Eccles's Journal: A technical help request

I picked up a cheap but decent set of 5.1 speakers, Logitech model X-530. The sole input is a trio of 1/8" stereo jacks, for left/right front, left/right surround, and center/subwoofer. What I'd like to do is buy something that allows me to take a combination of 2 channel stereo, TOSLink, optical digital, and analog 5.1 sources (like some PC sound cards) and connect to these speakers. So basically an audio receiver, except instead of standard speaker posts, it drives these 5.1 guys. Anyone know of such a beast? Soundblaster has an external sound "card" that has at least some of what I'm looking for, but I'd prefer something that runs even with the computer not turned on.

Much thanks in advance for any advice.

Mini adaptor

[whig]

Have you considered just getting some mini adaptors from Radio Shack (or wherever) that convert mini jack to standard? Then you can just plug your speakers into any normal stereo receiver.

Re:Mini adaptor

[Eccles]

All the receivers I've looked at only have stereo output and subwoofer via RCA plugs; the 5.1 signal goes out via speaker connections. If you look at something like this [amazon.com], it has 5.1 input via RCA (bottom center), but the only audio out is stereo plus a single subwoofer channel.

I think what I'm looking for is 5.1 preamp outputs, but I'm trying to find anything that actually has that.

Re:Mini adaptor

[Macrolord]

As much as I hate to point you this way, perhaps something like this might be of interest:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Acoustic-Energy-5-1-Home-T heater-Preamp-WTY-NO-RES_W0QQitemZ5827238734QQcate goryZ14974QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#eb ayphotohosting [ebay.com]

Any which way it goes you would need some kind of RCA to stereo headphone type adapters as well as possibly some male-to-male RCA adapters.

You can also google for "Acoustic-Energy" with "home theater" or "preamp" to find other sources.

I have no affiliatio

Re:Mini adaptor

[Eccles]

Maybe I'll discuss pre-amps in a separate comment, but:
As a Christian who has experienced God's handling of my life by faith (most non-believers would call them a series of random sequenced events)

I'm curious, why do you feel God interferes in the world? Certainly we can say God's motives are unknowable, but I've always thought prayer was more asking God for the fortitude to endure our difficulties, rather than God as a form of Santa Claus. After all, if there is a wondrous afterlife, then even a lifetime

Surround sound processor

[HeyLaughingBoy]

I think you need a preamp with surround sound processing like the Rotel RSP-1068 [rotel.com]. I only searched the Rotel site because I like their amps (I have a sweet-sounding RB-871 that's driven by a preamp of my own design), but lots of mfrs should sell something similar.

You'll probably find that it's cheaper to get a small receiver that will take those outputs and provide speaker outputs than to purchase a processor or a preamp. Economies of scale favor the integrated receivers! Rotel makes high quality gear, but

Re:Surround sound processor

[Eccles]

I believe you're right. I finally found the Pioneer VSX-815 (I believe that's the number) with 7.1 preamp outputs for under $300. The device available on ebay that the other fellow mentioned is cheaper, but doesn't have quite the number of inputs I'd want. The other alternative would have been to spend a bit more on speakers, and get ones like the Logitech Z-5500 that have built-in decoding of various kinds and multiple inputs.