Old Surround Sound Speakers and Sub

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Old Surround Sound Speakers and Sub

simon14

1889 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 44

Trusted

#130894 1-Oct-2013 22:44

My Panasonic Surround Sound dvd/receiver finally died over the weekend so i have now purchased a new receiver which does the job nicely.

As there was nothing wrong with the speakers, i'd like to use them again. The guy in the shop said i wouldn't be able to because if i purchased a receiver, chances are the speakers would blow it as they won't be the same voltage or something. Is this correct?

What i'm really wanting to do is just get a cheap 2.1 channel receiver and plug my old surround sound front left and front right and sub into it and use it as my PC speakers. Is this possible? The old sub is not powered by a separate power supply, someone said this would also be an issue?

Any advice would be appreciated.

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 125

#906154 2-Oct-2013 09:10

Speakers from an all-in-one type unit are often an unusual impedance, some amps\receivers won't like them and you may well blow something, particularly if pushed to higher volumes. 6 or 8 Ohms is "standard" for regular standalone speakers. You may be able to find the specs if you google the speakers and/or receiver model.

If it's an unpowered sub then you'd be severely restricted in what you can use it for unless it has an onboard crossover in which case you could drive it as a separate speaker pair potentially.

If you do manage to find a "cheap" 2.1 receiver, then let me know as I'm also after one, they don't seem to exist. You're pretty much in the realms of a regular stereo amp with a pre-out to run a separate (preferably monoblock but they're $$$) amp for the subwoofer.

Ideally what I'd like is a pure stereo amp which takes an ARC-compatible HDMI input from my TV. I don't want/need surround sound or a subwoofer (my main speakers have 12" drivers in them), but I do want a minimum of cabling.

@KnightNZ

simon14

1889 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 44

Trusted

#906408 2-Oct-2013 13:20

Thanks for that.

So it's not quite as easy as just plugging in the speakers to a new amp and Bob's your uncles sister?

Will have a look around and see what i can find.

richms

29099 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10209

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#906760 2-Oct-2013 22:19

They will also rely on equalization on the supplied reciever to get acceptable sound out of them as they dont bother to equalize in the crossover since it is much cheaper to to it before amplification. Usually on a amp with a flat response those all in one system speakers will be really really bright, and you will put frequancys too low into them so the woofer will just bottom out all the time on the slightest bass.

Setting the speakers to small on the new reciever will sort the bass out, but even the fancy EQ with the microphone will probably not be able to tame the brightness.

Put them in the next inorganic collection, or dollar reserve them on trademe.

Richard rich.ms

Batman

Mad Scientist
30013 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6217

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#906801 2-Oct-2013 23:11

depends on what you want

if you want it to make sound, you can reuse it

if you want it to make sound and last forever, post the specs of your old speakers - you might be able to depending on how loud you crank it

if you want good sound, get proper speakers