Guys,

Need your advice.

Can I connect my Altec Lansing MX-5021 to an amplifier and so I need to buy 1 center speaker and 2 rear speaker only. I can save on 2 front speaker and 1 subwoofer.

Pls advice if this is possible?

This post has been edited by chiakwang: Nov 17 2009, 06:11 PM

there's already a built in amp in the 2.1

yes it's possible.
connect the sub to the subwoofer pre-out
speakers to the speaker terminals

and add 3 speakers - center and surrounds

but someone told me that we have to connect an active subwoofer only..

the standalone amp cant connect with passive subwoofer (like many 2.1 system for pc)

OK, so the question you should ask him is: In a 2.1 system for the PC what powers the speakers and the subwoofer?

This post has been edited by SiriuslyCold: Nov 17 2009, 05:07 PM

ya.. they have their own power connector.. but i thought passive / active sub is classified by presence of built in amp in the sub itself.. i might wrong..

so what does the power connector do?

Actually, I think many 2.1 systems for PC do have an active subwoofer. That's why it has its own power cord.

give a man a fish...

Sorry, just realised you were trying to get him to deduce the answer for himself

heh

owh... so i kene con with the seller loh.. hehe how noob am i..

In what way did the seller con you?

he said that if u buy an avr like vsx 818/819.. u need active sub..

so i told him i already have pc's subwoofer with 2 small speaker (sonic gear brand) and have its own power cord.. he said that its not active sub..

like this : http://www.sonicgear.com.sg/?id=2&bcid=6&pcid=21&pid=66

This post has been edited by monodevil: Nov 17 2009, 05:44 PM

The picture of the sub from the link did not show any port where it can connect to amp.

I am confuse......... Hahahah............

The Altec Lansing MX-5021 subwoofer comes with built in amp. 240V is connected to the Subwoofer. The volume/bass/treble control is also connected to the Subwoofer.

From the Subwoofer again, it outputs to both speakers.

The Subwoofer is rated at 50W and the speakers are rated at 20W each....

So, is this active or pasive amp??

Am I able to buy an amp and utilize these speakers and save some money?

haha so do i..

Yours is an active sub, but the important part is whether it can accept the signal from the AVR sub pre-out. Which I will discuss below...

---

Added on November 17, 2009, 6:17 pmYours is also an active sub. The tricky part for any 2.1 PC audio system is how to connect it to your AVR. Normally you connect to a PC using a single 3.5mm stereo jack. The signal coming from your PC is actually a 2 channel signal. If you use an AVR, I assume the cable connection will be:

(a) from the AVR sub pre-out to the sub - this is normally using RCA connector, so you might need some kind of adapter because your sub probably takes a 3.5mm jack.

(b) from the AVR front speaker terminals to your 2 satellite speakers - I see the MX-5021 has got spring terminals so you can use your own cables. Issue is whether your speakers can handle the power from the AVR.

You can experiment with the connections, I think it is connectable but I have no idea how it sounds or if there are any other issues.

This post has been edited by jchong: Nov 17 2009, 06:28 PM

Thanks for the clarification jchong!

Thats mean it carries the risk of exploding my 20W speakers..... Is it......????

If thats the case, I might want to keep the Altec Lansing by connecting it to the TV audio output. Then buy another 5.1 home theater system.......

Whats the advantage of buying a stand-alone amplifier and then match up with speakers compared to a ready home theater system like what pioneer, sony and others offer?

My concern is budget and I might want to buy the cheapest 5.1 home theater system......

The reason for me to look into 5.1 home theater is that when I played blueray converted dvd movies and compared that to a real bluray movies, I found that picture wise, bluray is slightly better. But, audio wise, bluray is much much better than bluray converted into dvd ones. You will be attracted to the movies.

My friend tried playing bluray converted transformer dvd using his cheap 5.1 system and it sound much much better than my 2.1 system. This makes me want to buy a 5.1 system and match it with bluray.....

as long as you keep the volume to a decent level it won't destroy your speakers.


when you buy separate you have a choice of the speakers you really like the sound of, compared to what's already packaged. for example you might prefer the sound of Wharfedale compared to Mordaunt-Short etc.

secondly those separate speakers are better constructed than the packaged HTiB speakers and tend to sound fuller ... with a properly specified AV receiver. Again there you have a choice of features to your liking

separate components also allow you to progressively upgrade your system - when a new BD player is released with better features, you just have to upgrade the player - and the other components can remain, instead of having to buy a whole new set.

But this is how I started - got a HTiB, then added a powered sub. next the HTiB unit was relegated to being a DVD player as I added an AVR. then the speakers were replaced - center first, then front LR and finally surround LR. then added a DVD player and sold off the HTiB set