Can I hook up my speaker system to both computer and stereo?

January 5, 2008 12:40 AM

I just bought a "Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 THX Certified Computer Speaker System," thanks to recs from another post on mefi. I'm wondering if I can buy a cable that will connect the system to my computer AND my stereo--some kind of splitter? I'm pretty clueless about this stuff, so the more detail the better. Thanks.
posted by prior to technology (5 comments total)

You'll have to provide some more detail about your setup to get a good answer -- for example, what kind of stereo do you have? -- but chances are you'll want to connect the computer to your stereo as an auxiliary input, then do the switching there.
posted by jjg at 12:45 AM on January 5, 2008

I have a pretty basic Sony receiver---STR-D350Z. I want to get rid of the (very old) speakers I have hooked up to it now.
posted by prior at 12:57 AM on January 5, 2008

OK, the simple way: get a mini-jack splitter to take 2 ins and connect the 2 sources direct - get an RCA to mini-jack cord and run it from your auxillary output on the back of your stereo to your new speakers.

There's probably better and more sophisticated ways of doing it - but you need to tell us things like where your stereo is compared to your speaker system, what sort of outputs exist on you stereo, etc.
posted by strawberryviagra at 1:03 AM on January 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

strawberryviagra has it (strawberryviagra, I haz it?), except you don't need the mini-jack splitter. Your new Klipsch system has an auxiliary input on one of the speakers and some way to switch between the two sources.

As sv said, you're going to need to use the auxiliary output on your Sony receiver. That means the Tape/MD output, if I'm reading the manual [pdf] correctly. This will give you line-level output—as opposed to speaker-level output—which is what the Klipsch system needs. Use a cable that looks like this (2 RCA [those are the red+white cables] to 1 stereo mini) and you should be set.
posted by wemayfreeze at 2:06 AM on January 5, 2008

From the Amazon Product Description: "ProMedia 2.1 offers a convenient headphone jack and dual stereo analog inputs, one for a more or less hard-wired connection from your computer's line or headphone output jack, the second to accommodate a portable audio device such as an MP3 or minidisc player/recorder."

I have a similar system from Klipsch and it plays both inputs at the same time (no physical switching between) - so if I have a stereo connected to one input, and my computer to the other, it will play the stereo and then play any sounds from my computer on top of it.
posted by Galt at 8:52 AM on January 5, 2008