Connecting Stereo Speakers

I'd like to connect regular stereo speakers, that is, those with RCA cables, to play music from my iBook G4. Griffin Technologies used to sell a pre-amp called the PowerWave and a nifty inexpensive adapter, but both have been discontinued. Can anyone recommend other third-party peripherals that will do the trick? Any advice would be most appreciated.

Just an fyi, I checked the ads for radioshack and found nothing less than $149.00 . Circuit City had one advertised for only $79.00, and I'm sure a search of the megalomarts would find others.
As for the Griffin powerwave, even the least expensive home audio receiver will have far superior audio specs to that. The limiting factor in hooking up an ibook to a home stereo is the iBooks audio processing and your encoding method. regardless of that, I use my 14" ibook in my home entertainment center and find it worthwhile. I used a sound blaster audigy card when I was on Windows, and although technically there is a difference, these old ears do not notice it anymore.
By the way, I did find a few retailers still selling the powerwave if you are intent on it, although honestly, I'd go the home receiver route.
http://www.adorama.com/GFPOWERWAVE.html

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Connecting stereo speakers to an iMac

I am thinking about making the final jump and just trashing my stereo and running all my music through my iMac. Three questions:
1.) Is the output of an iMac going to be high enough quality to sound good through my stereo speakers?
2.) Is this done by simply connecting a set of stereo speakers to my iMac through the headphone jack?
3.) My current stereo is hooked up to three sets of speakers (one set in each of three rooms) and I'm wondering if I can split the output signal from my single headphone jack so that the music comes out of all three speakers.
4.) I'm incredulous that my little iMac will be able to produce quality sound equal to my stereo system. Am I wrong? (My wife will only allow this change if I guarantee that she won't even notice a difference.)
Thanks in advance!
Peter Booth

Hi Peter,
1. the output is good enough to run external speakers through (you'd need to have the hearing of a bat to notice the difference. Only the very highest and ver, very lowest of frequencies are lost.)
2. yes the headphone jack will work (if you iMac has an 'output' jack though, use it instead.)
3. Yes, you will lose ouput accordingly (is the stereo designed to run two speakers is running six, all speakers will recieve only 1/3 signal, unless you install extra capacitors in your amps to compensate for loss of output.
4. refer to answer 1
Kind Regards,
Peter Miller.
Message was edited by: Peter Miller

Connecting the old Apple Pro 2-piece stereo speakers

about 4 yrs ago I bought a pair of Apple pro stereo speakers for my Power Mac G4 and Powerbook. They still work beautifully. This year I bought a new Macbook Pro. I've now discovered that the speakers don't attach to the MBP. I've tried my local Apple store and I've tried on-line searches, I've even bought connective pieces that I thought might work from the on-line picture. The connecting piece to the MBP output port for headphone/speakers is different in size and no one seems to be able to sell me a piece that makes the speakers connect. Has anyone else had the same problem and found a solution?

Yes. No. There are lots of really good speakers that would sound as good and would likely cost less than adpaters and the like.
People used to use Griffin iFire and Griffin Powerwave both which you cannot buy now but maybe find on eBay.
There is a mixed digital and analog thing going on so lopping off wires and the like won't work, you need a D/A converter in the mix.

Wanting to connect an older G4 Powerbook running OS 10.4.11 to a Marantz SR4023 receiver amplifier with only RCA inputs to play iTunes through it on stereo speakers. Can anyone advise how to do this?

Wanting to connect an older G4 Powerbook running OS 10.4.11 to a Marantz SR4023 receiver amplifier with only RCA inputs to play iTunes through it on stereo speakers. Can anyone advise how to do this? Not tech savvy at all here, and will be happy with a simple hard wired connection. The Powerbook is old, and I no longer want to use it for anything but connecting iTunes radio, and my iTunes library to my stereo system.

