# Upgrading sound system **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 28, 2001, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-sound-system/74046 "2001-07-28T02:49:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-sound-system/74046/1 "2001-07-28T02:49:05Z")
I currently have a JVC that is about 5 years old. Its one of those boom box/home system things that allows you to attack the speakers and carry it around or detach them for use as a home system. It has a 3 disk cd player, tape, and fm stereo and a jack for headphones. The speakers connect to the main part by 4 connects. Two +'s and two -'s one for each speaker. My question is do I need to buy a whole new system to add new speakers and possibly a subwoofer? and if I decide to replace the speakers is the connection previously described pretty typical? also can any one point me in the direction of a good web page for home speaker systems. Lastly can anyone recommend speakers or a system, I am looking for something that if cranked up can be heard clearly in another room but not loud enough to wake the neighbors type. Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![486](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/ecccb3/32.png) [@486](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/486)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-sound-system/74046/2 "2001-07-28T06:28:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by treis \* > \*\*I currently have a JVC that is about 5 years old. Its one of those boom box/home system things that allows you to attack the speakers and carry it around or detach them for use as a home system. It has a 3 disk cd player, tape, and fm stereo and a jack for headphones. The speakers connect to the main part by 4 connects. Two +'s and two -'s one for each speaker. > > My question is do I need to buy a whole new system to add new speakers and possibly a subwoofer? and if I decide to replace the speakers is the connection previously described pretty typical? also can any one point me in the direction of a good web page for home speaker systems. > \*\* Any stereo I’ve ever seen only has one + and - for each speaker. If you know anyone with a regular stereo (one where its separate pieces not a boom box type), try connecting one set (L and R) of the outputs on your stereo to their speakers. Also many boombox type stereos don’t put out very much wattage…you probably want at least 50 watts per channel to drive a decent speaker. A subwoofer is really only needed if you listen to music with alot of bass - or if you plan on connecting a VCR to the stereo for watching movies. > [@](#): > > \*\* > Lastly can anyone recommend speakers or a system, I am looking for something that if cranked up can be heard clearly in another room but not loud enough to wake the neighbors type. > > Thanks in advance. \*\* If you do go with a new system I would recommend going with something that does Dolby Pro-logic (or better) Surround… it’s very much worth the extra cost! JVC seems to make good equipment, I’ve had very few problems with my system. Yamaha is another…but it’s expensive ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-sound-system/74046/3 "2001-07-28T19:41:14Z")
Thanks for your reply, Surround sound isn’t feasible for where I am listening (my bedroom) I have a door to the right, closet behind, and window to the left of where I am sitting. I probably wasn’t clear enough with my description, its not really a boombox its more of a stereo system that you could take other places and use. > [@](#): > > you probably want at least 50 watts per channel > to drive a decent speaker. How can I determine how much wattage my stereo has? > [@](#): > > A subwoofer is really only needed if you listen to > music with alot of bass Yeah I do, where does a subwoofer hook up to the stereo? Thanks for your reply ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2001, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-sound-system/74046/4 "2001-07-29T17:12:19Z")
- - - Wattage: there will be a small panel on the back of the device that should state its wattage _output_, usually per channel (left-right). - Subwoofers: bookshelf stereos have a third (in your case, if it had one) hookup for a subwoofer. If yours didn’t come with a subwoofer it probably doesn’t have a hookup for one, and if you got no subwoofer hookup then you can’t use a subwoofer. Note that many bookshelf stereos now come with 3 or 5 speakers; the big one is the subwoofer, and there’s a special connection for it on the stereo. ```auto ``` ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2001, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-sound-system/74046/5 "2001-07-29T19:10:31Z")
Just wanted to mention that _some_ stereo manufacturers use non-standard impedance speakers. Make sure they are 8 Ohm output since that’s the standard speaker impedance you’ll buy. I’ve never seen non-standard impedances for sale, and frankly I always get pissed at manufacturers who use them. If you don’t know, the “ohm” is a capital Omega symbol, which I cannot seem to find in my escape codes. This info should be located somewhere near the speaker output lines themselves, or at the least on the old speakers themselves. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2001, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-sound-system/74046/6 "2001-07-29T19:32:42Z")
