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I have some gear, but I have know idea how or if I can set it up.

post #1 of 9
9/10/11 at 9:38pm
Thread Starter 

Hello. I'm fairly new to the audio scene, so please forgive me if this question is stupid. 

 

My dad's an old hi-fi guy, and happened to have some gear laying around the house unused. Specifically a McIntosh MC 7100 amp and a pair of MB Quart 280 speakers. I was wondering if I could use these for a computer rig, as I don't have any other source besides my ipod.  My dad says I wouldn't be able to use the amp because it'll destroy my computer, but he admits that he's a bit hazy on his audio knowledge. So my question is can I use these for a computer rig? If so, how exactly? Again, sorry if this question is really dumb, but I'd appreciate any help.

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post #2 of 9
9/11/11 at 1:34am

You have to get these stuff

 

1. 3.5mm to RCA cable, connect from the rear headphone jack of your onboard PC sound or a PCI/PCIe soundcard, DAC, etc to the red/white inputs at the back of amp. These would be filling the role of 'preamp'

 

2. Speaker wires from the speaker outputs of that amp to the speakers

 

mc71004yl7.jpg


Edited by trog - 9/11/11 at 1:45am
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post #3 of 9
9/11/11 at 1:40am

^^^ What he said

here is a link

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Audio-Cable-Splitter-1-Mini/dp/B00004Z5CP/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1315730366&sr=8-2

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post #4 of 9
9/11/11 at 12:30pm
Thread Starter 

Okay great. That's what I originally thought until my dad said it wouldn't work. One more question though. You said to plug the amp into the headphone jack on my PC. I thought you're always supposed to to plug an amp into your PC's line out?

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post #5 of 9
9/11/11 at 12:40pm

Yes line out is more a proper term just that most peeps call it rear headphone out jack L3000.gif

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post #6 of 9
9/11/11 at 12:45pm
Thread Starter 

Ah. Got it.

 

Sweet. Now I have decent computer rig for the price of a 3.5mm to RCA cable! Thanks a lot for your help!

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post #7 of 9
9/11/11 at 12:46pm

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by neato View Post

Okay great. That's what I originally thought until my dad said it wouldn't work. One more question though. You said to plug the amp into the headphone jack on my PC. I thought you're always supposed to to plug an amp into your PC's line out?



Indeed. Line out or preferably optical or coaxial out if you have those outputs and an external DAC. 



Quote:
Originally Posted by trog View Post

Yes line out is more a proper term just that most peeps call it rear headphone out jack L3000.gif



A line out and headphone out is not always the same thing. If they are then that is a compromise on that sound card.

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post #8 of 9
9/11/11 at 12:52pm


O_o dun forget those speaker wires - u are welcomed beerchug.gif

Quote:
Originally Posted by neato View Post

Ah. Got it.

 

Sweet. Now I have decent computer rig for the price of a 3.5mm to RCA cable! Thanks a lot for your help!



 

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post #9 of 9
9/12/11 at 4:54am

A headphone out to a speaker amp is not an ideal solution, a headphone out is made to drive headphones it contains a headphone amp that amps the signal for headphones so it's double amping and hurting the quality, a proper lineout is designed for extenal amps and outputs the correct vrms around 2 with no additional amping of the signal.

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