Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with speakers

Can I hook a second room's speakers up to a single-zone 5.1 receiver?

40 Watt — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:07:17 -0800

I have an overabundance of stereo/home theater equipment and I need to simplify. Is it possible to hook a second pair of stereo speakers up to an existing 5.1 system in some way? The receiver does NOT have a second zone. When we first moved into our house 7 years ago, we had a simple old Technics receiver that we placed in the living room that could handle a stereo pair of speakers, our CD player, turntable, and cassette deck and not much else, which was fine since we didn't have a TV or streaming audio system that we needed to hook up to it.

At some point we inherited a big flat screen TV which necessitated buying a separate 5.1 receiver and speakers that we could use for movies and the occasional TV show, to which we added a dedicated Blu-Ray player and AppleTV. That system was moved all over the house until it finally came to rest in a rec room that is, of course, separated from the living room by a single wall. I'd like to get rid of the old 2-channel receiver and CD player in the living room and just hook the living room's speakers up to our home theater receiver, if I can. Ideally I'd like to be able to play music in both rooms at once.

However, the 5.1 home theater receiver does NOT have 2-zone functionality, so that idea's out. Can I just buy some sort of splitter or second amplifier and split the front channels in two and run cables to the living room? Something like this? Will there be problems with ohms or watts or something?

Or do I need to just break down and replace the 5.1 receiver with something like this receiver that can do 2 zones easily?

Note- I'm not an audiophile so I don't need to spend a bajillion dollars, I just want something that'll work with my setup and sound halfway decent. Also, assume I only barely know what I'm doing.

Looking for a device that plays music when it turns on (automatically)

StrictlyVague — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 22:58:43 -0800

Wanted: a device that places continuous sounds (music, random noise, mp3s) when it is plugged in. Most devices these days require you to plug it in to the wall AND push a button to turn it on. Goal: I want to make my place less attractive to daytime burglars. I live in a small apartment in a complex where everyone (literally) is at work during the day, and there are daytime burglars who use bump keys. I've already thought through door alarms, etc - but I'm looking for something passive and low effort by me. My idea is to buy a timer with random on/off, and connect a device to it that plays household-like noises. But everything I can think of requires you to turn it on manually (probably for energy saving.) I'm not looking for a PC based solution - want an appliance like device. Like radios from the old days - but ideally with music I can preprogram. Any ideas?

Upgrading to kit stereo tube amp from 5.1 digital receiver

Admiral Haddock — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:11:23 -0800

In past questions (1, 2), I've described my stereo setup and my desire to build a stereo tube amp. I have no worries about actually building the kit amp, but I'm not sure what I'd do with all my speakers. In thinking about this, I realized I don't know much about my stereo in the first place. Can you help me understand what it actually means to have a stereo amp? Current set up is a legacy of my home theater days--B&W 601S2s for front channel, B&W DM302s for rear channel, and a B&W ASW1000 as a powered subwoofer. I also have a B&W CC2 center channel speaker that's not currently hooked up.

I really don't go for home theater anymore, and all I use the stereo for is music (mp3s, not vinyl).

I like the idea of the Bottleheads Stereomour amp, recommended by Caddis in my earlier question. (Totally cool--thanks, Caddis!)

However, I also like having front and rear speakers, and being surrounded by sound. The rears in my current system just play the same thing as the fronts--there's no DSP soundstaging. I also like the subwoofer.

Is there a way I could wire all of my speakers up to the Bottleheads amp--i.e., just run speaker wire from the stereo posts to each speaker, split somewhere along the cable run? I don't play music very loud, and the sub is self powered.

Is this possible, or would I need multiple amps? If I really am limited to running one pair of speakers off of a Stereomour, would the 601S2s be appropriate? And, since I'm kinda starting from square 1 in my knowledge, is there a good place to learn about hifi systems that's above home-theater-in-a-box level, but below (and not even aspiring to) the $1,000-a-foot-silver-interconnects level? Like, I'd like to know about speaker impedance, what load I'd be running off the amp if I'm wiring speakers in parallel, etc.

Proper Mounting Techniques

backseatpilot — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:37:26 -0800

After years of renting, I can finally (finally!) mount my TV and speakers to the walls. Help me not screw this up. There is plaster and lath involved. Some time over the next couple months I would like to finally get the TV and speakers in their rightful places on the walls of our living room. I don't really know what I'm doing, and I want to make sure I don't mess this up. There's a fairly obvious place for the television (a previous owner remodeled and put about a billion outlets on one wall), but other than that I need some advice.

