Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with stereo

car audio in Durham/Chapel Hill - where to buy?

amtho — Wed, 01 May 2013 12:18:36 -0800

_Other_ than Best Buy, how/where would one obtain a replacement car audio system near Durham, NC? I have no idea where to shop. I'm OK with installing it myself if it's not too involved, but installed is good too. We have a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid; my dude just got a new job with a _commute_, so I think he should have a new audio system so he can play audio from his phone (or an MP3 player). He wants a CD player too.

The sound on my vintage receiver cuts out.

The Card Cheat — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:32:28 -0800

My dad recently gave me his mid '70s-era receiver. It's a Kenwood KR-5600 (here's a photo). I've got it up and running and it mostly sounds great to my ears, but the sound sometimes fluctuates (cutting/fading in and out) when I'm playing my turntable through it (a Toshiba SR-F770 direct drive...nothing fancy). I'm not an audiophile and not particularly fussy about getting the "best" sound, so I think I'd be pretty happy with it if I could fix this problem. I trawled through some audiophile/vintage sound message boards but got bogged down in jargon.

Possibly related information:

1. This problem with the sound only occurs when I'm using the turntable (which worked fine when I had it hooked up to my previous receiver, a mid-'90s Pioneer). Everything else I've run through it (a brand-new Samsung TV, Wii, DVD player and iPod) works fine.
2. It seems to cut out more often when I turn the volume up.
3. My speakers are UBL HLS610's.*

* speaking of which, if anyone has any speaker suggestions that would be great. Again, not an audiophile and I don't want to break the bank, but if there's a make/model/type you'd recommend, say, keeping an eye out for on Craigslist that would play well with my vintage receiver, that would also be helpful. Thanks!

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.

Car stereo drains battery: Is 30-50 mA normal?

qxntpqbbbqxl — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 11:30:38 -0800

The circuit that runs my aftermarket Pioneer stereo is draining the car's battery at a rate of 30-50 mA when the car is off. Faceplate on/off doesn't make a difference. Is this within normal range? It's enough to drain the battery completely if I don't drive every few days, so lately I've gotten into the habit of pulling the fuse. But that sucks.

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.

best sound system for hearing movie dialogue

Afroblanco — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:17:00 -0800

Ever since the DVD age began, I've noticed that music and sound effects in movies are always WAY louder than the dialogue. It's really annoying. Will a properly configured surround sound system fix this? What is the right way to set up surround sound speakers? Are sound bars any good? I've never gone through the trouble to properly set up my surround sound speakers. Whenever I've had surround sound systems in the past, I've put all the speakers next to each other, beneath my TV set. However, when watching movies, it's always annoyed me how much louder the music and sound effects were than the dialogue. I figured this was happening because I didn't set up my speakers properly. A few years ago, I switched to this sound bar. However, I've noticed the same problem : loud music and sound effects, soft dialogue.

Will a properly configured surround sound system fix this problem? If so, what's the right way to set up the speakers? All the diagrams I've seen put the rear speakers in back of the viewers. This is impractical for me : my sofa sits flush against the back wall of my living room. So if I mounted the rear speakers on the wall, they'd be roughly on top of the viewers' heads. In order to put the rear speakers behind the viewers, I'd have to move the sofa out from the wall somehow and keep it there. Not ideal. Doesn't everyone else have this problem? I don't think I've ever been in a living room where the sofa was in the middle of the floor.

Alternatively, will a decent sound bar solve this problem? I'm not happy with mine, mostly because of this music/effects vs. dialogue problem. Also, the volume doesn't go up high enough.

Finally, if neither a properly configured surround sound system nor a sound bar will make movie dialogue more audible, what will? I'm really sick of turning up the volume so I can hear dialogue, and then having to keep my hand on the remote so I can turn the volume down once the music/effects start. Doesn't anybody else have neighbors?

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.

