On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 07:29:23 +0000 (UTC), "Ian Mayo"
wrote:

Hi all,
clearly after my last question (about speaker cable sockets -
http://tinyurl.com/ruup ) there are lots of audiofiles out there.

I've now got a supplemental question:

Can anybody recommend an audio setup for my home office which would allow me
to hear 5.1 audio from my PC, CD's from my PC, and radio? My PC has 5.1
optical output.

So, I could buy a radio card for the PC, together with a 5.1 amplifier and
have the whole thing controlled from the PC. Alternatively I could look out
for a cheap home cinema amp/dvd player which has built-in radio, and just
use the PC as an aux input to it. Having a non-PC controlled volume control
does seem an advantage.

Anybody have any opinions?

I'd like to keep the budget to under £200 if I can.

Not sure on the 5.1 stuff but I got a multi-input/output Marantz amp
from Richer Sounds so I could have the PC as both a CD recorder
(input) and playback (output). This was primarily to allow me to
re-record all my old vinyl and cassettes.

I can use Musicmatch Jukebox software on the peecee which simply feeds
into the amp which has the speakers connected. If you had a TV card
with built-in radio it would work the same way since I get TV sound
out of my TV card.

Added bonus is game sounds also get fed into the amp so much loudness
can be had

If your PC sound has the optical SP/DIF connectors you can feed those
directly into a 5.1 amp can't you? Guessing here.

--
cheers,

witchy/binarydinosaurs