Hi,
There were many PowerBook G4 models (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3065) with different ports (http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2369).
If necessary, a manual can be found here:
http://support.apple.com/manuals/#PowerBook%20G4
Generally speaking, the output of a headphone port can often be used for the connection to an amplifier. You would need an appropriate cable (typically, 3.5 mm stereo plug to two RCA plugs). Choose a suitable amplifier input (high level). Do verify the allowed amplifier input voltage levels and the impedance before you connect.
Jan

Can I connect the optical digital audio cable to my tuner in order to use my stereo speakers?

can I connect the optical digital audio cable to my tuner in order to use my stereo speakers for apple tv sound?

thats why I do and mute the tv so there is only 1 audio source as they are never 100% in sync when you use both optical and hdmi

When playing iTunes from 2006 MacBook via Airport Express remote stereo speakers, the music keeps dropping in and out

I've tried hours and a trip to the Apple Store to resolve this problem, and no luck so far.
We have two Airport Expresses -- one is an older "g" version (from 2006), one is a newer "n" version (a couple of years old).
We have one older MacBook (from June 2006) (so it can only use "g" wireless and also cannot be upgraded to OS X 10.7 "Lion").
We have one MacBook Air and an iMac (both less than a year old), an iPad (about 2 months old), and a recently acquired AppleTV (in the past few weeks).
We also have two iPhones that do use our local wireless network on occassion.
We have stereo speakers that are currently connected into one of the Airport Expresses.
For years (until the past few weeks) I played music from iTunes on my first generation MacBook to the speakers with no problems (using the older "g" Airport Express). Recently, however, when playing music remotely over the speakers we have gotten fairly regular (though at random intervals) drops of the music in and out (drops are for a second or two each). So far, here's what we've tried to do:
(1)     Went to the Apple Store, where they thought the problem might be compatability between the g and n equipment in our house. They suggested that we get an Airport Extreme and use that as the base so that 2.5 GHz and 5 GHz networks could each be set up, allowing the two systems to play nicely. Spent a couple of hours setting everything up. No dice.
(2)     The skipping happens even when (a) I turn off the Apple TV; and/or (b) turn off the older Airport Express and just use the Extreme and the "n" Express (with the "n" Express as the connection to the stereo).
(3)      When I have the wireless network drop-down menu selected on my MacBook, the skipping occurs immediately after the computer is "looking for networks" (as shown at the top of the menu). The computer does this at random intervals on a regular basis. The skipping, however, will occur even if the menu is not selected.
(4)     Here's the weirdest part. The skipping has even occured when playing iTunes from our newish iMac, with the older MacBook shut down, with the older Airport Express shut down. In this case, the skipping only appears to occur when we have the wireless network drop-down menu selected and again, it occurs when the computer is "looking for networks" which occurs at random intervals. In this situation, the skipping only seems to occur when the menu is selected.
At this point, if I can't find another solution, I'm going to return the Airport Extreme, and just give up playing music over our stereo speakers from the MacBook (and instead transfer music to the iMac and play from it). But I thought I'd try a last-ditch effort to ask for help to see if anyone could figure out what might be causing the problem. I would chalk it up to the problems of using my old "g" network MacBook on a newer "n" system (though I'm not about to spend $1K+ to upgrade my laptop just for this), but for (4) above, which seems to indicate something else is going on.
Any help would be most appreciated!

Unfortunately, your description of the problem and the placement of both your main and AirPort Express routers does lend itself to believe the problem is most likely Wi-Fi interference. If it isn't the microwave or portable phones, it could be obstacles like walls between the routers that may be preventing the stream from consistently reaching the Express.
In your configuration, the stream will first travel to the main router, and then, from the main router to the AirPort Express. If, for example, you started the stream in the same room as the Express, that stream would have to travel across several rooms at least twice.

