Purchased vintage speakers and need help setting up with pc

[Monsterzero]

My 3.55 aux cable isn't long enough, so what I plan on using is a male to female that's about 6 feet long into my soundblaster and plugging in a 6 foot aux to rca straight into the receiver. My question is will I lose audio quality using 2 different cables like that?

Im not sure if you will lose much noticeable sound quality by using 2 different types of cables, but you will most def lose sound quality by using cables of that length, and a pretty significant amount too.

I once bought a ten foot RCA cable a few years ago and the noise it introduced into my system was so bad I reconfigured the whole room so I could use a small run of RCAs.

Rule of thumb: The shorter the cable run, the better.

Do you think I need to buy a remote? Looks like I can get one for under $20 online.

Thats up to you, where you're planning on sitting in relation to the Pioneer. If you have to get up every time you need to turn it up or down or answer the phone that gets real old real quick.

 

[Stillmat1k]

Im not sure if you will lose much noticeable sound quality by using 2 different types of cables, but you will most def lose sound quality by using cables of that length, and a pretty significant amount too.

I once bought a ten foot RCA cable a few years ago and the noise it introduced into my system was so bad I reconfigured the whole room so I could use a small run of RCAs.

Rule of thumb: The shorter the cable run, the better.

Thats up to you, where you're planning on sitting in relation to the Pioneer. If you have to get up every time you need to turn it up or down or answer the phone that gets real old real quick.

Really? I was reading that you don't lose audio quality until you're hitting 100ft or more... I don't have a lot of options since my PC is at under 15 feet away from where the receiver would be which would be by my TV. It's not going to be exactly 15 feet but a bit under.

So the optical cable is going to lose audio quality as well even though its a straight 15 foot cable?

 

[Monsterzero]

I dont think optical under twenty feet is an issue.

You can certainly try a long RCA run and perhaps you will have better luck with it than I did.

 

[Stillmat1k]

You can certainly try a long RCA run and perhaps you will have better luck with it than I did.

Technically the long part will be the 3.55m. The RCA is 6 feet but really it's overkill for what I'm trying to accomplish the 3.55 is plenty long. I just need a shorter RCA and will try all three scenarios and see what sounds best.

 

[Stillmat1k]

@Monsterzero I'm having some trouble getting them connected... I ran speaker wire to both following the directions on Ohm Walsh's site. Negative to receiver then negative to first speaker, then positive to receiver and positive back to speaker. Same for the other speaker. No sound is coming out of it. I thought maybe I was just using the wrong input on the receiver so I changed it to tuner and no sound, no fuzz, nothing.

So I plugged in my headphones directly into the receiver and using the tuner I heard the fuzz (no antenna hence the fuzz)

What am I doing wrong? I did plug the speakers to the "front" section of the speakers not the "back surround" one. I figured that's the right thing to do.

I can't get the audio from my PC to work, even with my headphones so I know I'm definitely plugging the RCA's in the wrong spot or something... I tried a few. BD (not sure what this is), CD, CDR/Tape, DVD, TV, etc. nothing spits out audio. Is there a specific one I'm supposed to connect it to?

Here's a link to the manual which is what I've been using to troubleshoot but can't figure this out. https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/StaticFiles/Manuals/Home/VSX-520_OperatingInstructions0302.pdf

 

[Monsterzero]

@Monsterzero I'm having some trouble getting them connected... I ran speaker wire to both following the directions on Ohm Walsh's site. Negative to receiver then negative to first speaker, then positive to receiver and positive back to speaker. Same for the other speaker. No sound is coming out of it. I thought maybe I was just using the wrong input on the receiver so I changed it to tuner and no sound, no fuzz, nothing.

On most speaker cable one strand has either a colored stripe, or text on it, whereas the other strand doesnt. I use the one with a stripe or text as positive and the one with nothing as negative, however you can reverse that, as long the same strand you connected to + on the amp is also + on the speaker.

What am I doing wrong? I did plug the speakers to the "front" section of the speakers not the "back surround" one. I figured that's the right thing to do.

That is correct. Front L/R is the correct way to do it.

I can't get the audio from my PC to work, even with my headphones so I know I'm definitely plugging the RCA's in the wrong spot or something... I tried a few. BD (not sure what this is), CD, CDR/Tape, DVD, TV, etc. nothing spits out audio. Is there a specific one I'm supposed to connect it to?

What input jack did you plug the RCAs into on the receiver? Note there is a section that is for "INPUT" and another set of RCAs for "OUTPUT". Make sure you are using the input portion.

If it has an AUX input or CD input that will work fine. Dont put it into phono. Once you have it in CD or AUX input you need the switch the source output on the front of the receiver to correct position. In other words, if you insert the RCAs into AUX, the front selector should be switched to AUX as well.

