[Conley]

Ok, so I have this stereo hooked up to my computer via a red/white to 3.5mm adapter: http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MHC-GX450.../dp/B0001LCZZQ

Is there any way I could hook up a different (read: smaller) amp to those speakers? I want to get rid of the main control area, because I never use it anyways. The tweeters are bare wire and the subwoofer has a plug connector, but (here's the biggest catch) it also has a little rectangular wire, which I can only guess is used for the on/off button on the sub. The sub doesn't work without that white wire plugged in.

Any suggestions?

 

[kennymester]

The left and right speakers can be used with any off the shelf amp or receiver. The sub however seems like its powered by that other connector. Most amps and stereo systems don't have enough power to power a sub therefore they are almost always powered separately. I think you have to find out how that amp is powered and then you can connect it to the sub output on a receiver.

 

[Conley]

Ok, any recommendations for a speaker amp?

Also, does anyone know an amp that would somehow be able to power that sub?

 

[Chipp]

How much are you looking to spend?

 

[Conley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chipp How much are you looking to spend?

Enough to get the job done. If it's too much, I'll just either get a new stereo or stick with the giant amp. I'm just wondering what my options are. The stereo is supposedly 400W, but I'm sure that's an inflated estimate.

 

[aaronb33]

What amp you get really depends on the quality of the speakers, you should be looking at sensitivity and maximum continuous wattage (RMS). For example, a half decent floor standing speaker has around 88dB sensitivity, so it only needs around 50 watts of power to produce getting close to 100dB at around 10 feet (rough guess, i don't know where you'll be listening from). Anything less than 88dB will use less than 1W of power. Basically, the higher the speaker sensitivity, the less wattage you need from your amp.