Connecting a couple (big) speakers to a pc.?

Question

Heh. I know you guys are going to freak out about this; to be honest I don't care that much about quality. I'm playing some high-level UT2k4 and people use surround sound instead of radar to play. I bought a $10 speaker set at a garage sale about 5 minutes ago. I've got a 7.1 channel integrated soundcard on my motherboard. What I would like to do is connect one of those line-outs on my motherboard to the speaker. The only problem is that the speakers all use what I've found to be called "speaker wire" instead of RCA/composite cables(I've converted the auxiliary to RCA already). Is there a way to get the two connected?

If it'll slow down my computer I've got a soundcard I can hook up to fix that. The only thing I'm concerned about is if I hook the two up:

A. Will not break anything

and

B. Will play sound at an audible level

Answer 1

the speaker wont work, as the guy above said.

it needs to be amplified.  you'll notice all pc speakers are self powered/amplified and plug into the wall

Answer 2

You cannot connect the speaker to the soundcard "line out".  It is not enough signal for the speaker (it will not be audible).

You need to connect the line out to an amplifier, then connect the speaker to the amplifier.

You need to get a home theater or stereo receiver to amplify the output of the soundcard.  You then connect the speaker to the receiver.

Answer 3

Like the other guys said, you need an amplifier or receiver.  Since you only have the two speakers, an old stereo receiver from a thrift store, yard sale, or wherever will be fine and shouldn't have to cost much more than the speakers.  If you got yourself an older "Dolby Surround" (not _digital_) receiver, you could hook up more speakers and get full surround sound.  Or, you could use more than one stereo receiver and run the front left and right through one, and rear left and right through the other.  Just make sure the sound card is configured to "no center" or "phantom center" and "no sub", if you're just running 4 speakers.