I'm hoping you guys can help me a bit, there are way too many choices/variables out there and I get overwhelmed every time I try to look. All I'm trying to do is play the music in my computer (in iTunes) through a decent pair of speakers. I could even do it wirelessly, I have an Apple airport express as my wireless router. If it were possible for those speakers to double as the audio for my tv, great - if not, no big deal, it's a small room and the tv speakers work just fine. I don't want to spend a ton and I don't want to own some five speaker home theater system, I just want something really basic that sounds good. Surely someone makes some simple system for the world to play their ipods through a pair of real speakers, no? I should point out that while I want to have decent sound for my guests, I'm NOT an audiophile - my ears are totally shot, I just want something better than the average belkin/ihome style jam-your-ipod-in-this-slot-and-it'll-play-through-these-2"-speakers. Help? Decent power source and a pair of speakers for a couple hundred max?
Honestly? If you're just looking to pipe some sound out into a room, buy a decent pair of powered computer speakers and be done with it. Cheap, easy, and no big loss if you decide in 6 months or whatever that you want a real sound system. Logitech makes surprisingly decent little speaker systems: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Speaker-System-Z523-Subwoofer/dp/B002FU5QMK" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Speaker- ... B002FU5QMK</a> For a little more money you can buy these, which I haven't used but heard good things about: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-ProMedia-Certified-Computer-Speaker/dp/B000062VUO" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-ProMedia- ... B000062VUO</a> For equivalent simplicity but a little more money, you could look for a set of powered studio monitors. You won't get the external subwoofer but the speakers will be a little more capable of producing bass than the little satellites that you get with the above sets, so you might end up close to a wash. To get an amplifier/receiver + speakers + wire/cables for under $200 is going to net you some pretty mediocre equipment, and it's going to be larger and more complex, in my opinion, than it's worth. More heat, power consumption, wiring, an extra remote, etc. If that's the budget and you have your heart set on a receiver + speakers, you might be better off shopping used. Just my two cents.
Thank you. I think that's really what I'm after - I don't really feel the need for a subwoofer, in a small room it doesn't make sense to me to try to divide up the frequency spectrum so drastically, and besides, it looks kind of silly in a small room. That was my thinking, as well, which is why I figured there must be something in between. I can't be the only person who just wants an input and a decent pair of speakers. I'll start looking for powered studio monitors and see what I can come up with. Any recommendations there?
I haven't really listened to many. I have a friend who had two sets of M-Audio monitors that he was very pleased with. He was after the same thing you seem to be: decent sound but extreme simplicity. The first set was on his computer and was a little cheaper: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Studiophile-AV-Powered-Speakers/dp/B000MUXJCO" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Studiophi ... B000MUXJCO</a> The second set was in his living room and was a pricier model: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-70-watt-Bi-amplified-Reference-Monitors/dp/B0014IEBM0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-70-watt-B ... B0014IEBM0</a> I didn't have much listening time on either so I can't really offer a solid opinion, but it might give you a starting point at least. I believe most studio monitors use a 1/4" TRS plug, so you'd need an adapter to go from the 1/8" plug that you've got on your iPod. They're cheap and widely available: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10429&cs_id=1042903&p_id=7139&seq=1&format=2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.monoprice.com/products/produ ... 1&format=2</a>
I'm putting this in both this and the general tech help thread, since I'm not sure which was best to try and get a response, but here goes... I have a 55" Samsung LCD (model LN55B650 for reference) and recently I've been having an issue with the picture. Randomly, the picture will dim slightly and there's a noticeable... jutter, is a the word I suppose I would use to describe it? Sometimes it's much more pronounced and noticeable than others, but it seems to be becoming more and more frequent in occurrence. At first I thought maybe it was just signal degradation from my shitty cable provider, or maybe even my HDMI cable, but the same thing happens when I use my Wii or my DVD player. I've also tried messing with all of the different settings on the TV and still can't seem to figure out what the root cause is. I'm hoping somebody out there has a small idea of what the hell I'm talking about and can offer some insight. Thanks.
From what I can see, the TV has network access. Have you gotten it online to check to see if there is a newer firmware that possibly addresses this exact issue? I'd start there first, and then test out other settings once you've updated to the latest version.
