How do I connect my laptop to my home theater system to listen to the music through the theater speakers?
Posted by admin in Home Entertainment Q&ASep 8th, 2009 | 5 responses
Trickle*** asked:
I want to listen to Yahoo Radio stations on my louder home theater system instead of the smaller laptop speakers. I have an Onkyo receiver that has surround sound speakers and I would like to set up my computer to play music from online radio stations at a party I am having. Is this possible?
I want to listen to Yahoo Radio stations on my louder home theater system instead of the smaller laptop speakers. I have an Onkyo receiver that has surround sound speakers and I would like to set up my computer to play music from online radio stations at a party I am having. Is this possible?
5 Responses to “How do I connect my laptop to my home theater system to listen to the music through the theater speakers?”
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Yes this is possible. You could get a Bluetooth audio adaptor and connect the receiving end to an open input on the back of your receiver. Or you could get a fm modulator typically used to play ipods or mp3 players through your cars radio. Connect the plug into your computer speakers headphone jack and then tune your home theater to the correct station. The computer would need to be within 10 feet or so of the home theater system for this way to work.
Bluetooth adaptor would be higher quality, but more expensive and harder to find locally. Fm transmitter willwork and be easy to find at any department store.
I use the ROKU Soundbridge to stream all the music on my PC to my pool area. It works both wired and wireless and only costs about $100.
Or, you can by an RCA Y cables that goes from headphone jack on your laptop to an RCA inpupt on your receiver.
weeder
Hi:
Assuming that the back of your Onkyo receiver has some form of “Audio In” or “Auxiliary In” plugs; and assuming that the connection is just 2 RCA type plugs in the back of your Onkyo receiver; there is a way for your receiver to provide BIG audio from your computer.
I’m sure your computer or laptop has some form of mini-plug connection for headphones. That’s how your computer sends audio out.
If your hardware has these connections, then you can get BIG audio sound to your receiver from your computer by getting what is called a “Y” plug. It has two RCA plugs on one end and one mini-audio plug on the other end. Some Y cables have RCA plugs on both ends. Don’t get that one.
Go to either Radio Shack, Best Buy or whatever your favorite audio/electronic store is and ask for a “Y” cable with the connection specs I’ve described. If you need extra length to connect the Y cable from your computer to your receiver, ask for a mini-plug extension cable as well. They can come in several lengths.
Connect the RCA plugs into the “Audio In” (or “Auxiliary”) connectors on the back of your recevier. Then connect the mini-plug end into the headphone jack of your computer. Set your reciever channel to “Auxiliary” and it will broadcast whatever audio is coming from your computer. I might be making a mistake about the headphone jack on your computer. If your computer has one of those large headphone jacks (and not a mini-plug), then get a [mini-plug to large headphone plug] adapter for your cable.
If you are successful in making the connections on both ends, you will have the ability to maximize your audio experience by using the equalizer controls on your Onkyo receiver. The cable set up is how I’m able to amplify the audio from my laptop. It’s great when I want BIG sound from the web sites I stream and when I play iTunes. I hope my suggestion is helpful to you. Take care.
The best and cheapest thing you can do is to get an 1/8 inch to RCA adapter and plug your computer straight to the receiver through the headphone jack. The only place I found one is at RadioShack. Less than ten bucks. I did it this way my self and it works great, but make sure you get the pig tail style.
For this application, the easiest thing to do is to get a stereo mini to (female) RCA adapter, and a stereo male RCA to male RCA cable which is the length you need to reach from your laptop to an unused input on the back of your stereo.
The stereo mini to RCA is usually a short cable approximately 6 inches long and one end has a 3.5mm stereo mini plug which is the same type of connector that will connect to an iPod. Getting this cable with female RCA connectors give you the flexibility of using different length male to male cables or even using custom made cables that could even be 100 feet long!
A bonus to this setup is that you can disconnect the laptop and plug in an iPod! Connecting computers to stereo systems is becoming very common and whole home audio systems are playing music coming from the Internet and from hard drives exactly this way.