[NatGun]

so i have an HTPC with a set of klipsch promedia ultra speakers that are plugged directly into the sound-card. this is all hooked up to an SDTV. is there any way you guys would reccomend for me to be able to witch back and fourth from an external audio source for the speakers, say a playstation 2. and also switch between video through the PC, and video directly into the display device? i would want the sound meant for the TV to come out of the promedia speakers as well.



basically i need some sort of switching device that will allow me to eliminate the HTPC itself from the system, yet still use the speakers. and i also want to be able to hook up external audio and video sources.


as you can see, a simple switch seems like it may not be able to handle all the tasks that im looking for... and ive tried splitters before, the loss in audio quality was unacceptable. im definately concerned about loosing video and audio quality, so that is a huge concern.


would i need a pre/pro for this job, and what what would you guys reccomend? im figuring my budget at $400 MAX...

 

[bart745]

Do you _require_ the Playstation signals to pass thru the HTPC and, if so, why?

 

[Hawkson]

I am not exactly sure what you are asking, BUT here is my best shot


get a sound card with sound in

then buy a wire that has 1 male and and 2(or 3 female ends). send the wire to your multiple sources and have them plugged in to the back of the sound card. then use the sound card as your normally do to plug analog out to your klipschs.


Either buy a wire or just a connector that accept 2 signals and puts it through one input


OR

buy a reciever, plug everything into the reciever(including the HTPC) and then have the klipshcs go out from the reciever.

 

[CaptainKellog]

As I've looked into this in the past, I'll try to help. As I understand it, the Klipsch Promedia Ultra 5.1 has the following inputs:

INPUTS:

Six analog discrete channels (three stereo miniplugs), Auxiliary stereo miniplug music input


This means that there are 3 minijacks on the little input/volume pod that comes with the speakers. Since each minijack is stereo, the 3 minijack inputs usually break down like this:

Minijack 1 = Front Left & Right Speakers

Minijack 2 = Rear Left & Right Speakers

Minijack 3 = Center & Subwoofer


What you would therefore need (if you want 5.1 sound from your PS2) is a Receiver. You may be able to get a used dedicated Pre/Pro for your budget, but I think a Home Theater receiver would be better in case you eventually got into larger speakers. With a receiver you could use the multiple audio/video inputs on the receiver to switch your sources. You could then also run a digital audio cable from the PS2 to the receiver for 5.1 sound. You'd then run RCA-to-Minijack audio cables from the receiver's pre-outs to the minijack-inputs on the klipsch input pod.


One recommended receiver would be the Marantz SR5400 (I've seen it for around $400 online). http://www.marantz.com/p_product.cfm...t=hf&series=he


The cables you'd need to go from the receiver RCA pre-outs to the klipsch minijack-inputs are the Signal Cable Analog Mini ($36 Each). http://signalcable.com/images/Mini_RCA.jpg


There are some very nice A/V switches that can be found for $150 (i.e. http://www.audioauthority.com/aaccon.../1154detc.html ), but they only handle stereo analog (no 5.1 this way), or multichannel digital (problem is there's no digital-in on klipsch input pod).


I hope all this helps you - if you had other questions, or I missed the mark completely, please send me a PM.


Thanks,

Eric

 

[NatGun]

let me see if i can clarify:


basically im looking for a way to mix A/V inputs..


say i wanted to hook up a playstation to my system, i would want the video to go directly into the TV, and the sound to come from the klipsch speakers. OR bypass the HTPC all together, and have my cable signal go directly into the TV, and then send the audio out of the speakers at the same time. i know ill probably have to get myself some mini-stereo to RCA converter, thats not a problem. im just wondering what kind of device would be able to do this? i really could care less about a reciever, i just need something thats going to be able to output all 6 channels into my speakers from any source i hook into the processor.


i would also like to be able to run the video into the TV, yet have the speakers sill comming out of the HTPC, so i can listen to MP3s while playing playstation.


im just looking for a way to do this without physically re-arranging plugs all the time.

 

[NatGun]

ok, so that dennon reciever looks like its the right idea, but i cant see if it will accept a analog cable signal(rg6) and pass the audio and video out.


id rather remove the amp from the equation if possible, i dont plan on upgrading my speakers for quite a while. as much as id love to go to a true HT-system, unfortunately i cant do it right now. id probably go with separates in that case anyways.

 

[CaptainKellog]

Sorry - edited my post and changed my receiver recommendation from above. I realized the Denon 1604 doesn't have RCA Pre-outs, so I changed the recommendation to the Marantz 5400 which does have the rca preouts.

The only problem I could see you running into is the need for the receiver / pre-pro to accept an RG6 cable for your analog TV. For the receiver to be able to do this it would have to have a TV tuner which, as far as I know, no receivers have built-in.

As for not being able to go to a true HT-system, you may be closer than you think. Have a look at the following speakers - and no, the price isn't a typo.
http://www.fluance.com/fluan5speaks.html

Here's a review of them by a PC Hardware site:
http://www.subzerotech.com/index/mod...display/id/184

 

[NatGun]

no, i have a digital cable tuner. i would be sending the analog signal out of the cable box into the reciever, i dont need the reciever to actually tune the signal, just be able to switch it between 2 outputs. 1 would go into the HTPC and 1 would be a bypass directly into the TV.

 

[NatGun]

yea, that marantz doesnt look like it has the connection i want. i know they exist, ive seen them.

 

[bart745]

Quote:

Originally posted by NatGun no, i have a digital cable tuner. i would be sending the analog signal out of the cable box into the reciever, i dont need the reciever to actually tune the signal, just be able to switch it between 2 outputs. 1 would go into the HTPC and 1 would be a bypass directly into the TV.

The system might be much simpler if you dealt with digital audio as much as possible.

* Don't know about SD digital cable tuners but HD units have digital audio out. No matter, analog stereo would be ok. The receiver may be able to use DSPing to create a 5.1 soundstage from analog stereo.

* Playstation 2 has optical digital out.

* An optical output for HTPC is fairly inexpensive but a card with discrete-5.1 outputs could be okay. [My receiver has only 1 set of discrete-5.1 inputs.]


Then, all you need is a receiver with multiple digital audio inputs, a 5.1 decoder, and discrete-5.1 line level outputs. FWIW, it could also probably switch video from these three sources to the SDTV as well.

 

[NatGun]

well the problem with digital audio is that the EAX effects are lost in the translation AFAIK... i play a good bit of games on my HTPC and i dont want to loose this feature. so its gonna have to be an analogue passthrough for the reciever. i dont need any amplification because the klipsches are self-powered

 

[mdryja]

Or, use a Tira-2 or a USB-UIRT with Girder on your htpc, to control your receiver and plasma accordingly!

 

[NatGun]

someone has to know of a reciever that will passthrough an analog cable signal(rg6)....