Home Theatre speakers for a PC?

[dogsinbrine]

Hi all,

I recently moved house and had to downgrade my 7.1 Canton home theatre setup to a 5.1. That means I've got a pair of pretty decent front speakers (pretty much these, though an older model) just sitting around. I'm in the process of putting together a new PC build and I was wondering whether there's any way I can repurpose them for this.

So... few questions:

- My speakers have got bare wire connections. What, if anything, would be the best way to hook these up to a PC?
- Would I need an external amp to drive the speakers? Could I even get an internal one inside my PC tower? Any suggestions?
- The motherboard I'm planning to get is the Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe. Would I also need a separate sound card to support these speakers? Again, any recommendations?

Sorry for the noob questions - my home theatre audio knowledge is reasonable and so's my PC component knowledge, but combine the two and I haven't got a clue 🙁

Thanks a lot.

 

[batuchka]

So... few questions:

- My speakers have got bare wire connections. What, if anything, would be the best way to hook these up to a PC?
- Would I need an external amp to drive the speakers? Could I even get an internal one inside my PC tower? Any suggestions?
- The motherboard I'm planning to get is the Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe. Would I also need a separate sound card to support these speakers? Again, any recommendations?

Sorry for the noob questions - my home theatre audio knowledge is reasonable and so's my PC component knowledge, but combine the two and I haven't got a clue 🙁

Thanks a lot.

1. You need a speaker amp or receiver
2. Onboard sound is doable but the addition of a discrete sound card is optional

 

[thee_prisoner]

Just to add so there isn't any confusion. On board sound is fine but you have output from your computer to a receiver or amp to drive the speakers. So output from the computer to an amp or receiver input(like aux in), then attach your speaker wire to the amp/receiver.

 

[dogsinbrine]

Thanks guys, that helps.

I like the idea of being able to keep everything within my pc case - which I haven't bought yet, but will be a large full size tower. Anyone aware of any amplifiers that are designed to fit within a pc case? Based on the size and weight of my Onkyo home theatre amp my guess is the hardware required for an amp is too big and heavy (and maybe hot too) to go in a pc case, but I'd be interested if anyone's aware of anything.

Thanks again.

 

[batuchka]

For peeps looking to go small the Tripath based amps are serious contenders - do drop by diyaudio for more info ^^
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/class-d/85273-tripath-t-amp-faq-wiki.html