Do I need to replace the whole radio in my car?

sunshine arakhan — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:24:13 -0800

I have a 1995 Toyota Corolla Conquest who's factory standard radio has just died (I think). It made a slight noise last night and cut out, and is now just flashing 01:00 on the clock with no buttons responding at all. I thought maybe the fuse had blown so I checked the radio fuse, but it doesn't look to have blown (something I suspected as a time keeps flashing on the display and I thought a blown fuse wouldn't allow any electronics to work). Also the cigarette lighter still works and that is connected/part of the radio fuse. To avoid me taking it somewhere and being charged to be told "you need a whole new radio" - does it sound like I need a new radio? Buying and installing one isn't a big issue, I just want to be somewhat sure that's what I need to be doing.

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.

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.

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.

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.

pander to me

shothotbot — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 20:15:17 -0800

We need a new TV / home entertainment setup. Hoping for specific product recommendations. We are moving to a new house and need a new TV setup. First, we need a new TV. A not-so-big TV probably. Say 36". We will have over the air TV. We watch DVDs and need a new DVD player one with Blue-Ray. Watch Netflix now, so would like to be able to do that too. We might play games on the TV too.

We also need a new stereo system which would be able to play digital music, radio and internet radio. I assume there is a magical device where all the sound goes into? The house has speaker wires in the kitchen, family room and patio.

I am hoping for specific product recommendations for stuff that will all work together. Let me know if there is any sort of device I dont realize I need.

I listen to music through my TV and it has to end.

anthropomorphic — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:31:28 -0800

My computer is connected via HDMI to the flatscreen TV in my living room. There has to be a better way to listen to my music than through TV speakers. Help me out. I asked a similar question before but I didn't find what I'm looking for. My desktop computer in my bedroom is hooked up to my router (via cat5) and my TV (HDMI) through cables we ran under my carpet. Right now, I play music in the living room from my desktop through the TV. This must stop. It doesn't sound great. And I just bought a record player. Note, I think speakers on stands are kind of ugly and I rent, so no wall drilling or ultra boomy bass. I live in an 814 sq ft apartment.

What kind of speaker system do I need to output (a) music I might play through my computer; (b) records I might play through my record player; (c) normal TV noises? Cost is not a huge factor. Can you link me to your recommendations?

Car Stereo Filter: Am I better off with a whole new head unit, or just an adapter?

bleachandink — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 12:41:37 -0800

Car Stereo Filter: Am I better off with a whole new head unit, or just an adapter? I'm looking to be able to play music from my phone, in my car, and have been investigating my options. I drive a 2006 Honda Accord VP. I just bought the car in March, so I plan on having it for a looooooong time.

My current factory stereo unit has the ability to install/have an aux in (14-pin adapter ~$75), but it goes to the red/white cables which I then have to buy another cable to get to a 3.5mm headphone plug (~$7). Reviews are mediocre and say that while it works, you can get some noise distortion with all of the connections.

My other option is to buy a completely new headunit with a aux/usb/bluetooth capabilities (I only need one!) and use that instead. I know it's a significantly more expensive option (~$150) however, it may allow me to charge my phone (if I go the USB route - android phone) and wouldn't necessarily have the noise issues. I'm just clueless when it comes to headunits (other than going to Crutchfield and going HELP!).

I'm fairly handy, so neither option would require labor costs. Just parts costs (and maybe a few tools).

So, my question is, wanting to keep overall costs low, do I spend the big bucks on a new head unit, or do I go with the 14-pin adapter? And if I spend the big bucks and go for the headunit, any recommendations (UNDER $150)?

How to run 20 feet of 3.5mm to RCA cabling?

Marquis — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 09:00:24 -0800

What's the cheapest/simplest way for me to run sound from my iPod/laptop (3.5mm jack) to a stereo (RCA) about 20 feet away? If it were a shorter distance I'd just get a standard audio cable, but I'm worried that something like this will lose a lot of signal/fidelity. My stereo does incorporate a (good) amp, if it's relevant, though I don't know if it's fully activated on the "Aux" setting.

