[michael94]

Hi everyone this is my first time posting, I'm not very familiar with speakers or audio and am hoping I can find some help here. But i do know my $40 set of speakers and sub are not very good. I'd like to upgrade to something a little better. I'm trying to find a set of 2.1 speakers but from what I've heard a cheap entry level sub and speakers performs better than the higher end 2.1 computer speakers in the $150-$200 range. I have no idea what i need though, I thought it work by buying a sub and speakers, plugging them into the pc and voila getting music but apparently it isn't that simple. How will i go about plugging things in and what else will i need? I haven't purchased any of the sound equipment yet though.This is the setup I was planning to get, I'm not sure if the selection is good, so feel free to add your suggestions as well. A polk audio psw 10 inch sub, polk audio r150 bookself speakers, and a t-amp. It will be in my bedroom so it doesn't need to be super powerful, but i do like a lot of bass when playing video games (battlefield especially) and watching action movies. Thanks for reading and any help and suggestions. Here are links to the exact products if needed, as well as a picture of the i/o panel of my motherboard, if you need any other details feel free to ask.

Spoiler: Warning%3A%20Spoiler!

 

motherboard: http://ca.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4325#ov
subwoofer: http://www.amazon.ca/Polk-Audio-10-Inch-Monitor-Subwoofer/dp/B00803FAPO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1376804716&sr=8-2&keywords=psw10
speakers: http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/polk-audio-polk-audio-bookshelf-speakers-r150-r150/10129113.aspx?path=cbf53e1b692b06f5880234bde200bad0en02&SearchPageIndex=1
t-amp: http://www.amazon.ca/LP-2020A-Tripath-Class-T-Amplifier-Supply/dp/B0049P6OTI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1376804130&sr=1-1&keywords=t+amp
 
 

 

[cel4145]

You are in Canada, right? Prices are a lot higher for you than they are here in the US where I am. If you are looking for a budget setup, this is probably very good for your money.

To hook up the PSW10, you run speaker wire from the Lepai tamp to the speaker level inputs on the back of the sub, and the speaker wire from the speaker level outputs on the back of the sub to the speakers. This will "pass through" the amplified sound from the amp to the speakers, but let the sub also pick up the music so that its amplifier can reproduce it.



Then, Polk lists the low end frequency response of those R150s as 60hz. Often the best crossover point is somewhere near that low frequency roll off or a little above it (so that the sub and the speakers are not double bassing--both producing the same frequencies). Because the crossover on the PSW10 doesn't go down that low, you might as well turn it down all the way to 80hz.

Then set the gain (volume control) on the sub to wherever the bass integration sounds best to you. Just try some different music. As for the phase switch, if near your speakers, try 0 and then 180. Use whatever sounds best to you

 

[cel4145]

One more suggestion. See how much parts-express.com would charge you to ship their Dayton SUB 1000 or SUB 1200 to Canada. Better sub if you can get it for the same price.