How do I go about hooking up speakers to my computer

I’m trying to hookup some old speakers I have to my current pc. The tower I’m trying to hookup to has two plugins with music notes beside them. The problem is that the speakers for the speakers I have, there is just have one pin that needs to be plugged in. I tried both plugins, but neither worked. Hopefully I’m not just overlooking something; but if I am, thanks in advance for the help!

The two inputs are likely due to either one of the holes being meant for a mic, or the sound card was designed for surround sound systems with 4 or more speakers. If you only have 2 speakers, you should only need to use one of the inputs.

As for why it’s not working, there are a few possibilities I can think of:
[ul]
[li]Are you sure the speakers themselves are working? Try plugging them into a stereo system, a CD player, whatever – just to make sure they work.[/li][li]Does the computer have more than one sound card? (Does it have more than one set of those plugins with music notes? Sometimes the motherboard has its own set of sound inputs [which may be disabled] and the actual sound card is lower down.)[/li][li]Have you tried connecting another set of speakers, known to work, to the computer? This is to make sure that the computer itself doesn’t have sound issues.[/li][li]If the above fails, did you check the volume control in Windows? Is the sound muted, perhaps?[/li][li]If no speakers work with that computer, you may have the check the drivers and possibly the hardware.[/li][li]If other speakers work with that computer, and if the speakers you’re trying to use work with other devices but not with your computer… then I have no clue. Sorry.[/li][/ul]

Most sound cards these days correlate to a “pre-amp” in the component stereo days. In other words, the output from your soundcard needs to plug into an amplifier or into so-called “self powered” speakers. There is virtually no chance that your sound card can drive the old speakers by itself unless you have an audiophile level card and you would know it if you did.

      • If you mean you have some old “stereo” speakers, then you probably need an amp between the PC and speakers. Most-all general PC sound cards cannot drive speakers directly. Their audio outputs are only a couple watts MAX into a 16-ohm load, which means that you can plug headphones right in there and they will work okay, but not a speaker. PC speakers usually have their own built-in amps, that’s why they need power either from a USB line or their own power supply.
  • One amp you might try searching out is the Sonic Impact class-T amp. http://www.si-5.com/ -It is only rated for 30 watts, but it is a very-low-distortion 30-watt amp that has gotten amazing reviews, many audiophiles say it sounds as good as high-end tube and transistor amps costing thousands of dollars. The manufacturer’s website price is $40, but other places sell it for $20-$30.
    ~

Thanks for the info, but once I restarted my computer everything worked fine. :smack: