk--------> 20GB (C:-9GB, D:-9GB, F:-2GB)
Service Pack----> SP4

I have a 2000 Watts (with Sub-Woofer) speakers with these specifications. The problem is one of the speakers (a.k.a. satellite) stops responding intermittently when I use it at the max volume i.e. when the PC sound (which can be accessed by opening "Sounds & Multimedia" from the Control Panel), Windows Media Player 9.0 sound & the speakers sound is at the maxmimum volume i.e. all 3 sounds are maximum but the same problem doesn't creep up when these sounds at a lower volume. The external 2000W speaker has been serviced many a times but the same problem comes up after some time. Now the vendor is telling that the problem lies in my machine & not the speaker as the problem arises only when the speaker is used at the maximum volume.

Now what I would like to know is whether the claim made by the vendor is genuine i.e. could the problem be because of the sound card in my PC or is he just trying to pass the buck on my PC? I hardly have any knowledge in this field & hence am posting my queries in this newsgroup!

Also I would like to know how do I find out whether a sound card is installed in my PC or not? If installed, how do I find out which sound card is installed, whether it supports 2000 Watts speakers with Sub-Woofer, what is the maximum wattage capacity it supports? For e.g. will it support, say, 3000W or 4000W or 5000W or 10000W speakers etc.? If not, what extra hardware is required to ensure that such high wattage speakers are supported by my PC?

Thanks,

Arpan :music::music::music:

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Welcome to the forums.... uh... what kind of speakers do you have? If you don't know, you don't have 2000watt speakers

If you have 2000watt speakers and you have everything set at maximum, your head would probably explode (depending on their efficiency of course).

The speaker wattage (which is really how much power the amp is putting out) is independent of the soundcard you're using.

First tell us what kind speakers you have.

EDIT: I spent about $1300 on my sound setup and my wattage is only rated at 650.

 

[Gerbil333]

Now the vendor is telling that the problem lies in my machine & not the speaker as the problem arises only when the speaker is used at the maximum volume.

That's the problem. You're not supposed to turn *any* system past 75% volume. Technically, you shouldn't allow any clipping at all, but ~75% is considered to be the point of danger for clipping. Research audio and you'll learn that quickly. To be perfectly safe, never use bass boost or EQ features (unless you won't to lower a frequency--just don't inrease a frequency band).

Also I would like to know how do I find out whether a sound card is installed in my PC or not? If installed, how do I find out which sound card is installed, whether it supports 2000 Watts speakers with Sub-Woofer, what is the maximum wattage capacity it supports? For e.g. will it support, say, 3000W or 4000W or 5000W or 10000W speakers etc.? If not, what extra hardware is required to ensure that such high wattage speakers are supported by my PC?

How do you find out if you have a sound card? Well...you have sound, so you have a sound device. If you mean, "How do I find out if I have integrated sound or a PCI sound card," then you could easily open the case and check where your speakers are plugged into. The they plug into a port that isn't part of the motherboard, then it's not integrated.

Last, there's no specification for "maximum wattage capacity." A signal is a signal. A sound system utilizes an amp to magnify a signal into X watts. The sound card is not responsible for the power--the sound system's amplifier is.

I advise you to Google some basic audio information. This site is for car audio, but the same rules general rules apply to all audio systems.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

The "2000watts" the vendor is giving you is probably PMPO rating, which is worthless.

They're probably under 50 watts rms.

Look at the back of your computer if you don't want to open it. There should be a metal rectangle with a bunch of different connections on it (like keyboard/mouse, USB, printer port, etc.) If you plug in your speakers into jacks that are within this rectange, you have integrated sound.

If the speakers plug in lower, into a horizontal grouping towards the bottom of the back of the case, you have a soundcard.

 

[arpande]

Thanks, mate, for the prompt response but I couldn't exactly follow what do you mean by "what kind of speakers"? Are you asking the manufacturer's name? If so, then the speakers are 'Intex' made. Let me know if I have misinterpreted your question.