1) We have a 32" TV, and looking online that size seems to be right at the crossover point between "small" and "large" mount sizes. I'm assuming I should get a "large" mount so I can upgrade in the future - is there any reason I should get the smaller one?

2) I have dutifully kept all the mounting hardware for the speakers (5.1 system) since I bought them years ago. Do I need to do anything special since I'm drilling into plaster and lath instead of drywall? I believe the front speaker mounts just have standard drywall screws, but the rears require drilling a larger hole and using butterfly bolts.

3) Where do the speakers go? How do I place them if I want to provide space for a larger TV in the future?

4) What's the best way to run all the wiring through the walls? Do I want to install wall plates for the speaker cable? What about all the other stuff?

Anything else I'm not thinking of? I'd like to accomplish this without a lot of extra, unnecessary holes in the walls. Thanks!

How should we listen to music at home?

The corpse in the library — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 14:18:19 -0800

The last time I bought a stereo, Reagan was president. I don't know if they're even called stereos any more. Please help me figure out what I want and how to set it up. Right now we have music on a MacBook Air and on CDs. We have an AirPort Extreme (not Express). We have an original iPad and assorted iPods and iPhones of various ages and capabilities.

We don't have any stereo equipment other a crappy portable CD player, a Samsung "sound bar" hooked up to the TV, and a dying iHome dock/radio/speaker thing.

I want to be able to play CDs without copying them to the computer first.

I want an FM radio (broadcast, not over the Internet).

I listen to a lot of podcasts, using iTunes and on my iPhone.

Some of our MP3 are from Apple, some from Amazon, some from who-knows-where. They're all on the MacBook.

I want people to be able to play music without involving the MacBook, so I can read Metafilter uninterrupted.

We want speakers in at least two rooms. It needs to be possible to turn them on and off in each room.

I want it to be simple to use.

Single Speaker for my Nexus 7?

redsparkler — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:47:23 -0800

I'm looking for a simple awesome speaker that I can plug my Nexus 7 tablet into. I've used a set of desk speakers in the past, but I hate how there's two of them and the cords get all tangled. I'd ideally like a single speaker that plugs into the wall; something I can blast some sweet tunes on in the kitchen, and then pick it up and move it to the bedroom with a minimum of fuss.

On-wall audiophile speaker recommendations for music?

UbuRoivas — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 14:28:22 -0800

I'm looking for recommendations for decent audiophile speakers (for music) that can be mounted on a wall. My research so far turns up heaps of on-wall speakers, but most are designed to be part of a home theatre setup, so they're not full range but rely on a subwoofer to deliver the bass.

So, I've got a couple of sub-questions:

1. Are there any speakers light / small / unobtrusive enough to be hung on a wall, that offer something close to a full range of frequency response? 70-80Hz minimum doesn't cut it; ideally 20Hz would be awesome but something around 30-40Hz would be acceptable.

2. Is it feasible at all to hang speakers right up in the corner near the ceiling? Wiring is going to be an issue, but I should be able to get wires in to about a foot below ceiling height. Because of how the wall was built, hanging them at ear level would be challenging, unless I tear great big gouges in the drywall. The only speakers I've seen designed for corners like that are outdoor speakers. Are there any indoor versions so I don't have to pay for the robust weatherproofing required for outdoor use? Is this even a good idea at all, considering the effects of placing speakers in corners?

Assume a price guide of absolutely no more than US$2K / pair, and preferably closer to half that.

Surround Sound Hook-Up Question

odayoday — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 16:45:37 -0800

The house the boyfriend and I bought was already wired for surround sound, however, we don't want the receiver in the spot where the previous owners had it. The wires coming out of wall are too short for where we want it, so we would like to use wire extenders to lengthen them. However, I'm not sure what gauge the wires coming out of the wall are, so I'm not positive they're compatible with our speakers. Is there a way to tell what gauge they are, or is that sort of thing pretty standard? This is our first experience with surround sound, so we're pretty clueless, but trying to educate ourselves. We received these speakers for Christmas and they use 16 gauge speaker wire. Is that common enough that we can assume that's what's coming out of our wall?

