Is there a way to plug this sub woofer into my computer?

I have a very old Sony 5.1 Surround sound system, but not the stereo, so I can't plug it into anything. This doesn't bother me, but it has a very good sub woofer, and I was wondering if there was anyway I could plug it into my computer. This is the end of the cable.. So what adapters or anything like that will I need to plug it into the on board audio on my AS Rocks X58 motherboard? Is it even possible? Thanks in advance.

sony bass subwoofer

asked Oct 22 '10 at 08:06

Ben Grant
2.0k●3●13●37

YES it is!! the best think about electronics is that the ONLY SINGLE ONE limit is simply our imagination! everything you can think of you can make!

(Oct 23 '10 at 00:35) JohnK

6 Answers:

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1	If your motherboard has a subwoofer out, then ... answered Oct 22 '10 at 08:54 r0bErT4u 31.0k●513●672●938 My motherboard has no such socket. It just has the standard 6 3.5mm sockets and optical out. (Oct 22 '10 at 11:12) Ben Grant

Is the woofer powered eternally? because i doubt your motherboard will be able to handle it otherwise. If it is,look into cutting the wire and soldering onto a 3.5mm plug. but be very very careful, and test it for a bit on a cheap phone or MP3 player first

answered Oct 22 '10 at 11:15

Tim Fontana
15.3k●135●199●368

I hadn't even thought about power! It isn't external powered, and my mobo probably couldn't power it.

(Oct 22 '10 at 11:18) Ben Grant

then no, unfortunately it most likely wont work, and I wouldn't risk trying it

(Oct 23 '10 at 15:53) Tim Fontana

0	I would save up for a surround sound receiver then run a cable from your computer to the receiver. answered Oct 22 '10 at 11:40 Josh_M 2.7k●6●15●51

0	Go to Radio Shack and pick up an audio adapter with bare wire contacts on the other end. Three bucks. Done and done. answered Oct 22 '10 at 11:46 tsilb 21.0k●65●199●333

I think you'll need to get an amp for it. Don't expect to power that through your computer. A standard analog audio output on a computer might give 5 watts output, where your subwoofer will probably want 100 watts. You'll overheat something if you try to retrofit it. Instead, I suggest getting one of the following cables (stereo 3.5mm to 2x RCA cable) and an amp, pairing the wires to plug your woofer into the amp and your amps input into the computers audio out. If you don't have much money, just buy a second-hand one. Don't plug any other speakers into it, though. Make sure any speakers you plug into an amplifier are all the same model. Otherwise the impedence and sensitivity mismatch makes for horrible sounds.

Stereo 3.5mm to 2x RCA cable

answered Oct 22 '10 at 23:59

Seb
(suspended)

well, if you give me a list with pics i can tell you how to hook up ANYTHING on your pc. And in the worst case senario you will be spending not more then 10$ to hook up that old sony and enjoy your 5.1 to the fullest! (limit is the sony's speaker peak wattage). I cannot teach you how audio systems work in a post but if you want help to hook it up i can definetly do that!
Make a decent quality video and show me:

speakers
speakers endings cable terminals
the amp of the speakers (where speakers are normaly connected to the sony player)
all the other terminals on the back of the amp

I can say that my audio system is not a common one and i am a sound engineer/audio equipment technician for "Vision Of Sound" for the past 5 years, also keep in mind that i love that job!

answered Oct 23 '10 at 00:32

JohnK
(suspended)

Thanks for the help, mate! Here's the problem though. It is a very old speaker system, of which 2 of the speakers need to be wired. I gave up on trying to connect the whole set and now I just want to use the sub woofer with the computer speakers I already have. It's far fetched, I know, but I just wanted to see if it could be done.

(Oct 23 '10 at 12:50) Ben Grant

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