DIY 5.1 speaker system *newbie warning*

[Firebird]

Hi every body!

I really love the DIY idea and I have loads of stuff that I would like to do.

One of those things is to make a 5.1 speaker system to my computer. And I have some questions about how to get this a reality.

My goal is to get a home theater system with the computer to control it all. I will have a TV card, DVD, CD, Radio and so on. I will also add a projector later on (DIY as well ).

So if I have understood everything right I would want...

4 shelf speakers that have a mid range driver and a tweeter each.
1 center speaker that probably should be like two shelf speakers.
1 subwoofer.
And 1 amplifier.

My first question is. Have I mist something or got something wrong?

Do I have to have an external sound manipulation unit? I think it called a pre-amp?

How powerful should the different speakers be? (I am more interested something that sound good, but doesn’t annoy my neighbours. So rather quality then intensity)

How difficult are the different parts to do? I am assuming that I will need to bye already made drivers. But then there are crossovers, subwoofer, amp, maybe pre-amp to do.

And how big budget would I have to have? Would it be possible to do it for about $500?

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I know this is a loot of stuff for a newbie to do. So I will probably start with the amp and make sure to get that to work with a speaker that I already have. And then start adding the rest part by part.

Am I insane or is this doable???

[beniwtv]

Hi!

You've got all the speakers you need. But you can't connect them directly to the computer, you do need an external 5.1 amplifier.

You can either buy one - or do it yourself (That's what I want to do).

Hope this helps.

[kneadle]

Go to the chipamp forum. With the right advice, you can DIY an amplifier system, and it'll be poweful and hi-fi and very affordable.

Good luck!

Dave

[wintermute]

Originally posted by Firebird
Hi every body!

Do I have to have an external sound manipulation unit? I think it called a pre-amp?

Am I insane or is this doable???

If you have a sound card with a built in decoder, then you won't need an external processing (preamp) unit, just take the various outputs from the soundcard to the amps.

No not insane, and doing it step by step is the way to go

Tony.

[Bose(o)]

Yup, use the soundcard as the "preamplifier". The Audigy cards and an optical cable will do you just fine.

In reference to your speakers, I'd use the same shelf speaker for your center channel. This will keep lobing and other problems that are associated to the 'normal' center channel to an absolute minimum. Now, more specifically what are you asking for in terms of performance, style or 'invisibility'? (etc., etc., etc.)

What you should do is start listing what you want the speakers to end up doing, we can guide you from there.

Also, you may want to shop around for a receiver that has a digital input; I find that the analog connections are too 'noisy.'