Hey,

I am getting my HDMI receiver in today. I will be hooking up Inspire P7800 speakers to the receiver. I was told previously I could do this, but I want to make sure.

Since my speaker cable ends in something that connects to my subwoofer, I was told I need to cut the ends of those wires and connect that into the back of the receiver. I just need to find which is positive and which is negative. Would it be possible to hook them up to my subwoofer and then send a wire to my receiver from my subwoofer, or will that result in lower sound quality?

Thanks.

--Thinking about it, I think my subwoofer doesnt have speaker cable, but it has a cable that goes into the computer. I have a 5.1 HT with a decent subwoofer. Can I just use that one with my other speakers if I can't manage to pair them all up, or is there some type of compatibility issue?

Good question! I am thinking of using an old computer speaker setup(logitech z-560) for four satalites and a better center for a bit till I can afford to get some better speakers. I wonder if I could adapt the sub too? The one thing is that my z560s are already using speaker wire. But the sub runs into a control box. hmmmm

just got my receiver in. Is it possible to connect the subwoofer or do I NEED to cut the cables? If I can connect the subwoofer- any downside?

You should be able to find an RCA -> 1/8 phono adapter that will allow you to connect your sub. the downside to computer speakers with a receiver for surround sound is that your receiver might not be able to crossover high enough, but it might work out okay.
I dont know about your specific speakers, but you can either cut cables or get adapters and mangle those as required.

What do you mean crossover high enough? Would it be better if I cut the ends of my speakers and hook them directly into my receiver, or do they need power from the subwoofer?

Well, when you power them with your receiver, the receiver will have a crossover point where it cuts off signal to the speakers and redirects that signal to the subwoofer. On most receivers that is somewhere between 80Hz and 100Hz. Unfortunately some computer speaker sattelites would need closer to 120Hz, meaning you will have a dip in the 100-120Hz range. On may receivers this crossover point is adjustable, it is just a matter of how high it will go, and what your satellites are capable of.
The other option is to get the adapters for each input to the sub if your receiver has pre outs for all channels. I suppose knowing what receiver you got and which computer speakers you are trying to use with it would help quite a bit here...

Hey sorry, was out for a bit. I have the Inspire P7800 7.1 speakers, and I just received my Yamaha RX-V661 today.

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Okay, the best solution here is to use the Pre-outs on the 661. Grab some RCA (male) to 1/8" stereo (female) adapters and use those to connect your sub to the receiver. Your speakers would connect to the subwoofer, and you will be using the subwoofer amps.
Next option is to remove the connectors from each speaker and connect them directly to the receiver, and use an rca -> 1/8" stereo adapter to connect the sub. This option will provide more power, but also will not be as seamless because the sub has a more appropriate crossover for those satellites. You dont get satellite specs, but I would guess optimal crossover is 120Hz or so.
Any necessary adapters should be available from Radio Shack. You might have to experiment to see which one is the center vs the sub.

Hey- Sorry was out for awhile. I was thinking the later choice. My problem is that my rear speakers don't reach. What is the deal for extending cable? Can I tie 2 ends together and cover it with electrical tape, or will that not work? I don't think I can buy longer cable due to the way it is connected on the speaker end.

I have another subwoofer that I would rather use instead of the inspire one, and that one connects with speaker wire.

So do you think this would be my best choice, and would what I said work?

thanks alot for the help

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Yup, you should be able to extend the cable just fine. After the splice you are dealing with plain speaker cable... Electrical tape will work fine, you aren't exactly dealing with top quality cable there... Using a different sub will be no problem in this setup either.

Great. Thanks alot. I'm going to start connecting them now. I will buy extender cable tomorrow. I'll report in on how it works.

Thanks for all the help.