Yeah, I updated to the newest update available but am still having the same issue. However, I went out of town for the weekend and when I came back, I thought the issue had resolved itself since it appeared for quite a while that the issue had gone away, but after a few hours the issue started back up again, just like before. I'm wondering if there's a part or something that could cause this due to possibly overheating? I'm not sure if that's even a possible effect since there's still an actual picture. I'll see if I can possibly get a video of what the screen looks like when it's happening to see if that can give any better insight to the issue since I know it's very hard to describe what's actually happening.
Okay, so I was able to take a couple different videos to hopefully better illustrate the exact nature of my issue. The first video is of the TV when it's working properly. Now the second video showing the exact issue that I'm having in regards to the screen flickering. Now, to alleviate the obvious question, this doesn't happen just when I happen to be connected to Netflix, I merely tried changing to different inputs and sources to make sure that it wasn't just my cable. I have this same issue whether I'm connected through my cable, DVD player, or my Wii.
That looks like a power or an interference issue to me. Have you tried using a different outlet or moving the TV somewhere else in the house? Is it plugged into a surge suppressor?
The TV itself is plugged directly into the outlet. However, there is a surge protector on the other half of the outlet that all the other electronics are plugged into. I just tested the signal by unplugging everything from the protector and unplugging the protector directly from the wall. The only thing plugged in was the TV and as soon as I also plugged in both the cable box and the DVD player separately into the outlet as well to test the signal, both times the flickering immediately began.
So I just bought a fancy expensive LG smart tv. Where I want to place the tv is no where near my internet connection is. Question- Can I hook up a usb wireless thingy to the tv to be able to access all the smart functions? How hard is this?
You can probably pick up one from the manufacturer, but my recommendation is to pick up this. It's a powerline network adapter kit. I set up one of these at my parent's house for the exact same reason. They have a network capable TV, home theater receiver, and Blu-Ray player upstairs, and their modem is downstairs. Setup was a breeze, and streaming in HD via Netflix worked great. An added benefit, is that the adapter that plugs in by your TV has four ports, so if you have plans for a network capable BD Player, you're good to go.
I thought that I had a very simple problem, but I can't seem to fine a solution. I have a home stereo that includes a 300 disk CD changer, turn table, amplifier with multiple tape decks all hooked into speakers through out my house and deck. I want to down size the system and put everything on an ipod and then hook it into the speakers in the house. I figured that I could find an ipod docking station with an amplifier attached to hook into my household speakers - no such luck. Does anyone have a clue or suggestion? Thanks
I am looking for something for my church...sort of on the cheap. We have a small nursery/daycare room that borders the choir loft in the back of the church. We want to set up a video camera of some sort from the choir loft and get a small tv so if someone is in there watching their children they can still watch the service. The distance from where we would most likely mount a camera to the tv is around 15-20ft. I have a roughly $700 budget for a camera, tv, cables, and anything else I am going to have to get for this. Any suggestions? I can provide more details if needed.
For $200, Costco has a set of wireless security cameras that would be ideal for this. It comes with a couple of cameras, and a remote monitor that can show the cams (including colour and sound). The monitor is small, and quite portable even, and is wireless as well.
Something like this. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=10332194&Ne=4000000&eCat=BCCA|79|20100&N=4008798&Mo=45&No=32&Nr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&cat=20100&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-CA&Sp=C" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product.asp ... en-CA&Sp=C</a>
Wireless speakers. I can't get a clear consesus and I'm sure as hell not going to listen to the guy at Best Buy. Any interference? Is the reception comparable to wired?
Depends on the source, and what kind of fidelity snob you are. The only advice I have for you is to listen to them and make your decisions based on that. If you buy speakers that run in the 2400-2500 range, or 5k, that's the range of most wireless devices like cordless phones and wireless firewalls, so you very well may get some interference. I'd say that you get what you pay for... go for a good name brand and don't be cheap, and you'll get some decent quality. Failing that, just be sure there's a good return policy and roll the dice.
My wife is from Germany and has a ton of DVD's that she brought with her that are region locked... Has anyone purchased a region free DVD player that can point me towards a reasonably priced one? I've obviously checked out reviews for many of them, but I would like to hear first hand from someone regarding this.