a good 5.1 speaker system needed

well i guess i wont b able to put up the pics soon...my camera has gone nuts...so let me just mention wht i bot...

HK AVR 133

JBL SCS 140

total damage 25k

now wht i want to know is the cables tht i need to connect my pc's sound card (x-fi xtrememusic) to the amp...sound card output is in 3 stereo jacks and avr input is in RCA...so i wud need 3 stereo to rca cables rite...for a 5.1 input to the amp...

now do i really need those Acoustic Research's 3ft gold plated, oxygen free, blah blah cables tht cost 1600 bucks...or is thr any other (cheaper) alternative ??

the installation guy has already sold me one of the above cable along with a subwoofer cable worth almost the same...but i wud rather save some further drainage of my pockets...

EDIT

PS: thanks to everyone for their inputs and specially sangram for his in-house demo and blowing up my budget :)
 
dont get any expensive cables, see sangram's guide and make urself an spdif out, and use a sinlge cable to connect ur sound card to the AVR.
 
Your welcome.

+1 to what Sarang said, use a Coax cable. The Creative should have an SPDIF port on the back AFAIK, accessible through one of the analog jacks with the function switched in drivers. You can use the AR cable, one of the Red or white RCAs will carry the digital output when you activate the digital output.
 
sangram said:
Your welcome.

+1 to what Sarang said, use a Coax cable. The Creative should have an SPDIF port on the back AFAIK, accessible through one of the analog jacks with the function switched in drivers. You can use the AR cable, one of the Red or white RCAs will carry the digital output when you activate the digital output.
Click to expand...

You mean a normal RCA cable can carry the digital signal :huh: ?
 
@Techhead: What else? I use unbalanced RCA connectors with (non impedance-matched) mic cable for a coax connection, and it works flawlessly. I also used a regular video cable temporarily, and though it caused a few dropouts when there was a lot of interference, it held up for the few days I had it in there.

Digital can be carried on any two wires. Distance and efficiency vary with the connectors and wires used, but most consumer equipment is not too finicky so if you're not using a straightened bucket handle, it should work. Pro equipment requires impedance-matched cabling for digital connection, but for most receivers a 1-1.5m cable of regular audio patch spec works fine. Better cable ensures less dropouts, lower jitter and better fidelity, my homebrews sound absolutely fantastic with the receiver.

@JediKnight: There's no conversion to analog if you use the Creative's digital output. The mixing is all done in digital. Analog is always 'dumb', so it can only convert, there's no way the Creative has the power to reconvert the analog back into digital. Once it leaves the DSP chip, that's that. My only question comes from a line in the disclaimer that
Supports SPDIF Out compressed ac3 signal or PCM for Stereo Digital Speaker.
Click to expand...

For sources in stereo, the output will be stereo (most music). You can activate a surround mode if you want to listen to music in surround. For native multichannel sources, the sound will be in multichannel (DVDs, some games). For some games, the output will be stereo and the receiver will have to invoke tricks and convert them to the multichannel format of your preference).

For 25K, you got a hell of a deal. Those guys quoted me 30K for the same combo.
 
thanks for the heads up...tht means for multichannel audio sources like 6 channel movies n games which support 6 channels the digital IO will hav 5.1 signal...and for regular stereo music it will carry stereo signal...tht perfectly fits my bill...

and yes...initially they had quoted me a tag of 30k too...but then came down straight to 25k...dunno how much margin do they keep for stuff like these...

now i need to find out how to switch tht output to digital :)...the installation guy also had a digital audio cable with him...but if the rca can do it...then i guess i dont need tht cable...
 
The jack on the back of your soundcard is 3.5mm. You need a 3.5 mm (for the card) to RCA (for the receiver). One of the AR cables you got will do the job. The output will appear on the red or white RCA at the other end. I don't know which. You'll have to try both.

The sub cable is worth the money. The included cable is cheap and causes a lot of buzz. I had to build a special cable to get the sub free of hum.
 
i got the digital out working with the 3.5mm stereo to rca AR cable...but it skips the audio very frequently...is the problem with the cable or the sound card? its quite irritating when it skips the audio for a second every now and then...
 
Cable should be fine for digital, likely it's the card. Will you try the hacked drivers by Daniel K, and the kxproject drivers as an alternative?

Edit: If you've never used the port on the card before, there's a distinct possibility of corrosion or deposits on it, which will require cleaning or replacing of the port (if you have someone at hand) or the card. Use the narrow end of a toothpick to scrape off any gunk. Don't use too much pressure - just the natural diameter of the toothpick should be enough. If you see greyish or blackish deposits at the end of the toothpick, try and get as much of it out as possible before reconnecting.
 
JeDiKnight said:
well i guess i wont b able to put up the pics
HK AVR 133
JBL SCS 140
total damage 25k
Click to expand...

can u give a link to this AVR ? I couldn't find it on the internet. How much was the cost of AVR alone ?
 
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