Need advice on hooking up receiver to PC

[cyruschan]

I've recently found an old Panasonic SA HE 75 lying around my father in-law's basement;

(Pansonic Product Support - SA-HE75)

 

and thought I could perhaps use it in conjunction with a couple decent book shelf speakers to upgrade my PC audio, which is currently the razer mako 2.1 system;

(Razer Mako Review & Rating | PCMag.com)

 

 

 

The optical out does not seem to be working, but otherwise the receiver works. So my questions are as follows

 

1) Would using a mini jack from my computer to the RCA jacks on the receiver be an adequate alternative since the optical doesn't seem to be working on the receiver.

 

2) Could anyone recommend decent bookshelf speakers in the range of 150-300?

 

3) Is this ultimately a worthwhile upgrade to my razer mako's or would it be better to just get some audio engine 5s or swan MK3s or Emotiva's amotiv 4s.

 

Any help would be great since this isn't my area of expertise.

 

Thanks

[GrahamJohnMiles]

I watched your posting with interest and thought, there's not going to be much of response to this one. I don't think this is a site that feels compelled to give out advice to people dipping their toes in the PC/Audio Sea; and I don't mean that as a slur against either yourself or other subscribers. My sense, as a poster is that by getting here, subscribers are expected to have done all the initial footwork and have a functioning system that is ready for the fine tuning to reach elusive audio-perfection. Requests for component recommendations are not common, in my reading of the forums, but members are generous in their critiques of equipment they have auditioned or purchased themselves. You won't find a definitive answer to your questions, but you will find a lot of expertise on what works and what doesn't. You just have to wade through all the information, and in truth that's half the fun.

[Guidof]

Please don't let the feeling that this is not your area of expertise deter you from trying things out for yourself, deciding what you like and don't like, making mistakes and profiting from that experience, and enjoying the ride. Whatever expertise one may develop in this hobby is built up from this -- and, of course researching as widely as you can.

 

Welcome and best of luck!

 

Guido F.

[sjoc2000]

I've recently found an old Panasonic SA HE 75 lying around my father in-law's basement;

(Pansonic Product Support - SA-HE75)

 

and thought I could perhaps use it in conjunction with a couple decent book shelf speakers to upgrade my PC audio, which is currently the razer mako 2.1 system;

(Razer Mako Review & Rating | PCMag.com)

 

 

 

The optical out does not seem to be working, but otherwise the receiver works. So my questions are as follows

 

1) Would using a mini jack from my computer to the RCA jacks on the receiver be an adequate alternative since the optical doesn't seem to be working on the receiver.

 

2) Could anyone recommend decent bookshelf speakers in the range of 150-300?

 

3) Is this ultimately a worthwhile upgrade to my razer mako's or would it be better to just get some audio engine 5s or swan MK3s or Emotiva's amotiv 4s.

 

Any help would be great since this isn't my area of expertise.

 

Thanks

 

Welcome Cyruschan;

 

To get you started I'll just give you an opinion, and others can add comments, pro or con so you can get some advice.

 

If you haven't already done so, you need to read a bit about what a "dac" is.

 

A cost effective way to get a dac and get a system going is the Asus Xonar ST or STX, (read review here in C.A.S.H. found top right hand corner of home page) card for your computer. You will need a PCI or PCI express port in your computer for the sound card. This will give you a decent dac with appropriate outputs for now and future ideas you may wish to try.

 

Let's see if you are still monitoring your thread here, and if so we can go from there.

 

Jim