X300 Stereo Speakers not working properly

I have an X300 Thinkpad. My soundcard appears to be working - if I plug in a set of headphones or external speakers they work fine, but once I unplug from the headphone jack the integrated stereo speakers operate at very low volume (even when on full volume) and are very distorted.
This seems to be connected to either:
a. When I activated Bluetooth for the first time and a bunch of BT drivers were installed (off the harddrive)
b. When I updated the Thinkpad Audio features XIII
I have installed and uninstalled all the audio devices and BT devices, updated all the Thinkpad software, checked the BIOS, updated the audio and BT drivers, and every checked every other conceivable option!!!! The bugging thing is that in the Sounds panel in the Control Panel it says the speakers are working properly and the drivers are up to date.
Has anyone else experienced something similar? Has anyone got any ideas on what has happened?
Thanks in advance.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

@ All,
please correct me if I am wrong; up to now members know that you have problems with the sound levels / speakers on X300 ThinkPads.
A little more information would be helpfull, maybe you could all post, (or better still edit existing posts), information as to which operating system (with / without SPs) is concerned, whether or not this is a factory or clean install, and last but not least which sound driver is installed.
Thanks in advance
Andy ______________________________________
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Trouble connecting external speakers

I'm connecting external speakers using RCA cables from the speakers to the headphone jack on my iMac. When I do so, under Preferences--->Sound--->Output, the "Internal Speakers" changes to "Digital Out" as I believe it should. However, I am getting no sound from the speakers (which work fine with other devices). The "Mute" button is not checked and I can't figure out what the problem is.
I'm running 10.6.5 and the speakers are M-Audio Studiophile AV40.
Any thoughts?

The jack on the iMac is 1/8" mini stereo, I assume your "RCA cable" has that kind of plug on the end you plugged into your Mac's headphone out?
Your AV40's are analog speakers, not digital. In +Preferences > Sound > Output+ it should say +Headphones > Built-In Output.+
Sorry to ask a couple of simple questions, but
1- did you plug into the headphone output or the line-in jack on your iMac?
2- when you remove the plug, do the iMac internal speakers work?

Airport Express: am playing my stereo speakers but it continually cuts out

Have set-up Airport Express and music is playing through the stereo speakers (and/or via my computer speakers) but the music continually cuts out every couple of seconds on both the stereo and my computer

Thanks, Tesserax. I'll need to try headphones directly into the Airport Express tonight, but I'm guessing there won't be any static that way.
I'm actually streaming the AX to an Apple TV (2nd gen.), which connects to my receiver via HDMI. After playing around with it a bit more last night, I've determined that the interference is definitely from the wifi network. The static is most pronounced whenever data is passing over the network (i.e., when I am loading a website on my laptop, when I'm accessing my iTunes library over the ATV, etc.). So, as strange as it might sound, it appears that my receiver has started picking up electromagnetic interference from my AX wifi network.
This leads me to believe that it's a shielding issue with either the AX or the receiver. I've certainly heard of people experiencing faulty shielding in receivers, but has anyone ever heard of shielding issues with the AX? Unfortunately, I don't have an extra wireless router or receiver lying around, so I can't easily switch them out to see which one is the culprit. Any suggestions?

Connecting Stereo and computer speak

I tried to connect a 5 cd stereo to my soundblaster Audigy 2 Plat. along with a set of altec lansing speakers and subwoofer set combo. Iconnected both of them together with a mini jack splitter. It all works, but not exactly how I wanted. The stereo speakers work fine, sound great. However, only one of the altec lansing speakers and its subwoofer work. The one speaker with the actaul controls for volume stops working when you connect both to the one jack. Is there a way around this or is the sound card not powerful enough?

Get an /8" stereo Y splitter (single male, split side females)

Audigy 4 and standard stereo speakers... how

I have an Audigy 4 card and I'd like to get my pc sound to go through my standard home stereo speakers. What do I have to do to get this to work? I'm a sound system newbie. Is there a particular jack on my stereo that I should be looking for that would connect to the sound card?

mobyslick999 wrote:
I have an Audigy 4 card and I'd like to get my pc sound to go through my standard home stereo speakers. What do I have to do to get this to work? I'm a sound system newbie. Is there a particular jack on my stereo that I should be looking for that would connect to the sound card?
Cable:
(stereo) Mini jack plug to 2 RCA (L/R) cable.
Connection:
Soundcard:Line-Out # --> (depending on stereo system but) Stereo:Aux-In should be OK.
jutapa

Hello, I have Iphone 5 with Itunes music, airport express, 2 stereo speakers. What else do I need to hear music on the speakers?

