What's the final missing piece to setting up my PC audio system?

[joseywales]

 

 

I used to have a few different configurations on my primary PC, but then the PCi-E input on the MOBO apparently died, so I switched over to an external USB Creative Audio SBX soundcard and am now a bit confused on how best to power my existing equipment.

All of my previous stuff (Klipsch 2.1, Cambridge Soundworks 2.1, etc.) were all powered devices. I was then able to add to this with my old soundcard (soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme gamer) my Battlechair's audio components for a true 4.2 system. I'm sure most of you don't remember the Battle Chair, but it's got it's own Eastern amplifier to power the speakers on the top of the chair (@ ear level) along with the sub built into the lumbar portion of the seat. It was awesome and I miss it! It's worth googling it just to see what I'm referring to, IMHO.

Now, with the above equipment out of the picture - except the Battle Chair, I still want desperately to get this back into the mix, along with the new equipment I've since purchased for the front "2.1" portion of this set-up.

I have the new ELAC Debut 6.2 speakers arriving tomoorw and they're going to be the front L/R channels and it'll be paired to a powered Polk Audio PSW10 powered subwoofer. The ELAC obviously will crave much more power than the current little Lepai 2020A+ amp I have been using the drive the Cambridge Soundworks speakers up to this point.

My question is, how can I integrate this all into one cohesive working system?

I'm desperate for guidance, so if you need any additional information, pictures, etc. in order to answer PLEASE let me know. I think tihs system, with all the available speakers working together, would be phenomenal....I just don't know what to get to tie them all together (e.g.5.1 amplifier, 7.2 amplifier, etc.), not to mention how to incorporate the Battle Chair speakers.

Any and all help is truly appreciated.

[marioed]

Hi and welcome,

 

I think I have an idea of what you want to do but I'm not sure. Let me ask you a few questions.

1. Does the Creative Audio SBX soundcard have line outputs for front, rear & sub channels?

2. What type of digital output does the SBX soundcard have?

3. Are you planning to incorporate your Battle Chair into your setup and are you going to use it for the rear channels?

4. What type of audio inputs does the Battle Chair have?

5. What are the inputs on your Polk sub. 

 

From what you've said it sounds like you want to use your ELAC speakers for the front channel speakers and the POLK as your sub. What I'm not clear on is whether you want to use the Battle Chair speakers as the rear channel speakers and the Battle Chair sub as a second non-stereo sub? Depending on how you want to set things up you're best bet is probably going to be a 5.1 AV receiver but integrating the Battle Chair could be a problem.

 

[joseywales]

THANK YOU SO MUCH for the reply marioed.  I need the assistance/guidance of someone with more knowledge in this area than I have and welcome your continued assistance (if you'll be a bit patient with me).  I will get back to you with answers to all of your questions as soon as I can...hopefully within the next few days, or at least that's my goal.  Work/Life keeps "getting in the way" but please bear with me.

 

Questions 1 & 1:  For now, what I can offer are a few quick replies to your questions.  First off, the Creative external soundcard that I'm using.  Here is a link to the product and its specs, so hopefully it'll help you answer your questions (for my questions ) https://tinyurl.com/yc4whdlw

 

Questions 3 & 4:  Yes, I intend to utilize my Battle Chair as my rear surrounds.  I know that it is an old, discontinued product, but man, when it was connected it made a huge difference in the entire PC audio experience.  The integrated sub that's build into the lumbar portion of the chair is, along with the two rear surrounds, powered by the Eastern amplifier that came with the chari.  Here is a link to an old article that contains information that may help answer your questions:  https://tinyurl.com/y9fb2pqb  Again, I will follow up with you, if you continue to offer you're help (please do!) with photos, specs, etc...whatever you need to help you offer guidance.

 

The Polk PSW10 sub has the following inputs:  https://tinyurl.com/ybb4f7ro

 

The Battle Chair does have a unique input connection that I will show you soon.  I'm sure there's a way to utilize it, as it worked great for years with my older soundcard while still running a front left and right along with a powered sub.

 

Again, thank you so much for the response.  I hope to hear back from you!

 

Regards!

[marioed]

Glad to help if I can. Ok, I looked at the links you provided, the type & number of connections on the Battle Chair, i.e. RCA, 3.5 mm stereo, digital coax, digital toslink (optical), balanced XLR, aren't identified in the review you provided. That information will be important as to how if possible to incorporate the Battle Chair into your system. I'm guessing from the description in the review that the connections from the Eastern to the sound card are 3.5 mm plugs. If so does it use separate plugs for the front channels (2 mono plugs, left & right or a single stereo plug), rear channels (a single stereo plug or two mono plugs) and subwoofer (a single plug) or some other combination?

 

For the Creative Audio soundcard, is the toslink digital out multi-channel or only stereo and is the sub line out stereo or mono? Another question, does your PC have HDMI out and is it both video & audio or video only?

 

Since the Battle Chair has it's own amplifier you may be better off using a 2 channel integrated amp for the ELAC's & Polk sub rather than a 5.1 receiver. In this case you'd connect the front channels from your soundcard to the integrated amp and use the speaker input & output connections on the Polk rather than the RCA inputs. The speaker outputs from the amp would go to the speakers inputs on the Polk and the use the speaker outputs from the Polk to connect the Elac speakers. You would have to manually setup the Polk rather than use software on the computer. Also if the Battle Chair requires the front channels look for an integrated amp with preamp outs.

 

You'd then need to connect the Battle Chair to the rear & sub outs from your sound card. How you would do that would depend on the types of connections the Battle Chair has.

 

If you wanted to go with a AV receiver most of those available these days would require you to use HDMI to connect to your PC, you should also look for one that has preamp outs like the NAD T 748V2. The preamp outs should make connecting your Battle Chair fairly simple.

 

You could also look at using a multi-channel DAC instead of the soundcard, something like this https://www.minidsp.com/products/usb-audio-interface/u-dac8.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[joseywales]

Thanks again for the reply marioed.  I don't have to work tomorrow so I will send you some...hopefully....helpful information with regards to your questions.