I have a high endurance level & can easily digest 2000 Watts music with everything set to maximum! As far as the cost of my sound setup is concerned, I have spent less than $40 for the 2000W system!

Thanks once again,

Regards,

Arpan

 

[Gerbil333]

Originally posted by: arpande
I have a high endurance level & can easily digest 2000 Watts music with everything set to maximum! As far as the cost of my sound setup is concerned, I have spent less than $40 for the 2000W system!

No you didn't...

 

[ts3433]

Generic $40 speakers rated at "2000W?" Garbage--toss 'em.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: arpande
Thanks, mate, for the prompt response but I couldn't exactly follow what do you mean by "what kind of speakers"? Are you asking the manufacturer's name? If so, then the speakers are 'Intex' made. Let me know if I have misinterpreted your question.

I have a high endurance level & can easily digest 2000 Watts music with everything set to maximum! As far as the cost of my sound setup is concerned, I have spent less than $40 for the 2000W system!

Thanks once again,

Regards,

Arpan

Ok, if it's $40 it's not really 2000watts. It's probably a PMPO rating meaning peak momentary power output. You're not really listening to anything close to 2000watts RMS.

For example, Klipsch promedia ultras are about 500 watts and are about the most powerful comptuer speakers you can get.

In order to get a 2000watt system, you'd probably end up spending over $1000 on a receiver that does 120watts x 7 + another $2000-ish on a 1000watt subwoofer + $3000 on speakers to go with it.

If you're not satisfied with the volume level, get some more powerful computer speakers. Yours are not really 2000watts. A system like the z-5300s or 2.1 promedias would be some nice reasonably priced upgrades from a generic $40 system.

Is your system you have now 2.1 or 5.1? You soundcard (or integrated sound) may or may not support multichannel audio. How many jacks are around where you plug in your speakers? In general: Pink is mic, Blue is line-in, Green is for 2.1 speakers, Black is used too in 4.1 speakers, and yellow is also used for 5.1 speakers.

 

[Gerbil333]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Ok, if it's $40 it's not really 2000watts. It's probably a PMPO rating meaning peak momentary power output. You're not really listening to anything close to 2000watts RMS.

For example, Klipsch promedia ultras are about 500 watts and are about the most powerful comptuer speakers you can get.

In order to get a 2000watt system, you'd probably end up spending over $1000 on a receiver that does 120watts x 7 + another $2000-ish on a 1000watt subwoofer + $3000 on speakers to go with it.

If you're not satisfied with the volume level, get some more powerful computer speakers. Yours are not really 2000watts. A system like the z-5300s or 2.1 promedias would be some nice reasonably priced upgrades from a generic $40 system.

Is your system you have now 2.1 or 5.1? You soundcard (or integrated sound) may or may not support multichannel audio. How many jacks are around where you plug in your speakers? In general: Pink is mic, Blue is line-in, Green is for 2.1 speakers, Black is used too in 4.1 speakers, and yellow is also used for 5.1 speakers.

That's exactly what I would have said had I felt like spending more time typing. He's an example: I have an Infinity Perfect 12.1 subwoofer in my car. It's rated at 1400W maximum, but its RMS rating is only 350W.

In another instance, I used a cheap 350W RMS amp. It sounded weak even with the gains turned all the way up (a no no, btw). I replaced it with one of the popular JBL BP600.1 amps, which is only rated to do 300W RMS. My sub is now twice as loud as it was with the cheap amp, and the gain isn't even turned up half way.

You get what you pay for, and I gaurantee you that your $40 is no where near 2000W RMS. I doubt the PMPO rating is even 2000W.

 

[shoRunner]

the pmpo rating is different than the max on say your infinity perfect. its much much more BS. example....these are 1000watts to....

oh and actually the most powerful pc speakers might be these

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: shoRunner
the pmpo rating is different than the max on say your infinity perfect. its much much more BS. example....these are 1000watts to....

oh and actually the most powerful pc speakers might be these

:thumbsup: Oh yeah, forgot about the gigaworks. I think if I was going back to computer speakers I'd take the klipsch though .

