Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with homeaudio

Where can I find attractive powered speakers?

bryanlacksfocus — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:13:21 -0800

Does anyone know of any attractive powered speakers? Ones that look like they belong on a bookshelf and not next to a PC? I'm looking for speakers to put in my living room that I would beam music to through an Airport Express. It could be one speaker or a pair, but they should be powered and stand-alone—I don't have room for a "system" with a separate amplifier. I don't need a radio, CD player, or iPod dock—just a power switch, a volume knob, and one audio input jack. The only powered speakers I'm finding are designed for use with a computer and are, in my opinion, unforgivably ugly—at least for use outside a computer workstation. I'm hoping to find something simple and modern with straight, clean lines—possibly a cousin to this Tivoli or this GenevaSound radio or the wooden-cased (non-powered) speakers our parents had in the 70s.

With everyone doing so much from their computers these days, it seems like these ought to exist! Have you come across any? Any ideas are appreciated!

Good micro stereo system?

DLWM — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:00:54 -0800

I'm looking for a cheap (about $200) and compact stereo system for my apartment. Mainly it'd be for playing CD's and streaming audio via my Airport Express. I'm interested in the Onkyo CS-315S, CS-325 and CS-415 units, but I can't for the life of my figure out what the hell the difference is. Does anyone know about these systems, or have any other recommendations? I'm also toying with the idea of getting a cheap powered subwoofer, like the Polk PSW10, to go along with whatever system I get -- thoughts?

A Dock for My Pod

wintermute2_0 — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 11:12:10 -0800

iPodFilter: Help me pick out a decent iPod dock from amongst all the substandard crap out there. I've been looking for a decent quality iPod dock for my still-kicking 4G iPod (a.k.a. iPod photo). It's for a bedroom, so I don't need big sound, but it shouldn't sound like a kid's phonograph either. An FM receiver would be a nice bonus.

I've been looking at the XtremeMac Tango Studio X2 as well as this Sony bookshelf system. There are so many docks on the market, but most of them seem like crap. I'd appreciate any recommendations that help me separate the wheat from the chaff.

Thanks, hive mind.

Need Vista Compatible .wav to .mp3 converter software

Ironmouth — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:08:21 -0800

I need a Vista-compatable, cheap or freeware audio interface that can convert a .wav file to .mp3. I just got a nice 8-track hard disk recorder which outputs to a computer in a .wav format. The guy at [gulp] guitar center said that there are no good audio programs that work with Vista. Since I automatically don't believe anything that anyone who works at guitar center says, I'm here asking about it.

I'm planning on doing all of my mixdowns on the platform, not on the computer, so I'm not concerned with a program that does much more than convert the .wav files to .mp3 so I can put them up on the band's webpage and/or send around to the rest of the band.

Looking for the quick and dirty solution here and I'm not going to be using the software to do any real work, so no need for recommendations for a complete recording set up.

Help me get Sonos working

shothotbot — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 10:54:24 -0800

Sonos is seriously bugging Mrs. HotBot and, by the transitive property of bugging, me. Help me out. I have three sonos boxes. I chose Sonos because I wanted to:

* share music from iTunes
* listen to internet radio
* share a line-in source throughout the house
* do different things in different rooms or the same thing in all rooms

It generally works ok for me but it more or less never works for my wife when I am not home. I don't know whose fault this is, but it doesn't really matter. My co-workers. How they tease. A perfect answer would tell me how to to make sure Sonos just works.

Partial answers might be:
1) would it help if I plugged a computer which would be specially dedicated to holding music directly into the router the main sonos box is plugged into?

2) could the cordless phone be messing with the wireless net that sonos makes?

3) if I was willing to sacrifice everything (and some cash) for marital bliss, is there another setup which would help me meet all my above goals, again with the primary consideration being ease of use.

Jilted Jockey Heebee Jeebees.

Student of Man — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 18:08:49 -0800

Ack! My DVD receiver slammed against the cabinet. Now when I play Cd's (I Know) -or DVD's, My receiver screeches, Loudly. It plays fine though. Obviously the disk is spinning against something. I don't want to hit this thing again to make it stop. It cost me an arm (Samsung Home theater). Should I bring it in for repairs at a third party repairer, or can Samsung nudge it for a fee?. I m looking for something cost-effective.

Home Audio question

docpops — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 21:18:46 -0800

Help me with a home audio dilemma... I want to update a sound system I currently have, wherein a ten year old Onkyo receiver is driving two separate pairs of speakers, and is hooked up to my iMac. What I'm after:

A decent receiver that will handle two pairs of speakers (one outside, one in) that sometimes run simultaneously, others not. And more importantly, the cleanest, best way to run my iTunes output to the receiver.

Thanks.

Crass consumerism strikes again

FelliniBlank — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 19:34:25 -0800

Tell me how much I need to spend on audio preamp(s) and amplifier(s) to make my home stereo system sound jaw-droppingly great. Ze muzeek, she eez my life, so two years ago I upgraded some of my very low-end stereo components to these moderately better ones:

Goldring GR2 turntable

NAD C542 CD player, and

Orb Audio speaker system (two "MOD2" double-satellite assemblies + a subwoofer)

WAY better sound, baby, but that's when the money ran out, so I couldn't replace the basic Onkyo receiver with a nice preamp(s) + amp(s) to make the most of the other components.

