What kind of external speakers would you use w/ the 8886?

i think the 1st question would be > how much are you willing to spend?

1) you should try to go digital to an amp with digital input ( example: Panasonic Home Theater Reciever
SA-HE90
> http://www.bigbangelectronics.com/pr...5&pf_id=sahe90 )
The surround signal will be travelling thru the optical signal and decoded by the receiver..then the amp will transmit it to the apropriate speakers..

2) get a set of nice 5.1 setup speakers ( example : JBL-SCS SERIES - SCS135
> http://www.bigbangelectronics.com/pr...1&pf_id=scs135 )

Those two links are examples and i m not working for anyone..just an idea price/concept for the (average price) audiophile..

for speakers i advise > yamaha, tannoy, jbl
for amp > yamaha, sony, panasonic, onkyo (all with of course digital input and 5.1)

good luck

maybe you can bypass the amp and use the yamaha TSS1b or TSS1w to make life easier (and cheaper?)

its like testing wine really.. you have to do it yourself

http://www.yamaha.com/cgi-win/webcgi.exe/gSPK00007 for the link

i would look into the new logitech 680's

Don't mean to hi-jack your thread, but I'm asking the same basic question...

I'm thinking of a Sound Blaster Extigy with a set of Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 speakers.
I'm thinking it'll be a nice entertainment setup for watching
DVDs in the bedroom.
Any comments about this setup?

Aside from the "you get what you pay for" aspect, there's also
an installation aspect to consider. Where and how do you plan to use your 8886 with "top end" audio?

-iNJ

> iNetJunkie

if you own a 5660 or 8886 there is no need to purchase an Extigy thanx to the built in S/PDIF out on those machines.. if you don t and it is for a desktop with usb then i understand.. i went on the sound blaster site and i could not find any specification regarding the output interface ( like if the Extigy has 6 discreect analog outputs at line level or if you can directly attach 6 speakers of your choice directly on the back or if it has a digital output to connect to the digital input of a receiver etc..)
The Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 speakers are THX®-Certified..wow. does that mean somebody from Skywalker Ranch will come and set the speakers according to the THX standard? ;-). (i m kidding, as you were saying, the position of the speakers is critical).. the other point about them is that they have 6 analog inputs grouped in stereo pairs.. If the extigy has 3 stereo analog output pairs then they are the speakers to buy to get the full 5.1..

>Logitech Z-680

..from ign's site "A look around back will reveal analog six-channel inputs fro connection to a PC as well as digital optical and coaxial jacks..." again if you own the 5660 or the 8886 those speakers are great, for they have the digital input.. all you need is a nice digital cable from the sp/dif out of the notebook to the input of the the 680 and you are all set and ready for 5.1 with not much thinking about it ;-)

http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rlid=56236

basically the key here is to use the sp/dif output of thoses Sager.. ;-) .. then where are they (speakers) going to be placed and used..then if i need a fujitsu 62 plasma screen to match the visual with those monsters ;-)

>Investorguy
I'm not sure what the technical specs are for S/PDIF.

Can someone answer this for me?:
S/PDIF == digital coax ?

>coolhand ,
>jahlove
Thanks for the tip on the new Logitech Z-680!
That looks like exactly what I want.
I had always read good things about the Klipsch, but
it appears Logitech took all that goodness to the next level...
sweet!


-iNJ

SP/DIF or sony philips digital interface is a protocol created from scratch for moving digital audio data from one point to another point like (high end?) cd player with digital output to an amplifier/receiver with digital input. The weak link of any audio compoments is the wiring between two or more audio gears in the analog domain. If you have one of those Hi Fi system with a separate amp, a separate cassette ( remember those? ;-) ) deck or a separate EQ etc etc.. everytime you go from one guy to the next guy you change the signal somewhat and it can be average ok to really bad because of the quality of the separate units and of course the quality of the cables that connect everybody together (i m talking about your Best Buy/ Circuit City kinda Hi Fi system here not your ultimate $$$ audiophile dream setup..)
The ideal solution would be to stay in the digital domain as long as possible and thus delaying the conversion from digital to analog and then feeding the speakers, the ultimate analog transducer on our audio chain. the SP/DIF interface is a consummer digital format that can be found on a lot of electronic audio equipments and and some great computers like the..Sager ;-)..
But the way of transfering the SP/DIF data can be >
electrical ( using a cable with RCA connectors will do even though its better to get one especially created for digital audio
or>
optical using a beam of light and using an optical cable.

"...The more complicatied this gets, the better those USB speaker sound. Do they even make USB speakers anymore? They honestly sound really good..."

i m not sure what you mean but again if your usb speakers sound great there is no need really to upgrade :-) and do you have 6 speakers or just 2 and one more for the bass?

USB protocol > was created to transfer a bunch of digital audio stuff from the like of your printer to your digital camera to your scanner to your etc etc..USB is great.. USB 2.0 is even better

SP/DIF protocol > was created to transfer digital audio only created by the guys who invented the Compact Disc together ( Sony and Phillips)

maybe somebody will release a great USB 2 audio speakers one day.. but right now you can buy the logitech (for example) that will do everything you want even though you are not sure how it does it and that s ok because you will be enjoying you DVD in true 5.1 without thinking about it :-) thanx to your Sager..
just ask PCTORQUE what kind of cable do you need > optical or electrical.. ( or maybe the logitech comes with both cables then? that i don t know..)

one more thing > + and - of both methods

there no diferences ( in theory) between the electrical method or the optical methode as far as the quality of the sound you will get

the major difference is that since it is a metallic cable, the RCA (electrical) method could be vulnerable to a source of interference and the cable may act as an antenna, picking up stuff that could add up to the data treams and though dropping a (data) bit here a (data) bit there and corrupt the data signal if the cable is too long...

on the other hand, the fiber optic uses light and doesn t care much about being to close to a monitor computer a receiving a massive dose of EMF from a nuclear explosion near by... and can be as long as you want but...

RCA cable are very strong and you can put them anywhere without thinking too much about them ( although you should always respect everything you buy by taking great care..)

fiber optical cables are very fragile. forget about bending them..


since i don t know what the sager sp/dif output is ( electrical/coaxial or optical ) you will have to get whatever the Sager output is..( but based on the look on those pictures, it looks like an optical too me)

Looks like the S/PDIF jack is a 3.5mm mini-plug, just like a set of headphones:


Can that be right?

Where do you determine whether the jack acts like a S/PDIF port or a microphone-in jack?

-iNJ

the Monster Cable J2MDTS6 seems to be the cable you need to use the sp/dif output

here is a link for the picture > http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...1.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

mini jack digital to regular sp/dif digital


my friend from japan used to have that sony cd player(discman) that suposelly had a sp/dif output.. it only had the headphone minijack and that was it.but in fact that minijack was doing both the analog and the digital output..that was back in 1996.. and yes we had to buy that $$$ cable .
so now putting the mic in and the sp/dif out in the same hole doesn t make much sense to me, sp/dif out and line out together is more logical.. but it is the same interface so instead of wiring the analog part of that interface inside the computer to "go out" it "goes in" as a mic input..weird but not impossible... could be a problem if you need the mic input and your 5.1 setup digitally hooked up at the same time though...

...if the picture is not a typo..better call maaco.. i meant PCTORQUE for that details

that cable can be found in any Wiz store in the US...

According to the old 8880 manual the SP/DIF.Microphone plug uses a y-splitter cable to enable both functions simultaneously...