- - - By the by, modern cheap cassette tape players suck, big time. They will not last a long time, they will pollute any played tape with line noise and will stretch and tangle tapes when the deck starts to wear out. A good tape deck (just a _tape deck_, mind you) now costs well into the hundreds of dollars. It’s okay to get a new cheap tape deck, but only use it to play your tapes one last time while transferring them to CD’s. - Cheap VCR’s are lousy for the same reasons. - MC ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2001, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-sound-system/74046/7 "2001-07-29T19:55:46Z")
Thanks for the replys, I have never used the tape deck to play a tape, I only use it for the cd player. Looking at the back I found that it is a JVC Model PC-XC7 60 Hz 17w and 3 ohms(which seems woeful but heck what do I know =/). Do I need to upgrade that too? Ive been looking at speakers online and what is the Frequency responce and Sensitivity? ---
**Author:** ![Mikahw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Mikahw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikahw)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2001, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-sound-system/74046/8 "2001-07-30T12:00:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MC \* > **If yours didn’t come with a subwoofer it probably doesn’t have a hookup for one, and if you got no subwoofer hookup then you can’t use a subwoofer.** Why not? I don’t know about this particular system, but it’s easy to add a powered sub to almost any system. All you’d have to do is connect the powered sub to the speaker level outputs of the bookshelf system, and connect the main speakers to the the sub. [/quote] As for the two pairs of wire to each speaker, it sounds like bi-wiring to me. One wire is connecting the amp to the tweeter, and the other is connecting the amp to the woofer. As **486** said, try connecting each pair of outputs to a regular speaker system (preferably a smallish one) Do you hear a difference? If one pair was only outputting bass while the other was only outputting trebel, you would hear a big difference. [/quote] 17w sounds awfully small though, you’d have the best luck buying a completely new system. Your best bet would probaby be getting a bigger bookshelf system. (for example, [this](http://www.target.com/common/catalog/product.jhtml;jsessionid=05L4YMVVZJC0QICTCSRSFEZAKMKKYIV5?navAction=push&navCount=4&prodid=78874&catnav=8637) one) If you want a system much bigger than that, you’ll probably have to buy the speakers, amp, CD player, etc. seperately. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2001, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-sound-system/74046/9 "2001-07-30T13:36:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by treis \* > and 3 ohms(which seems woeful but heck what do I know =/). Do I need to upgrade that too? If your speakers are three ohms there isn’t much you can do to account for that. Any speakers you buy will be 8 ohms. If you hook them up you won’t get 17W out of the head unit. The only thing to do would be to get an impedance matching audio transformer, which isn’t worth it at all, even assuming you could find one. I say get a new system. ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2001, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-sound-system/74046/10 "2001-07-30T19:46:22Z")
Your system uses 3 ohm speakers to get more out of the puny amplifier built into the system. The higher the speaker impedance, the less power the amplifier will be able to put into them. And the 17 watts is probably the **input** power, not the output power, which means that you’re getting at **most** about 8 watts/channel (anyone with even a year of physics can tell you you can’t get more power out of a system than you put into it) and probably much less (since you’d never see 100% efficiency, plus you need to account for the other parts in the system besides the amplifier). The speakers are also probably designed more for high efficiency than good sound, so even if you bought 4 ohm speakers (easy enough to find) you probably wouldn’t have enough power to drive them properly. I’d suggest replacing the entire system. If you let us know your budget I’m sure many of us could make more specific recommendations. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2001, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-sound-system/74046/11 "2001-07-31T03:40:09Z")
Thanks everyone for the replys, I guess its pretty obvious I was clueless about this, I figured the speakers determined the volume of the sound _shrug_ who knew. I probably will end up replacing the whole system, thanks Mikahw for the suggestion (hey look at that flashing lights, what else will they think of). My budget is about $200-$350, I will welcome any suggestions thanks! ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2001, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upgrading-sound-system/74046/12 "2001-07-31T03:43:43Z")
I forgot to mention, size is not a big issue looking more for power.