Hooking two sets of 2.1 speakers to one output on laptop?
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2014 5:05 pm
Hello there. This might be a stupid question so I apologise if so, I'm not very knowledgeable about audio hardware. Basically the situation I have is this: I usually play music with my laptop as a source, using the 3.5mm audio output socket the laptop has to connect it to my set of Logitech z623 external speakers. These might not be the greatest speakers ever but the 2.1 setup suits my home listening needs fine, the bass is strong enough for me to enjoy dubstep, grime, hip-hop etc and the satellite speakers sound clear. So far so good.
However, I have recently come into possession of an old set of Logitech z2300 2.1 speakers from a friend. Apart from a few aesthetic damages these still work fine and can crank out tunes at a nicely powerful level (slightly more powerful than the z623 I think but they're both pretty strong for PC speakers). One logical solution would be to sell one of these speaker sets, but as both are pretty old and look tarnished (as well as the z2300 subwoofer having something lose inside it that a friend's child "posted" through it, doesn't effect the sound but it rattles if you try to move it around) so I'm not sure how much I'd really get for either to make it worth my while.
What I've been thinking about however is the possibility of having both sets hooked up to the same music source, so as to get twice the power/bass etc from them. I'm not sure what the best way to go about this would be. You can buy headphone/speaker splitter cables that you can plug both sets into to achieve sound from both, but I've heard that doing this makes the signal weaker coming through the cables, meaning both speaker sets have to work harder to achieve the same volume anyway, which seems to defeat the purpose. Also apparently this puts greater strain on the speakers as well and I don't want to damage them or have them blow.
There's only one audio output socket on my laptop so it's not possible to plug both in at the same time. Perhaps an external soundcard with multiple output sockets could do the job? I don't know much about soundcards though, have had a little search around but there don't seem to be any designed for this purpose or anyone else who's used them for a similar thing (plenty of cards with multiple outputs for 5.1 speakers but ideally I'd like the same signal going to both speaker sets with minimal loss of power/quality etc. I'm sure there are devices available that would do what I want them to do, but I have no idea what to search for or which would be the best for my purposes. Any help would be greatly appreciated. If it turns out it's not possible to achieve at all (or only for high expense) then never mind, would just be sick having both subs pumping out tunes at full power! Bedroom soundsystem
However, I have recently come into possession of an old set of Logitech z2300 2.1 speakers from a friend. Apart from a few aesthetic damages these still work fine and can crank out tunes at a nicely powerful level (slightly more powerful than the z623 I think but they're both pretty strong for PC speakers). One logical solution would be to sell one of these speaker sets, but as both are pretty old and look tarnished (as well as the z2300 subwoofer having something lose inside it that a friend's child "posted" through it, doesn't effect the sound but it rattles if you try to move it around) so I'm not sure how much I'd really get for either to make it worth my while.
What I've been thinking about however is the possibility of having both sets hooked up to the same music source, so as to get twice the power/bass etc from them. I'm not sure what the best way to go about this would be. You can buy headphone/speaker splitter cables that you can plug both sets into to achieve sound from both, but I've heard that doing this makes the signal weaker coming through the cables, meaning both speaker sets have to work harder to achieve the same volume anyway, which seems to defeat the purpose. Also apparently this puts greater strain on the speakers as well and I don't want to damage them or have them blow.
There's only one audio output socket on my laptop so it's not possible to plug both in at the same time. Perhaps an external soundcard with multiple output sockets could do the job? I don't know much about soundcards though, have had a little search around but there don't seem to be any designed for this purpose or anyone else who's used them for a similar thing (plenty of cards with multiple outputs for 5.1 speakers but ideally I'd like the same signal going to both speaker sets with minimal loss of power/quality etc. I'm sure there are devices available that would do what I want them to do, but I have no idea what to search for or which would be the best for my purposes. Any help would be greatly appreciated. If it turns out it's not possible to achieve at all (or only for high expense) then never mind, would just be sick having both subs pumping out tunes at full power! Bedroom soundsystem