laptop to rotel rb-1050?

Here's your first step:

http://www.seismicaudiospeakers.com/mini-stereo-phone-splitter-cable-p/sairtsy6.htm





The little black plug goes into the laptop's headphone jack.

Many other people sell this product including Monoprice, Radio Shack, Best Buy

The Rotel is a terrific amp. Using a headphone out to RCA cable is going to destroy any idea of good sound quality.

You're going to want to invest in a USB digital out adapter, and then get a digital preamp/processor before sending the analog signal on to that Rotel. It should sound amazing.

I agree that Rotel amps can sound very good indeed.

I don't know about the idea of good sound because that is in people's heads and I can't read minds. ;-)

But I can tell you about what happens to the signal technically.

The performance of audio interfaces in modern computers including laptops are roughly the same as that of a very good CD player.

This is typical:

http://www.ixbt.com/mainboard/intel/dp55wg/rmaa-96.shtml


Frequency response (40 Hz - 15 kHz), dB
+0.02, -0.12

Noise level, dB (A)
-90.4

Dynamic range, dB (A)
90.4

THD,%
0.0022

THD + Noise, dB (A)
-83.4

IMD + Noise,%
0.0083

Crosstalk, dB
-85.3

IMD at 10 kHz,%
0.0087





Bottom line, the OP's laptop might perform worse, but an investment of about $5 in a cable seems like a reasonable risk.

I don't see any purpose in necessarily prejudicing a person against the equipment that they already own. ;-)

Try the Audioquest Dragonfly USB DAC, or go wireless with the Outlaw Audio OAW3 wireless audio system. Both products bypass the internal soundcard in your laptop, to provide superior sound. I currently use the OAW3 to playback digital music from one of my laptops to my secondary 2-channel system, and it delivery excellent sound quality without any form of external interference whatsoever.

Audioquest Dragonfly USB DAC

Outlaw Audio OAW3 Wireless System

I guess I saw Rotel and assumed the OP was going for High Res audio, or at least high quality, but rereading the post I was mistaken. In college I hooked up my laptop through the headphone out to my roomate's mid-fi stereo and it sounded great for parties. If you just want decent to good sound this method is perfectly fine.

If however you are trying to create a high-end solid state music server you'll want to invest in an external DAC and preamp.