If you can take a few pics of the rear of the receiver showing how you have it connected that will help.

 

[Stillmat1k]

On most speaker cable one strand has either a colored stripe, or text on it, whereas the other strand doesnt. I use the one with a stripe or text as positive and the one with nothing as negative, however you can reverse that, as long the same strand you connected to + on the amp is also + on the speaker.

That is correct. Front L/R is the correct way to do it.

What input jack did you plug the RCAs into on the receiver? Note there is a section that is for "INPUT" and another set of RCAs for "OUTPUT". Make sure you are using the input portion.

If it has an AUX input or CD input that will work fine. Dont put it into phono. Once you have it in CD or AUX input you need the switch the source output on the front of the receiver to correct position. In other words, if you insert the RCAs into AUX, the front selector should be switched to AUX as well.

If you can take a few pics of the rear of the receiver showing how you have it connected that will help.

See attached images. I thought it mattered how the speaker wire was connected, however like you mentioned and from what I read it doesn't matter as long as negative goes to negative and positive to positive. That being said for whatever reason once I swapped them around, I finally got static coming out of the speakers on the tuner. So I know the speakers are okay now. I still cannot for the life of me get it to connect to my PC yet. I tried a few of the other inputs as well and I'm aware I have to change the inputs on the receiver to match but none of them have worked so far. I think it might be a software thing. Meaning I have to change some playback devices on Windows to get it to work right. This soundcard has always given me issues when it comes to stuff like that. I have to set certain devices as "default" in order for it to output sound, etc. I may also have it plugged into the wrong port on the PC but I've tried them all and none seem to do the trick. See page 5 on this PDF http://static.highspeedbackbone.net/pdf/Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z Sound Card Manual.pdf

 

[Monsterzero]

OK, so yeah it quite possibly could be a Windows setting, and if thats the case I really cant help you much....My computer IQ is not impressive.

So on your receiver you will notice on the top left you have a digital input for BD( which I circled ) as well as an analog BD input, which is where you're currently connected to. Chances are the previous owner was using a HDMI cable to connect his BluRay player and has the internal settings on the receiver set to "digital" or "HDMI" as opposed to "RCA" or "ANALOG". Those settings are in the Menu on the receiver, which typically needs a remote and a connection to a TV or monitor to navigate.

Or you can try moving the RCAs to the jacks above listed as DVR/ VCR. There is no digital input for that source. If that still doesnt get you music its most likely a computer setting or less likely, a faulty cable.

 

[Stillmat1k]

OK, so yeah it quite possibly could be a Windows setting, and if thats the case I really cant help you much....My computer IQ is not impressive.

So on your receiver you will notice on the top left you have a digital input for BD( which I circled ) as well as an analog BD input, which is where you're currently connected to. Chances are the previous owner was using a HDMI cable to connect his BluRay player and has the internal settings on the receiver set to "digital" or "HDMI" as opposed to "RCA" or "ANALOG". Those settings are in the Menu on the receiver, which typically needs a remote and a connection to a TV or monitor to navigate.

Or you can try moving the RCAs to the jacks above listed as DVR/ VCR. There is no digital input for that source. If that still doesnt get you music its most likely a computer setting or less likely, a faulty cable.

Got it. That makes sense. I ordered a remote anyway, should be here tomorrow. It was only $8 so I figured why not... I'll try the DVR/VCR one and if that doesn't work then I'll start messing with PC some more. Thanks for your help

 

[Stillmat1k]

@Monsterzero I'm being told by Creative support (they are the makers of the SoundBlaster Z) that passive speakers are not supported via analog connection. Is that even possible?

 

[Monsterzero]

That being said for whatever reason once I swapped them around, I finally got static coming out of the speakers on the tuner.

Its important to not allow the bare copper wires from the positive side to touch the bare wires on the negative side . When that happens you can short out the signal.

Best way to avoid that from happening is to twist the bare wire tightly, insert them into the hole in the speaker post, and then tighten. Grab a flashlight and be sure the + wires arent touching the bare negatives. Better solution is to get banana plugs.

@Monsterzero I'm being told by Creative support (they are the makers of the SoundBlaster Z) that passive speakers are not supported via analog connection. Is that even possible?

That makes sense as there isnt an amp in the Creative, correct? Still it seems to me that as long as you're going into an amp it should work. Weird.

All is not lost. You have an optical out of your comp and an optical in on your receiver. Have you tried that method yet?

 

[Redcarmoose]

Its important to not allow the bare copper wires from the positive side to touch the bare wires on the negative side . When that happens you can short out the signal.

Best way to avoid that from happening is to twist the bare wire tightly, insert them into the hole in the speaker post, and then tighten. Grab a flashlight and be sure the + wires arent touching the bare negatives. Better solution is to get banana plugs.