Hello, I have Iphone 5 with Itunes music, airport express, 2 stereo speakers. What else do I need to hear music on the speakers?

Hello ricsch,
It sounds like you want to setup your Airport Express to Airplay music from your iPhone 5. I found an article with steps to help you get this setup:
Connecting to an existing Wi-Fi network, exclusively for iTunes music
AirPort Express used exclusively for AirPlay by setting it up in Client Mode.
Choose this configuration if the computer containing your iTunes library may be out of direct range of the AirPort Express, but is within range of the Wi-Fi network.
How to Set It Up
Connect your AirPort Express to your home stereo or powered speakers.
From your computer, join the wireless network. Use the AirPort status menu in the menu bar on a Mac. On a Windows-based computer, hold the pointer over the wireless connection icon until you see your AirPort network name (SSID), and choose it from the list if there are multiple networks available. Enter the network password, if necessary.
Open iTunes on your computer and choose the AirPort Express(es) you wish to stream music through from the speakers pop-up menu in the lower-right corner of the iTunes window.
I also recommend reviewing the sections titled "Some things you should know about AirPort Express with AirPlay" and "Things to consider before you begin" in the full article:
Wi-Fi base stations: How to set up and configure AirPort Express for AirPlay and iTunes
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4587
Thank you for posting in the Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Sheila M.

Connecting multiple speakers to Sound Ca

I have a situation where I would like to have two sets of speakers connected to my computer. I would like one smaller set to be on my computer desk and a larger pair placed around my apartment. When I stream music I want to be able to switch to the room ones and when I play games I want to set it to the ones on my desk. I have the Audigy 2 ZS sound card....does anyone know how I would do this? If I have two sets of speakers can I connect them to my soundcard and then just switch something through the creative mediasource? Thanks for any help

You can send the same stereo signals to two sets of analog stereo speakers. Is that what you're after? Plug one speaker set into Line-out and the other into Line-out 2. Select 4/4. speakers. In the EAX Console, enable CMSS3D and select Stereo Surround. Set the Stereo Focus to 0% to play both sets of speakers equally. I haven't tried it, but maybe you could "switch" between the two sets of speakers by adjusting focus to the front or rear. My speakers have power switches, so I simply turn on the preferred speakers and turn off the other set. Note that this setup works for stereo sources and will probably have problems with true surround sound sources.Message Edited by Katman on 05-08-2006 :05 AM

HT204387 Connecting two speakers to my ipad?

I would like to connect two speakers to my ipad but seem unable to do so, music seems to move from one speaker to another

What speakers are you using?
There are some apps that allow this, however iPad can only connect to one AirPlay or Bluetooth speaker at a time by default. Some Bluetooth speakers have the ability to connect to each other for stereo, but this is built into the speaker, not the iPad.
If you maintain an iTunes Library you can stream to multiple speakers through iTunes on the computer. Apple has the Remote app for iOS which can be used to manage iTunes on the computer as well as the wifi AirPlay speakers. This doesn't work with Bluetooth speakers.

Connecting Multiple Speakers

I have two airport express units one near the imac with printer and internet connected and one in another room with a stero connected, I had hoped to play music through both the stereo speakers and the computer at the same time with the multiple speakers tab in itunes. When i try to do this it tells me that my remote express does not support multiple speakers. What am i doing wrong Please ??

Would it be possible that you're not running the latest firmware (6.3) on the remote express? (ref: http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/airportexpressfirmwareupdate63formacosx.h tml)

Connecting Stereo Speakers

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