Also, these extenders look like exactly what we need, but I can't find any info on what gauge they are, or whether they would be compatible with our system either.

Could anyone more knowledgeable than we are give us some idea of what we're dealing with?

High quality home audio setup on the cheap?

lattiboy — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:07:03 -0800

I'm moving in March and have decided I would like to put together a nice, high-quality sound setup on the cheap based around a Class-T Amp. On a whim I picked up this one for $16 and am now looking for advice on the other equipment. I am clueless when it comes to this, so please bear with me.

I will have two sources of music:

1) My main source will be a galaxy S3 that I use with a paid Spotify subscription (320kbs downloaded tracks)

2) I'd like to try out vinyl.

Questions:

- I'd like to try out vinyl, but I don't want to get sucked into a "collector k-hole" like I have been with cameras. Just a simple, cheap record player.

- What other equipment will I need for this? I know the phone has DAC built-in, but what about the record player?

- Apparently I need a pair of high-efficiency speakers.... I attempted to look for an inexpensive pair, but the world of audiophiles is strange and scary. I'd like to spend, say, $100 for a medium-sized pair? I don't know if that's a crazy low amount. Again, I'm in the dark here.

- The amp I got doesn't have a proper headphone jack, but obviously I can get an RCA-3.5mm adapter. Should I make considerations for using headphones other than that?

-Any other advice I should have entering this world?

thanks!

Fix my crummy 80s Hi Fi

theodolite — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 11:49:44 -0800

Speaker and turntable both on the fritz. I picked up a used pair of speakers and turntable a couple of weeks ago. They seemed fine when I tested them, but after I got them home I've had problems with both. (I'm not sure if I just didn't notice the problems or I somehow busted both of them on the way home.)

Speakers: the tweeters (front grilles) on both speakers appear to be broken -- one of them makes no sound at all, and the other emits a hum and everything through it sounds buzzy. I've tried reconnecting and changing the speaker wire, but no dice. Both of the woofers on the top sound fine.

The turntable is more mysterious -- it seems to be working fine for a while and then will suddenly speed up or slow down (it seems like it's more likely to do this towards the end of a side). There's a stroboscope, and I know how to get the dots to stand still using the speed adjustment knob, but they tend to "drift" after a few minutes.

The speakers are Allison CD7 and the turntable is a Realistic LAB-400.

I would prefer to not have to take anything in anywhere (I'd have to take a cab or borrow a car to move this stuff around) but I realize that's an unrealistic expectation.

I'm no expert, so please don't assume I've already tried any "obvious" solutions.

Safe to update my iPhone 4S to the latest iOS6 version?

tel3path — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 09:22:27 -0800

iPhone 4S users: have you updated to the latest iOS6.whatever in the last couple of weeks? Did it go without a hitch? Or have you experienced problems that would make you advise me not to update? I have an iPhone 4S that I updated to iOS6 in late September. I experienced a number of serious problems:

- The first problem is the infamous Apple Maps, which was deceptively accurate the first time with its turn-by-turn directions. However, the second time I tried to use it, I ended up walking around for 55 minutes looking for a destination that was 5 minutes away and, literally, almost in sight of my starting point. The third time, I experimentally asked it to take me home and instead it took me to a destination 2 hours away.
- I tried adding a shortcut to Google Maps on my home screen, but in my opinion, that was totally unusable and not a solution at all.

The maps, though, were the least of my problems:

- It became impossible to power off the phone. I would try to turn it off only to have it immediately restart. This problem went away after a few days, only to reappear later.
- The speaker would cut out intermittently. As I rely on my iPhone for screening out background noise, this was a serious problem for me.
- I couldn't enforce "Silent" mode, so the speakers would make sounds when I least wanted them to (in class, for example). I couldn't fix this by turning off the phone because the phone couldn't be turned off (see above).

I tried rolling back to 5.1, but by the time I tried it, that option had been locked out by Apple.

Fortunately my phone was still under warranty, and Apple classed this as a hardware problem. I understand people who experienced similar problems and whose phones were out of warranty, found themselves fresh out of luck. I received a new handset and the worst I had to endure was going phoneless for a few days while waiting for the replacement to arrive.

Needless to say, I was overjoyed that the new handset was still on iOS 5.1 and I didn't risk upgrading the hardware even though Apple assured me this was a hardware problem affecting a minority of 4S users.

