Audioengine A 2s and Panny PX80B - help for a rank amateur?

Alec

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In my current abode i dont really have the ability or inclination to go surround, and id rather not use my hifi speakers for the job. This leaves me with the A 2s (any other suggestions gratefully recieved) as theyre small enough to go where i want them.

Anyway, i thought, rather than lead this thread ( http://whathifi.com/forums/t/177151.aspx ) anymore a-stray, I'd ask a few questions here, as i think there are users of these speakers on the forum, and see what occurs.

1 - will the volume control on my tv remote still work, or will i have to go through the control on the speakers? And is it simple enough to switch between the A2s and the TVs speakers?

2 - How easily accessible are all the controls, are they just on 6the rear of the speakers?

3 - This one will sound a little muddled as im not 100% sure what im asking myself. According to some video i saw on youtube, one speaker is responsible for amplification. This implies that the 2 have to be linked to eachother aswell as to the TV (and presumably the mains). Can anyone shed some light?

Cheers folks, and happy new year all!
 

professorhat

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Hi there again! Hopefully I can help:
1 and 2 - I have a feeling the TV's line out is a fixed volume output, meaning to adjust the volume, you'd have to use the volume controls on the back of the A2s (the only controls for them are on the rear of the powered speaker, there's no remote). This is obviously not ideal. I may be wrong on this, but I think as standard, the line out on most TVs is like this. However, thinking outside the box, I wonder if you could feed the TV signal into something like a headphone amplifier with a remote and given the A2s have a 3.5mm input, run a 3.5mm jack from the headphone amp to the A2s, thus allowing you to control volume. Even if this works (which I'm not sure of!) I can see this as a bit of a faff though, meaning possibly there is a better solution for this...
3 - Yes, the left speaker is powered and has all the connections on it i.e. input for RCA phono sockets, input for 3.5mm, and mains input. The right speaker is connected to it using standard speaker cable (it has a little speaker binding posts on the back). A reasonable length of cable is provided in the box, but you could buy any speaker cable and run a longer length if necessary.
Hope this helps...
 

daveh75

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Are you going to use the A2's alongside your tv speakers to "beef up" the sound or instead of the tv speakers.If it's the latter you could feed them from the headphone socket on your tv if it has one, you'd then have control of the volume via the tv's remote.
 

Alec

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Many thanks!

So one speaker connects to the mains and to the TV, and the other speaker connects...just to the other speaker?

It is a pain about the volume. ill have a think and see if anyone else has any ideas.
 

Alec

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daveh75:
Are you going to use the A2's alongside your tv speakers to "beef up" the sound or instead of the tv speakers.If it's the latter you could feed them from the headphone socket on your tv if it has one, you'd then have control of the volume via the tv's remote.

I'd not even thoughjt of using them in conjunction with the TVs speakers, providing i follow your drift.

Ideally id be able to switch between the A2s and TVs speakers depending on viewing, and remotely control the volume in something like the way you suggest. Will have to check on the headphone thing.

Hope im making sense...?
 

Alec

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professorhat:al7478:So one speaker connects to the mains and to the TV, and the other speaker connects...just to the other speaker?
Spot on!

so just one length of speaker wire and the power cable necassaery then?

Cheers!
 

Alec

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professorhat:
Plus an RCA phono cable from TV to the A2s.

And the grand prize for the spotting of deliberate mistakes goes to...!

Cheers!

Dya happan to know what length of speaker cable they supply?
 

Alec

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daveh75:
Are you going to use the A2's alongside your tv speakers to "beef up" the sound or instead of the tv speakers.If it's the latter you could feed them from the headphone socket on your tv if it has one, you'd then have control of the volume via the tv's remote.

it does seem to have one, discretely positioned at the back. So that would mean using the audioengines all the time (not that id mind).
 

Alec

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professorhat:
With a very rough measurement around the back of my Mac, it looks to be about 6 feet (or 2 metres if you're that way inclined)!

Many thanks, thats plenty. I dont see much point spending much at all on cables for this.
 

Alec

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daveh75:Well i suppose you could always unplug the headphone jack if needed!

Oh i think id be happy to use them all the time as long as the volume is operable via the TV remote.

Just checked the front of mine and there seems to be a headphone socket there too, so i could be wrong about the one at the back. But i cant easily check the back myself so ive been relying on google images for that lol!
 

Alec

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if anyone with first hand experience of the px80b can actually vouch for how to connect things, and the positioning of the headphone input, thatd be grand.

thing is, certain pages ive googled say "audio input - headphone socket", and seems to show it on the back, but looking at the front of mine, there seems to be a headphone symbol.

If im really lucky its a case of either/or.
 

Alec

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Just a quick bump to see if anyone sees trhis on monday who knows the tv really well or better still runs the A5s or 2s with it...

Meantime ill get someone to have a look round tha back for me

Might just be a case of suck it and see.
 

Alec

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Looking at the 5.1 extension pack for those Onkyo speakers, i was inspired to think "3.1/3.0", as i like the idea of a centre speaker. Does anyone know of such a speaker package firmly at the budget level (up to about £300)? And preferably active, or with the ability to work off a bluray player (planned for 2009 some time)...? (oh, and preferably small)...

E.G. the 3.1 version of the Panasonic SC-BT100 package (tho i wouldnt want the bdp...hmmm...)

I think i might be barking up the wrong tree, but thought it was worth a try.
 

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