 

[ribbon13]

2000W my ass

Heres a 2000w amp

Most concerts don't even utilize 2000w of stage power.

 

[PurdueRy]

2000 watts.....lol....riiiiiiight.

Imagine the energy bills with your 10,000 watts you are wondering about!

seriously, you might want to find out about speakers a bit more. They definitely don't use 2000 watts.

oh and thanks for all the explanations. Speakers AKA satallite was VERY helpful....::

 

[Gerbil333]

Originally posted by: shoRunner
the pmpo rating is different than the max on say your infinity perfect. its much much more BS. example....these are 1000watts to....

I know--that's why I indicated that it was max and not PMPO. The point was, it's mostly a useless rating.

That link...lol:

No, the speakers really aren't 1k watts, but I have this set and I pulled them apart; the sub is 30W @ 4ohms, the sattelites are 10W @ 4ohm with 2.5W tweeters.

 

[ribbon13]

http://cbll.net/articles/pmpo
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/PMPO.html

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Ebay is crawling with PMPO rated speakers example for "2000 watts"

I know vendors on ebay like to bundle huge PMPO wattage speakers like this with systems.

Did you get this off ebay?

Overall, I'd say you're wasting your time trying to deal with your seller. It really shady to sell speakers based on their PMPO rating, but for under $40, what did you expect?

There's nothing wrong with your stuff, it's just cheap.

Invest in some decent computer speakers like I linked to above and be done with it.

There are cheaper alternatives that will get you big sound too. Would you like other suggestions for a specific price range?

 

[Gerbil333]

Great idea. This must be his set.

"INTEX SUB WOOFER SYSTEM - 2000 WATTS PMPO

Approximately US $24.00"

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Gerbil333
Great idea. This must be his set.

"INTEX SUB WOOFER SYSTEM - 2000 WATTS PMPO

Approximately US $24.00"

Wow, they're butt ugly too. :laugh:

 

[PurdueRy]

This is almost as bad as frequency response measurements(or not publishing any eh DaJello? ). I mean, for instance, there is no way that Intex "sub" will go down to 20 Hz....maybe 20 Hz at 1/8 the output SPL of say what it outputs 120 Hz.

 

[ribbon13]

I bet the F3 is above 50hz

Subwoofer my bum.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: rleemhui
This is almost as bad as frequency response measurements(or not publishing any eh DaJello? ). I mean, for instance, there is no way that Intex "sub" will go down to 20 Hz....maybe 20 Hz at 1/8 the output SPL of say what it outputs 120 Hz.

I'm not saying SX-HTBs are great speakers, but they're pretty nice for $300 shipped. I'll upgrade when I'm not so poor... to real speakers (oh, and they do have a frequency responce listed hehe)

EDIT: or maybe these speakers are really 10 feet tall like they look in the picture and they're legit and this is the best deal on the planet ever

 

[PurdueRy]

I was referring to a company in your profile

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: rleemhui
I was referring to a company in your profile

Oh, I thought you were "dissing" Fluance, which I'm ok with too

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: rleemhui
I was referring to a company in your profile

Oh, I thought you were "dissing" Fluance, which I'm ok with too

Nope, now "Nuance" speakers I would diss. lol. I don't have almighty speakers either, and I will be replacing my mains with some DIY bookshelfs I am designing.

BTW what happend to the OP? lol

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: rleemhui

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: rleemhui
I was referring to a company in your profile

Oh, I thought you were "dissing" Fluance, which I'm ok with too

Nope, now "Nuance" speakers I would diss. lol. I don't have almighty speakers either, and I will be replacing my mains with some DIY bookshelfs I am designing.

BTW what happend to the OP? lol

I've read some Nuance horror stories ... and a lot of comments on Fluance questions of "you mean nuance?".

Good luck on the DIY. Great value if you've got the time and skill.