That makes sense as there isnt an amp in the Creative, correct? Still it seems to me that as long as you're going into an amp it should work. Weird.

All is not lost. You have an optical out of your comp and an optical in on your receiver. Have you tried that method yet?

Good point as avoiding crossing the wires, I was going to point that out.

 

[Stillmat1k]

That makes sense as there isnt an amp in the Creative, correct? Still it seems to me that as long as you're going into an amp it should work. Weird.

All is not lost. You have an optical out of your comp and an optical in on your receiver. Have you tried that method yet?

As far as I know, no. I'm being told that even optical won't "power" the speakers. I think the agent is confused though. Unfortunately I don't have an optical to test it, it will be here tomorrow so I'll update you guys. They linked me to this which will power the passive speakers, but I'm sure there is better for the money https://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-x7

Its important to not allow the bare copper wires from the positive side to touch the bare wires on the negative side . When that happens you can short out the signal.

Best way to avoid that from happening is to twist the bare wire tightly, insert them into the hole in the speaker post, and then tighten. Grab a flashlight and be sure the + wires arent touching the bare negatives. Better solution is to get banana plugs.

Good point as avoiding crossing the wires, I was going to point that out.

I'm attaching a picture of how I did it. They are super far from each other. I highly doubt they would ever touch as they sit now. I had a hard time even getting them in there lol. That being said, I do plan on getting some banana plugs anyway once it's all working because they seem much easier.

 

[Stillmat1k]

Okay so if anyone wanted an update on my current situation or for your own knowledge... I finally got things up and running. Here's what I found.

1) I cannot use my SoundBlaster Z's (internal soundcard) via 3.55mm to RCA to connect to my pioneer receiver because my soundcard apparently doesn't support passive speakers via analog. I sent some diagnostics information to Creative (the OEM of the soundcard) from my PC and they're going to troubleshoot to see if I'm somehow able.

2) I tried optical via my soundcard and that works. I imagine this is as @Monsterzero and others have mentioned, optical will allow the internal DAC of the Pioneer receiver to process everything and thus being able to power the passive speakers whereas analog again for whatever reason isn't working.

3) I connected my PC to the receiver via HDMI (before this was connected to my TV directly and I also have a sound bar connected to my TV via optical) and it's nice because I get picture on my TV and audio from the Ohm speakers at the same time. I have ran into a couple of random annoyances but this is because I'm running 4 screens including my TV and when you start running that many screens it's inevitable that you start running into issues. For example if my TV isn't powered on and I turn my receiver on and to the correct input then my other 3 screens start to flicker making my PC unusable until I turn the TV on. I'll have to play around with this to see if there's a workaround.

- To add to this, I'd obviously like to be able to have my TV off and still get audio if I just want to listen to some music vs watching a movie, etc.
- Important to note that my audio sounds exponentially better via HDMI compared to the Optical cable. Some research validated that HDMI audio quality in general is better than optical.

So as of right now I'm up and running via HDMI and I'm happy with it. Sounds great. Now I'll just have to mess around with placement to see where I'd need to place the speakers for the best results.

One thing I wanted to ask you guys is what are you thoughts on somehow utilizing my soundbar + it's separate sub (all the sub has is power. It's connects to the actual soundbar via wifi. no other outlets on the sub). I hear in general it's a no no to connect the soundbar to the receiver as like a "center" speaker because it'll sound strange with the left and right ohm walsh's. I'd hate to have that soundbar and the sub go waste though now that I have the ohm walsh's. I can't even really use them anymore (as far as I know) because I'm not connecting my HDMI from PC directly to the receiver rather than the TV so the soundbar has no idea where to pull audio from. Let me know your guys' thoughts.

At some point I'm going to be visiting my family in LA and I plan on grabbing my Yamaha sub and using that on the receiver so not a huge deal.

Anyway, sorry for the rant just thought this might help someone else that's trying to do the same. To cut to the chase, audio quality via HDMI > Optical. I imagine analog will yield the same results, but I'll update when I hear back from Creative. I found this odd though as I imagine the HDMI is using the onboard audio from my PC vs the Soundcard and I imagine the onboard is lackluster compared to the Soundcard... Because of this I thought optical would sound better since the pioneer would be processing the digital audio but still it seems my onboard audio trumps that as well...

 

[Monsterzero]

glad you at least got it up and working , albeit with some issues.

I would suggest that you look into a proper USB DAC if you find yourself dissatisfied with the Pioneer doing the decoding.
If funds are short a Modi MB by Schiit will suffice. I suggest not pinching pennies and opt for the non-MB version. I have both and the MB version is worth the extra $.
Im pretty picky about my music. My main system DAC retails for $8,000.00 and I still enjoy the Modi MB in my den system.

Your setup would go like this:

PC>Modi MB via USB>receiver via RCA>speakers via speaker cable.