Now, I use Navigon for driving, and I see that the Google Maps app has been restored to the latest update.

My warranty expires in January, so I guess I have until then to decide whether to update to iOS 6.whateverthelatestnumber.

Now, Googling for discussion boards is going to take me towards places that are inherently biased towards people experiencing the same problem I am. I can get confirmation that I'm not the only person to experience the problem, but not whether it's too risky to upgrade my nice 4S to the latest iOS. So I want to hear it from you, dear MeFites.

Help me rock out with the minimum possible financial outlay.

Scientist — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 22:20:59 -0800

I'm looking to assemble a home stereo for dirt cheap. What do I need to know and how can I get the most ♪ for the least $? OK, my total budget from start to finish is maybe $200 at the most. Yes, I realize that that's a laughably small amount of money for a good sound setup, but that's what I've got to work with. $200 is a hard limit, less money would be a lot better but I know that one can only do so much.

Anyway, I'm trying to put together a decent home stereo system. You know: receiver, subwoofer, a couple of towers, that kind of thing. I am definitely looking to go used here since that seems like the best way to get something decent for cheap. I mean, speaker technology hasn't *really* advanced that much in the last 30 years, right? Surely not.

What I am looking for is advice on what to, well, look for. And where to look for it. I already have a receiver lined up I think, a Pioneer SX-6 which is supposed to be a really nice (and durable) unit from the early 80's. It's running $45. So I have $150 left to work with, basically.

What should I do? Craigslist doesn't seem to be much help in my area, it's pretty much nothing but car audio stuff there. Should I start cruising thrift stores? eBay? What am I looking for in terms of making sure that I get something of reasonable quality, and how should I distribute my money? What are the signs of good vintage audio gear, and what are some of the considerations and pitfalls that I need to keep in mind?

Help me out MetaFilter, I'm tired of listening to everything through this crappy iPod dock thing.

Reccommend me a great music dock

Aizkolari — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 12:39:13 -0800

Please recommend me a dock/speaker solution to play music from an iPhone 4s and Android devices as well. I want to get a dock and/or speaker for my girlfriend to listen to music in her kitchen. She has an iPhone 4s and I plan to get a Nexus 4 or Galaxy sometime next year. In order of decreasing importance, I'm looking for the following from this device:

- Works with iPhone 4s
- Decent sound quality
- Works with Android devices
- Attractive form factor/appearance.

It would be awesome if it had a usb port for changing phones off of as well. The source for sound here will probably be Spotify much of the time, if that matters.

I'm open to Bluetooth, Wifi, or dock solutions and my budget is $100 but I could go to $150 for something really awesome.

She does not plan to upgrade to the iPhone 5 super soon so the thunderbolt issue should not be huge. As a pony request if this thing had a USB port to charge phone off of that would be great too.

Help me figure out how to wire for my home theatre

smcniven — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 11:03:44 -0800

What wiring should I run to facilitate building a decent home theatre setup? I'm currently finishing my basement and would like to run some wiring before I start dry-walling but I'm not sure what and how much I should do. The room in question is roughly rectangular in size (20' by 14') and I've had the electricians put 4 outlets on both of the 2 walls that would potentially hold the TV and other devices.

When all is said and done there will most likely be a HD television, PS3 or Xbox, DVD player (we're in region 1 but have a lot of region 2 discs) and a surround sound stereo. I'll have a media server of some type but it will be located elsewhere and be accessible over the network.

I have already planned on putting 2 data drops at each location as well as 1 coax drop but after than I'm not sure what else to add to the mix.

I want surround sound but I don't know much about setting that up. How many speakers are involved? What's the difference between 5.1 and 7.1? Should I run a speaker wire to each corner of the room? Install speakers in the ceiling? How would I manage it if I switch the setup from one side of the room to the other? Do I need to do a home run from each location back to some type of patch panel? Should I simply run wires from one end of the room to the other, connected to wallplates and then connect the speakers and/or sound system to the wall plates?

What about running an HDMI cable from end of the room to another? Not sure why but I imagine I could connect a laptop/computer at one end and have it display on the TV at the other.

Also, if you have any suggestions as to types of TVs and stereos I would definitely welcome them. We're in Canada so some of the media player suggestions might not be applicable.

Too much white noise from speakers!