Now I have some pennies saved and have started looking at equipment and reviews. This is where you come in. I might could swing $1500 tops for the whole enchilada if absolutely necessary, but I'd like to spend as little as it takes to get good quality gear -- new or used -- that actually makes an audible improvement to my non-audiophile, non-engineer ears. And even if I do drop the whole $1500, I'm not exactly sure how to divide it between the different components so that I'm investing the right proportion in each one.

The question:
To get preamp and amp equipment that is of comparable quality to the rest of my system and that will help it live up to its full potential, how much should I be looking to spend on each of the following:

1) phono preamp
2) line preamp
3) or instead of 1+2, a single preamp with phono stage
and
4) monoblock or two-channel amp(s) with max 110 wpc output (25-75 watts is probably plenty for my small, decently efficient speakers in a 13x20ish foot room)

Or if you think the existing Onkyo receiver is up to the job and I should put my wallet away, g'head and say so.

Other info:
-- This is just for music; I have zero interest in home theater audio. My musical tastes run the gamut.

-- SS or tube is fine, but I doubt that decently isolated hybrids are within my budget. As a vinyl-loving middle-aged Luddite who digs warm, rich sound, I'm drawn to the concept of vacuum tubes, and the basic Antique Sound Labs preamp and monoblock amps are appealing and affordable. But I don't know if I'd like the reality of tube gear. It would have to go in this type of open rack and would have at most a few inches of clearance above it, and I'm not sure that's sufficient for ventilating tube components. Also, I'd get cranky if I had to let the thing warm up for an hour before it stopped sounding like shit.

Please take it easy on the acousticalese; IANAPhysicist.

The best, cheapest sound system possible

The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 02:04:37 -0800

AudioNoviceFilter: I need an audio setup for a dorm that sounds the best it can for the least amount of money. I'm extremely green to the whole home audio thing, and need help/recommendations finding a setup that can take multiple inputs like a Turntable, CD player, and Cassette Deck (this means I need a receiver or a tuner, right?), and make them sound very good for not a lot of dough. A-la-Carte and package deals are both fine.
How much can I do this for and still get high quality?
ALSO, what would be the best way to hook up the aforementioned system to an iBook G4 (to play my itunes library)?

Multiroom audio with two receivers?

backseatpilot — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:39:27 -0800

How do I get multiroom audio with multiple receivers? Based on a number of different factors, I want to set up a multiroom audio system using two receivers - one as the "master" station and using the other as a slave unit/repeater/however you want to define it. I know it's possible, but the websites I've found offer very little information on how to actually accomplish this.

I tried to do this once before, with a relatively new Denon and an old (~30 years or so) Sanyo receiver. Both receivers work fine on their own. I plugged the Sanyo into the Denon via the "rec. out" on the Denon. The thinking was that the output for a recording device is always live (right?), hooking any of the inputs on the other receiver to this should work. Unfortunately, it didn't.

So, how do I do this? Did I do it right the first time, and it's just a hardware incompatibility? Is the old receiver simply too old to handle this?

Long-distance Digital Audio

SweetJesus — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 13:31:17 -0800

Audiofilter: What is the cheapest way to get pure digital sound from a computer 10~15 feet away from a surround sound system? I'm running a 25 foot HDMI cable out of the back of my PC for video, which is snaked up around the wall to travel 15 feet into the back of my HDTV. I've just bought a new surround sound system, which works absolutely fantastic, but I'd like to get digital sound out of my computer and into the back of the receiver. The only two digital options for inputs on the back of the receiver is TOSLink and digital coxal cable. I'm looking to buy a new sound card for the PC anyway, so it will have at the very least TOSlink and digital coax. I know TOSLink doesn't like to be fooled with too much (too many strange angles will break the fibers), and they both seem to be really expensive at lengths >12 feet.

I'd rather not pay hundreds of bucks for cable. The 25 ft HDMI cable I bought cost about 40 bucks, which is around the amound I'm looking to spend on audio cable.

I was thinking ethernet cable may be an option, because it's digital, cheap and snakeable. Is this idea foolish, or are there people hacking audio adaptors for ethernet cable?

What is the best way to go about this?

I need some help with home audio.

Optimus Chyme — Sun, 03 Jul 2005 15:20:27 -0800

I need some help with home audio. I know absolutely nothing about home audio, so I turn to you. I'm looking for a system that is compatible with a Sharp 32C540 television, can play CDs and MP3s on burned CDs (the latter being very important), with a couple of good stereo speakers. Surround isn't critical to me, but hey, it might be cool. I'm also looking to spend less than $600, if that's at all possible. What should I be looking for? What should I watch out for? I've read the rec.audio FAQ, but it was written in 1999 and I'm sure much of it has changed. I also read this previous AskMe question, but that's more for those who would be running it through their computer. Thanks again.