A longtime dream has come true and I now own a classic console turntable stereo (Sears Silvertone) but I have some questions about replacement styli and more. Help me make the most of this beautiful wooden music machine.

Senor Cardgage — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 21:11:56 -0800

A longtime dream has come true and I now own a classic console turntable stereo (Sears Silvertone) but I have some questions about replacement styli and more. Help me make the most of this beautiful wooden music machine. Ever since seeing that Tom Ford movie A Single Man a few years ago, we have wanted a console turntable. Today thru sheer luck we found one in our neighborhood. Huge score. And it is GORGEOUS.
Sounds beautiful too. But I have some issues/questions...

A. The record player seems to have an automatic feature where it pulls the arm up and puts it down randomly in the middle of records on its own. Not sure why that is but it will end a record and pick up and drop the needle say 10 minutes back. If I had to guess I'd say it's about the point of the start of a 45 yet the table is set to 33.

B. when I switch it to Radio I notice that the bass is far deeper and fuller than on records. The records sound great ad we've tried a bunch, old and new. It's totally a sound difference we can live with but if we can get that low bass too that would be beyond perfect. Is this to do with the stylus? Also how would I get a replacement stylus? I've enclosed pix to this help.

C. Any other tips to help me wrong out maximum enjoyment from this beautiful beast?

I tried to find a model number but it's not listed here on the back.

Here is the the whole thing.

Here is a close up.

Here is the stylus.

Thanks guys! Any help would be great.

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?

iPad + ? = music

libraryhead — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:31:31 -0800

With all this tech, surely there's a way to listen to music in my living room? I have more than 100gb of music sitting on a hard drive connected to an iMac in the upstairs office and a wireless network. I also have an iPad and an iphone, a ~8-year-old AirPortExpress, and a fairly high-end, but old, stereo receiver and wired speakers.

What I want to be able to listen to music in the downstairs living room, preferably through the nice speakers we already own, controlling via the iPad. Ideally I'd like to be able to access the entire music libary on the computer upstairs, but could live with just streaming whatever I happen to have loaded on he iPad.

Last time we tried this, the airport express was involved and the result was terrible: frequent dropouts and crashes, plus I had to run upstairs to cue each album.

Is there a way to make this happen with the tech we already have? Or a simple, inexpensive enabling piece? I don't want to invest in Sonos or go back to Roku (we tried that once, too). An AppleTV seems like an obvious choice, but I've been burned by performance issues.

It kind of hurts my head to read about this stuff. I just want it to 1) sound good, 2) be simple to operate, 3) be inexpensive (under $200), and 4) not be complete fugly. Should I suck it up and just buy Bluetooth speakers? Or is there a better way?

Quality music/cinema receiver driving at least 130w for cheap?

0bvious — Tue, 08 May 2012 05:15:09 -0800

I need a new amplifier/receiver for music and TV/home-cinema. I've looked at the Onkyo "network" range, especially entry level around £350-£400, but I am sure I could get my hands on an amp from a few years ago with all the features I desire, and save a bundle. I'd really appreciate your advice. I have a pair of Polk Audio RT 400 speakers (8 ohms, 20-150W). Ideally, I'd like an amp/receiver that drove these at close to full potential, around 130w would do.

Absolutely minimum features I require of an amp/receiver:

- around 130-150w for first pair of speakers
- potential for a second pair of speakers at similar wattage
- surround sound (Dolby 5.1 etc) I have speakers and subwoofer ready for this
- Multiple HDMI inputs, with upscaling for other formats
- Optical audio inputs
- Usual analogue inputs

The new Onkyo NR609 has "network" capabilities. At the moment I am not too bothered about this. Should I be? From various reviews I've read it's hard to tell whether this amp would drive my speakers over 100w anyway.

What amp/receiver from last few years would you recommend? Could I get one cheap?

