Connecting 2 or 3 computer audio systems into 1 for my laptop.

[Jake752]

I am sort of dumb when it comes to computers but i was wondering if this would work. I was wondering if i could connect 2 or 3, 5.1, powered computer audio sound systems together into my laptop using a headphone jack splitter. the only thing i am worried about is that the headphone jack in my laptop might not support all of the sound systems in it at once, thus losing sound quality. can anyone help me?

 

[WyomingKnott]

If the systems are powered, then they shouldn't suck too much out of your laptop. I have two caveats, though
1) Look at the impedence. Really. "As a rule of thumb, the load impedance (input to speaker amps) should be at least eight times higher than the amplifier output impedance." Using a Y splitter to two speaker sets halves the load impedance. If you are lucky enough that your manual has the impedance the headphone jack supplies, you can check this in advance.
2) Most laptops don't have such hot sound quality to begin with. As an audiophile, I could probably point you to some nice external equipment that would take USB output from your laptop and provide higher-quality input to your amps. Somewhere under $5,000.