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Need Advice Setting Up Stereo Monitors/Subwoofer to Plasma TV

post #1 of 7
1/17/13 at 4:07am
Thread Starter 
Alright guys, i've been looking everywhere for advice and it seems like you guys know your ****.

So I recently purchased this subwoofer and this set of monitor speakers:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002KVQBA/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00

http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Studiophile-Powered-Speakers-Previous/dp/B000MUXJCO

Now both of these use the standard RCA red/white plugs for input.

For my TV, I have only a digital audio (optical) out. I have a satellite box hooked up to my TV and an old laptop hooked up through HDMI.

So here are a few questions I have:

1.) I bought this RCA Piggyback adapter off amazon. My plan is to hook the piggybacked side to my subwoofer then get another pair of RCA cables and plug those from the piggyback female plugs into my stereo monitor inputs. Then, I plan on plugging the other end of the Piggyback cord into an optical audio to RCA converter. Is this the correct way to wire things assuming this idea will work?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I94FAE/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

2. ) If I purchase a digital audio (optical) to RCA converter, will this output all of the sound that would originally come from the TV speakers. Such as, if i'm on my laptop plugged in through HDMI, will it play music and such? Or if i'm watching Directv, will it play the sound from the box?

I feel like I covered everything you guys need to know to help me out. Let me know if you need any other information. Thanks in advance!
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post #2 of 7
1/17/13 at 6:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jfk08c View Post

Alright guys, i've been looking everywhere for advice and it seems like you guys know your ****.

So I recently purchased this subwoofer and this set of monitor speakers:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002KVQBA/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00

http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Studiophile-Powered-Speakers-Previous/dp/B000MUXJCO

Now both of these use the standard RCA red/white plugs for input.

For my TV, I have only a digital audio (optical) out. I have a satellite box hooked up to my TV and an old laptop hooked up through HDMI.

So here are a few questions I have:

1.) I bought this RCA Piggyback adapter off amazon. My plan is to hook the piggybacked side to my subwoofer then get another pair of RCA cables and plug those from the piggyback female plugs into my stereo monitor inputs. Then, I plan on plugging the other end of the Piggyback cord into an optical audio to RCA converter. Is this the correct way to wire things assuming this idea will work?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I94FAE/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

2. ) If I purchase a digital audio (optical) to RCA converter, will this output all of the sound that would originally come from the TV speakers. Such as, if i'm on my laptop plugged in through HDMI, will it play music and such? Or if i'm watching Directv, will it play the sound from the box?

I feel like I covered everything you guys need to know to help me out. Let me know if you need any other information. Thanks in advance!

The speakers need to be hooked up to the TV if they are going to operate conveniently with all of those different sources.
Not knowing what TV you have, it is probable that its digital output may be only 2 channel or it may be switching back and forth between 2 channel and 5.1.

At any rate you need some kind of active device to convert the TV's digital output into analog audio. Presuming that the TV's digital output is just 2 channel, something like the following DAC can work:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=770110&Q=&is=REG&A=details



the available documentation on the PSW10 is very skimpy, but it appears that it has line level L & R inputs for receiving analog audio from the DAC, and line level outputs for connecting your satellite speakers to the subwoofer. You seem to need a total of 5 RCA cables whose lengths may vary and that you need to determine from your setup.
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post #3 of 7
1/17/13 at 6:14am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the information. I don't think i'll be using 5 cables total. In fact, I think I only need 1, along with the RCA piggyback. If I run digital out from the tv to the converter, then I can plug the piggyback into the output of the converter. Plugging the piggybacked sides of that cord into the subwoofer, then plugging the other RCA cable from the female piggyback ports to the studio monitors. Where exactly would I need to use 5 cords? Unless i'm just missing something all together
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post #4 of 7
1/17/13 at 6:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jfk08c View Post

Thanks for the information. I don't think i'll be using 5 cables total. In fact, I think I only need 1, along with the RCA piggyback. If I run digital out from the tv to the converter, then I can plug the piggyback into the output of the converter. Plugging the piggybacked sides of that cord into the subwoofer, then plugging the other RCA cable from the female piggyback ports to the studio monitors. Where exactly would I need to use 5 cords? Unless i'm just missing something all together

How do you plan to hook up the subwoofer?

Like I said, the doc for the subwoofer is very limited so I am presuming that it is like most other powered subwoofers.

(edit)

I found this picture of the PSW 10 back panel and now I see where the confusion comes from.



The PSW 10 is not really the right subwoofer for your application because it lacks the normal equipment of a more traditional powered subwoofer which is more like this:



The 4 RCA jacks in the upper right hand corner are marked in and out.

Two RCA cables from the DAC go to the input terminals, and two RCA cables to the satellite speakers go to the output terminals.

This all leaves you with a problem of finding a volume control.
Edited by arnyk - 1/17/13 at 6:35am
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post #5 of 7
1/17/13 at 6:24am
Thread Starter 
Using the piggyback RCA adapter. I plug one side into the inputs for the subwoofer then, using another RCA cable, plug the monitors into the piggyback output. The other end goes into the converter. I feel like this works, but then again if i was 100% certain, I wouldn't be on this forum
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post #6 of 7
1/17/13 at 6:27am
Thread Starter 
This is the digital to analog adapter I bought, by the way.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005K2TXMO/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00
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post #7 of 7
1/17/13 at 6:44am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by arnyk View Post

How do you plan to hook up the subwoofer?

Like I said, the doc for the subwoofer is very limited so I am presuming that it is like most other powered subwoofers.

(edit)

I found this picture of the PSW 10 back panel and now I see where the confusion comes from.



The PSW 10 is not really the right subwoofer for your application because it lacks the normal equipment of a more traditional powered subwoofer which is more like this:



The 4 RCA jacks in the upper right hand corner are marked in and out.

Two RCA cables from the DAC go to the input terminals, and two RCA cables to the satellite speakers go to the output terminals.

This all leaves you with a problem of finding a volume control.

Well would the method i'm using work just the same as having a powered sub with input and output jacks? Since i've already ordered it, i'd rather not go through the hassle if it will also work.

As for volume control, shouldn't I be able to use my monitors volume level and the subwoofer ajustment knob?

Thanks alot for all the help
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