StrictlyVague — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 09:50:46 -0800

How can I reduce the noise my speakers are spewing out from the various electronic things on my desk? Even with nothing playing, there's so much noise. I have a set of logitech desktop speakers, connected to my laptop.

Even when nothing is playing, there is so much noise spewing out of them. Heck, if I move a browser window around on my monitor, I can HEAR the window being moved!! There's a plethora of electronic devices going on on my desk.

Complication 1: The noise disappears if I unplug the speakers from the laptop.

Complication 2: The noise is NOT there if I plug earphones directly into my laptop.

From pop culture, I feel like saying "more shielding would help" - but I have no idea what to do other than to say that.

Any ideas on what's going on, and how I can mitigate this noise?

Ideas for music in my car?

thrasher — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 10:38:00 -0800

I think my 1993 Toyota Celica will only last another few years, so I don't want to install a new stereo system in it, but the existing speakers are blown and I gotta have some decent way to play music. Can you suggest other alternatives? Mostly interested in playing music from my smartphone, not really concerned with FM radio or CDs. Thanks!

Help me make a list of the can't miss speeches of the 2012 DNC convention.

marsha56 — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 20:19:15 -0800

I need help so I don't miss out on watching the best "can't miss" speeches of the 2012 Democratic National Convention. I've already seen Bill Clinton's speech, liked it and wanted to be sure to catch the best of the rest. But according to this list from the DNC, there are around 100 speakers at the convention.

Can you give me your list of the speakers that I really should watch?

If you could give me some idea of what makes each one interesting, awesome, rousing, inspiring, etc or just the general theme of the speech that would be truly appreciated. BUT, please don't post any "quotes", "zingers", or "great lines" since I'd prefer to watch them fresh myself.

Also, it's not necessary to provide links to the speeches, since at least right now, I'm fairly confident I can locate most of them somewhere. BUT, again, if you do want to post a video link, please only post a link to the entire speech from beginning to end, as again, I would prefer to watch the best moments in context with a fresh eye, not spoiled.

Thanks so much everybody for helping me catch up.

If you speak Icelandic, please read!

crapples — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 13:41:29 -0800

Do you speak icelandic? If so, you could really help us out! We are leaving France for Iceland tomorrow morning. We have a son who is peanut allergic - potentially fatally so. While in France we have benefitted from carrying around a little card that says: "Our son has a very serious peanut allergy. Will you please make sure that no peanuts (including peanut oil or other ingredients) are in his food?" in French.

We have never been to Iceland before. We don't know if everyone speaks english or not - and if so if their level of fluency is high enough for us to be confident that they have understood the urgency of our message.

So, if you speak icelandic, would you please translate the above sentence into the language? I know this is short notice, but I can get this printed tomorrow morning before we leave if someone responds. Thank you!

Distortion spins me right round

thecaddy — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 10:54:50 -0800

Recently I received an old hifi (stereo receiver with aux and phono inputs) and two EPI speakers from a family member. The system is quite old, but headphones sound great, as does one of the two speakers. The other sounds blown. What are my options in New York City? So: I know very little about audio equipment. To me, though, it sounds like the woofer on the speaker (currently connected to the right channel) is heavily distorted. If I turn down the bass it definitely reduces the distortion, so that's what I've been doing in the short term.

I still need to double check that it's the speaker, not the receiver's output, that's the problem; when I get home tonight I plan on switching them.

I'd prefer to get the speaker repaired versus just going out and buying new ones--after all, there's a reason I grabbed this from my aunt instead of buying a new system.

Assuming it is the speaker, my questions are these.
--If I had the woofer repaired/replaced, would I also need to have the woofer in the other speaker fixed as well to ensure tone matching?
--What sort of price can I expect to pay per speaker?
--Do you have any recommendations for where to have this done in New York City? (I'd rather not ship them anywhere if possible.)

Thanks in advance. If you need more info I'll check in later today.

The best sound quality $150 can buy

pdq — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 12:11:02 -0800

I have a (squishy) $150 to throw at a speaker setup for my living room. Help? I don't own a teevee. I'm looking for something that will play music from my ipod and computer to go on a desk or bookshelf. Probably 90% of my listening is classical, so I don't need a bass that will make my spleen vibrate. What setup (speakers + amp/powered speakers/ipod dock/etc.) gets me my best bang in the $150-ish price range? I can't even look at anything over $200, and the closer to $150 the better.

