It looks like there are a few options floating around for ~$50, I can handle that.
I’ve also decided on DIY speakers over the Pioneers. I don’t know if anyone here is into DIY audio but the C-note kit gets a lot of praise and looks like it’s a great first project. I imagine it’ll provide a superior sound than the Pioneers as well. I’ll order the kit and slap them together if I can ever get my garage cleared of junk.
It’ll be fun because I’m not accustomed to bookshelf speakers really, I am mostly an adherent of floor-standers. All of my speakers are old cheapo bass boxes though, so I am excited to see what modern drivers and designs can do.
Audio is an area I’m not into too much. I’ve been thinking of grabbing an old receiver but hot damn they’re expensive!
For games on my HDTV, I use a JVC 5.1 receiver, Polk bookshelf speakers as the fronts, Sony center speaker, and the stock JVC rears that came with the 5.1 system. I bought the receiver 17(?) years ago, so no idea on model number. I’d have to check.
On my PVM, I use the mono speaker…I’ll show myself the door. I have PC speakers that will work, and have had them setup in the past, but I’m in the plebeian ‘one console hooked up at a time’ situation due to space so they don’t get setup every time I move things around. I should look into a headphone/earbud setup. That seems like it would be less re-configuring with console changes.
I need an audio upgrade but I am not sure how I want to approach it. I have no room in my life for surround sound as the kids are asleep and I don’t game while they are awake. Once in a while, my son will watch me play games so I wanted to get a step up beyond the speakers but sound bars for the most part have always left me unhappy. I thought about maybe doing a 3.1 system or even a 2.1 but if I could get ok base out of some relatively small speakers i would be ok ditching the sub.
I used to have a 7.1 system and while I think it sounded amazing i never was able to rebuild it once I moved into my new house. The closest I can reasonably come to that setup is a sonos style system which I don’t think is worth the price.
A solid 2.1 or 3.1 system sounds perfectly fine. And in the evenings you can hook your headphones up to the headphone jack on the front of the avr.
You could definitely take this in steps. Start with 2.0. See if you like the dialogue clarity and general audio, in addition to the bass. You may find the dialogue fine, but the bass lacking, so you add a sub. Or you may find the dialogue isn’t super solid but the bass is adequate, so you add a center channel. Or 2.0 is perfect and you’re done.
I have so many headphone amps and such laying around that part of the equation is almost useless. I do like the idea of having a receiver anyway because it makes routing audio a bit easier with my retro set up. All receivers let you pass though audio to another channel so that would help a lot with my OSSC in my chain.
I used to be a DJ so I always had a large record collection and huge high end speakers with multiple amps. Music has never been the same since I sold my records & equipment. Sometimes, I think its not even worth trying to get a decent audio set up because it doesn’t compare.
If I make this jump, I really think I won’t be happy without a sub but I really want a discrete option because they can take up so much room. Makes me think I should build my own TV stand and put a custom enclosure so I can hide the sub in the furniture.
I’m not expert on audio acoustic and placement, but I’m not sure if having a sub in an enclosed space like that is what you wanna be do? Again, I could be wrong here, but that’s my gut feeling. You can always do what I did in my old set-up an try and incorporate it into your room somehow.
People don’t even know my sub is a sub unless I tell them. Doesn’t stand out in a bad way. It’s just a sleek base with a wood top as far as anyone knows.
Interested in what people are doing for audio with PVMs. My PVM setup is separate from my HDTV setup but in the same room. If I routed audio through my receiver I would be sitting right of the right speaker so that would be odd I think. I’ve been testing out an adapter recently to use with computer speakers but all I can find in the female 3.5mm to female RCA is this, which is finicky and well, matches the price. Are there better adapters like this?
If it helps, I’ve had better luck with y-shaped cables than those plastic solid-body adapters for that type of thing, but don’t have one I could personally recommend.
I’ve been looking for a Y cable adapter but I can’t seem to find one with both ends female. There are all other permutations it seems, but not female 3.5mm to female RCA. I have only been able to find the solid body design so far, I’ll keep looking.
Another option I’m considering, which is probably more future proof, is to just route audio to my receiver then use bluetooth or long ass wired headphones. That would rely on RCA extension cables ~10-15’ though.
I’m a bit strange in that I have two sound systems in the same small room. First up is my music system. This is 3 separate Onkyo devices (amp with digital tuner, graphic equaliser and CD player). Next to that is a front loading Sony turntable.
For gaming and movies I’m using another Onkyo amp. This one is a 7.1 dts, thx, dolby Pro Logic amp. I have a million devices connected to this. Well not a million but all of the following - Xbox One X, TV, Saturn, Mega Drive, Super NT, PC Engine and CD unit, master System, PS2, Dreamcast, Wondermega, Xbox 360, Neo Geo MVS, Wii, emulation PC and Pioneer BluRay player
I really gotta redo my sound setup. I used to use a Sony receiver in a 2.1 setup. It died and now I’m using a yamaha receiver I found at a yard sale. It doesn’t sound nearly as good as the Sony did.
I have PC speakers that will work, and have had them setup in the past, but I’m in the plebeian ‘one console hooked up at a time’ situation due to space so they don’t get setup every time I move things around. I should look into a headphone/earbud setup. That seems like it would be less re-configuring with console changes.