Help TV me please: new TV, antenna, and old stereo?

fieldtrip — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:13:22 -0800

What TV and digital antenna do I buy? Please drag me kicking and screaming into the semi-modern era of television viewing. I want to watch TV, not pay for cable and have the sound travel through my vintage stereo. I have never purchased a TV, I have always had hand me down varieties but the last one just died and I'm considering stepping up to the semi-modern era. Please explain to me what kind of TV I need to be able to hook it up to a digital antenna and stop paying for cable. Will any new TV do this? What kind of digital antenna do I buy? Lastly, I want to plug my DVD player and stereo into the new TV. I'm assuming the DVD player isn't an issue. My ancient (think early '80s era Kenwood) stereo may be trouble. How do I make all of these things play nice? Please give specific examples of a TV, antenna and any other gadgets I should buy to make this work. Also, would I be able to plug my laptop into the TV and use it as a monitor, too?

Make my stereo glitter and hum.

1f2frfbf — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:00:00 -0800

My stereo needs more blinkenlights. Point me to some neat projects I can do. I recently refurbished a Marantz 2220B amplifier/tuner to go with my Thorens turntable. Right now it has an iPod dock and the turntable hooked up to it, but that's it, and it's kind of bland.

I have a tape monitor output and I'd like to build something that can use this to do something and sit on top of the amp.

I have several scavenge-able old units (cd, dvd player, old amplifier) to house the flashy thing. I know my way around a soldering iron, bread board and a Mouser catalog. But: I'd prefer to avoid anything that requires programming or LCD screens (given the old-school vibe of the current setup).

So point me to some neat projects so whilst I sit and listen, my eyes can rock out too.

How do I put together a DIY, on-the-cheap, wireless home music system?

zooropa — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 15:30:37 -0800

Advice needed: how to put together a DIY, on-the-cheap home music system where I can listen to my music from any room in the house? One-line summary:
Please help me put together a home system where I can listen to my music from any room in the house.

Longer version:
I'm looking for advice on how to put together a wireless system at home where I can listen to my music from any room. I envision some kind of system where I can access and play my collection of about 20,000 tracks from any room.

Here are some of the caveats:

I like the challenge of DIY, so I don't want to buy a pre-packaged system like Sonos.

I would prefer to stay Windows-only (no Linux or Mac, please).

Currently, I have one laptop and one iPod Classic 80GB. I know I'll probably have to buy a cheap PC. Both my wife and I have Android phones.

This has to be cheap ($300-$400 would be ideal)

Wires drive my wife crazy. This has to be wireless.

Any advice or ideas? Pointers to any easy setups on the Web?

Simple volume knob for sale?

electric_counterpoint — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 08:18:40 -0800

Why can't I find a desktop-style analog volume knob? I'd like to have a knob for controlling my computer speakers' volume on my desk. I'm picturing something like the Griffin Powermate, but because I'm planning to use this at work where I can't install stuff, I need it to be analog rather than USB/software-based. Where can I find one?

I'd think this should be the simplest thing in the world: two 1/8" jacks, with a pot wired between them. (And a big ol' stereo knob, naturally) It could be mounted in a tiny project box. I'd build it myself, but as Mitch Hedberg said, this is a half-assed commitment. So why doesn't this seem to exist?

Best way to maximize sound system setup?

conifer — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 03:07:33 -0800

Physics/Sound Engineering/Speaker Setup Question. More = lower volume? I'm setting up my newest bar. As always with bars, one of the concerns is to minimize the sound from the sound system that leaks out into the neighbourhood, without killing the volume level inside. Here's the question. Imagine Bar A. It has 6 large speakers spread out throughout the bar. They play on volume level 10. Imagine Bar B. It has 20 small speakers spread throughout the bar. They play on volume level 3. Will it sound just as loud inside Bar B as in Bar A?
My logic on this is that in Bar B customers will always be close to a speaker, so there's no sound "wasted" as it travels (relatively) long distances, as in Bar A. That means less leakage out of the bar and less problems with neighbours.
Any sound engineers or physics people out there can help?
Cheers.