Searching the archives, surprisingly, hasn't found me anything, although I might not be searching well.

Best cheap little wireless speakers?

windbox — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 07:37:48 -0800

What's the most portable, cheapest, best quality wireless/Bluetooth speaker(s) out there? I'd like to be able to play music from my laptop/droid phone left in my bedroom, through a wireless speaker set up downstairs or outside in the backyard for BBQ's or small gatherings. Would also love to be able to throw it in my backpack and travel with it as well.

It does NOT need to be top-notch state of the art by any means, just something with a little more dimension and clarity than standard laptop/iPad speakers.

My top priorities in order are portability, then price, and THEN sound quality. Wireless range is semi-important since I'm on the third floor of the house. I was looking at this but I'm a little sketched by how I can't find any other info on it really, and it looks like you have to connect some kind of USB transmitter thingy to your device (I'd rather NOT have one more thing to lose)? Or is that how they all work?

I'd like to spend less than 40 bucks if possible.

Did a toddler break my speakers?

10ch — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 05:24:31 -0800

I have a pair of vintage Bose 501 speakers that have worked great for the past five years. They are connected to a vintage Yamaha CR-820 receiver. A while ago, my favorite toddler pushed all the buttons on the receiver and the speakers stopped working. She came over again, pushed a bunch of buttons and it started working again. Next time: bunch of pushes, stopped. Now no button pushing seems to matter... is it broken? In between button-pushing sessions, the speakers make a random, horrible sound: like a repetitive, scratchy, high pitched squeal.

The only way I can get them to work and it's not always, is to send music to it, turn the volume up all the way, wait about a minute until I hear the faint sound of the music, turn it down just a little. At this point there will be weird vibrations and horrible sounding squeals until the music takes over. Then it's fine. I can stop playing the music for about 30 minutes, turn it back on and it works. But if I stop for an hour or more, the speakers won't play and I can't do the turn-the-volume-up trick. I have to power off the speakers so they don't randomly squeal in the middle of the night and wait several days -- it seems -- before it'll work again.

Anyone have any ideas as to what's going on?

Buying new PC Speakers

chrono_rabbit — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 09:01:35 -0800

Recommendations for PC speakers under $50. I'm looking for good PC speakers for my budget ~$50. I've looked at a few online sites, but I'm not really sure if they are reliable or not.

I usually listen to music or play games using headphones, however I'm looking for speakers now, because my old speakers aren't compatible. Thanks. I don't have any brand preference.

What is the right home theater system for me, that will work with my pre-wired apartment?

unionsquarepark — Sun, 27 May 2012 18:11:17 -0800

[Home theater filter] Our newly-purchased apartment's living room is pre-wired for speakers but after doing plenty of research I'm totally overwhelmed with options, and not sure what exactly these wires are. Help me figure out what we should buy to take advantage of the hookups? Pictures and details inside. In general we'll want to use the system to watch downloaded movies (Netflix, iTunes, etc...), and stream music from an Apple device (either our home Mac or an iPhone/iPad). The TV (60" and about 5-6 years old) is already mounted to the wall, and under the TV is a small door with two of these coming out of it, one labeled "left" and one labeled "right".

Here's what's coming out of the room's front left and right corners near the ceiling.

And the back left and right corners near the ceiling.

I did some research and looked at previous questions, and think what we need is a receiver like the Onkyo TX-NR414 and speakers like the Definitive Technology ProCinema 600 system. Is that right? Will what I have hook up properly to that? And are those what people recommend, maybe with an Apple TV?

A PC, a TV, a DVD ... and a CEO who needs to be heard

scruss — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:27:40 -0800

I have:

a PC (a HP Compaq 6200 Pro Small Form Factor PC with VGA and dual-mode DisplayPort outputs)
a TV (a Toshiba 55G310U - 55" class 1080p 120Hz LCD TV)
a DVD of a company presentation that we need to play on this PC
a room that seats 9
… and a CEO who is coming very soon who needs the audio from the presentation to be clearly audible.

What do I need? I basically have to get something today, at a downtown store in Toronto likely no more specialized than Best Buy, that will tie this all together. Someone mentioned soundbars like this LG 2.1 Channel Speaker Bar; it's likely loud enough. What would I need to hook it up? I'm not an audio guy. I just want something that works. Assume a $400 budget and no additional technical support available.