speakers

[Pink Soda]

Ok... what do I need to connect my laptop up to my hi-fi speakers? Some kind of lead i assume, but I have no idea about technical stuff.

I'm trying to play music from my laptop but it sounds all tinny, plus the volume's a bit crap so i want to be able to play it through my big speakers.

I've got a lead that connects the speakers to my ipod, so I'm guessing I need something like that?

Thanks people
:)

[big_man_with_a_]

by 'big speakers' do you mean something like a hifi setup or just a bigger set of pc specific speakers?

if it's pc speakers, your laptop should have an audio card (it obviously does, otherwise you'd get no noise/music at all). the audio card usually has 3 ports, 1 line in, 1 line out (this is the one you wanna plug into) and a microphone line.

example: ignore the 'game port' it won't apply to you.


http://admin2.soe.purdue.edu/support/connectors/sound_card_ports.JPG


simply get yourself a set of pc speakers with a minijack
the top one of these 2, the 'male' connector:


http://www.computers4sure.com/comassets/productlarge/CNET/I22047.jpg


plug into the 'line out' and away you go.

as for hifi setup again it depends on your soundcard and your hifi, some hifis will accept a minijack straight from the laptop, so all you'd need is a long cable with minijacks on both ends... but most hifis need a proper audio connection like so:

http://www.clust.com/boutique/ressources/hf/hf0812/hf081201.jpg

note the minijack on one end and the red/white connectors on the other, this is your average 'phono' lead... look around the back of your hifi for some little red/white surrounded 'holes',


http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/graphics/infolib/homelib/lPhonoInputs.jpg

these'll be the ones you want to plug into. again the holes should be labelled 'input' or similar, if not it's just a case of trial and error until you get some sound through, and again you may need to play around with the hifi's settings to do it.

[Pink Soda]

Ah brilliant thank you so much, the picture of the red/white lead thing is exactly the same one that I bought to connect my ipod to my hi-fi, and just plugged it into my laptop and it works perfectly! Now I can actually watch movies with a decent sound as well..
Sorted. Thought I was gonna have to go buy something.
Thanks alot, i appreciate the help :)