[POLL] Home Theater + PC Setup ?

[Spoetnik]

Who out there has their computer hooked up to an Amp ?
I always have used full size home stereo amps and avoided the little dinky PC speaker boxes.
Although i do know they have improved over the years.

So if you people out there are running audio from your computer to some type of amp or home theater system then what type of setup are you using ?

Not that long ago i upgraded from an old Yamaha plain stereo amp i simply loved !
I bought a Harmon Kardon 5.1 channel amp that was new in 2012.
The sound on it was amazing !
But i ended up just using it in stereo mode because i did not like the surround sound type of crap.
Later i just figured screw it and sold it off..
Then went back to using my old trusty analog stereo (2 channel A/B) Yamaha amp.

NOW ?
I had someone give me a cheap brand name 5.1 digital amp that i tried out lately..
I just finished removing it.. the surround sound crap drove me nuts.
All kinds of random whacky bullshit coming our of different speakers at different times.

I only ever watch TV shows on my PC connected to a screen via HDMI
The TV shows are both stereo and multi channel audio.

So am i the only one out there that prefers stereo sound ?

I even heard of some new dolby tech called "Atmos"
http://www.dolby.com/us/en/brands/dolby-atmos.html
Weird shit.. check it out !

Although i am using a PC with out the needed digital connect so i had to use
Dolby Pro Logic on the AMP (Analog) but i bet i would have hated it if it was proper digital live etc

Oh and have a Realtek sound chip ? Look up Realtek unlocked drivers.
Also you CAN install the Dolby Application on pretty much ANY Realtek based board audio too.
I tried it out and was using it for a while and it was not bad actually (had many features)
And no i don't mean a DDL or DTS app.
It's like a sound processing suit basically.

So i rarely ever listen to music on my stereo but i can !
What i use it for is downloaded TV shows or movies..
To me my shows sound better in stereo.. but !
I am using 4 speakers.. 2 left and 2 right channel in 4 corners of room style.
I am planning on putting tow more little ones beside the TV on each side.
Which will be like a center channel of sorts.

On the previous setup i just unhooked i had a big sub and center channel speaker that sucked.
I won't be using my sub at all.. it's just irritating bullshit !
I don't need base heavy TV shows LOL

So what you think ?

AND.. thanks for voting 

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[bitcoincut]

I used to have 4 huge speakers for an each corner and a sub built into the sofa. You have no idea what kind of an effect that was.
Of course there was no chance to use it at max because my neighbor would definitely call the police plus I had failures all over the system.
Later I excluded sub and leave 4 speakers but they were always too loud so I bought a small stereo system and tried to stay at that.
Just don't max anything, if you watch movies late at night it really is not necessary.

[MisO69]

I used to have a surround sound system with a sub for watching moves. Two front, two rear and a center plus a sub. It was nice but whatever, its just a thing and now I have the same amp with two front speakers hooked up. It sounds great just like that. Don't need the booming explosions or the sounds from behind you. I can hear everything clearly and I have more space and no cables running along the walls.

[Spoetnik]

I am not the only one who likes basic stereo sound then.

I was struggling all week long with various hardware (5.1 ch Amp) or PC software driver options etc
and all i could ever got was low volume when people were talking..
then when any music or laugh tracks played it was just blasted to high hell !
AND i already use the Realtek sound normalization option which is great.
It either lowers or brings up volume so it's consistent (it would be worse with it off too)
That option is cool for TV / Movies but it can be lame for listening to music via your PC.
But it's an excellent well done feature off all Realtek chipset audio.. i doubt many people use.

Like i am watching "The Big Bang Theory"
And when they show that molecular graphic they have a sound effect that sounds like "bassy whoosh"
Surround sound ? Make that isolated and SUPER FUCKING LOUD !
..same with laugh tracks.
Meanwhile you can barely hear the damn talking

So the "Stereo" setup has the audio merged instead of tons of separation.
I am use to it that way and prefer it and it's appropriate for my setup.
I hate movies so i watch TV shows 99% of the time and i never play music really.
But it's the main purpose of my PC.. Windows 7 + Windows Media Center <-- not available on Win10
Couple terabytes of collected shows.. many thousands of them.

I just added the two little bookshelf speakers like i said i would earlier and it all sounds perfect now.
90 watt Digital 5.1 channel surround sound amp is unplugged collecting dust LOL
And my 370 watt old school Yamaha power amp is still rockin' for me
10 yrs ago i worked at a Value Village store and someone donated it and i thought.. yup mine !
So i set it aside and put a price tag on it for $10 and after my staff discount i paid $7
I got my moneys worth out of it LOL
Although the Harmon-Kardon AMP i ordered from Newegg not long was away better sounding.
Sold it and got what i paid for it after using it for months so i don't care.

I had to do all kinds of stuff at Value Village like early on Wednesday mornings
I would go through the Electronics shelves and and put anything that was a certain colored Tag
and put it in a shopping cart then wheel it outside and shove it all in the compactor.
You all would not believe how much cool stuff gets thrown out like that.
SHIT LOADS of video game consoles for example.
Someone donated a sweet Marantz brand amp one day too but i already had a Sony i took from compactor day i put a price of $2 on and bought then my other amps so i just put like $45 i think on the Marantz and it sold quick.. bummer i still regret not buying it myself.

I got a dual shock Rocky Mountain bike from there too missing most stuff though..
it pretty much just had a Race Face crank on it..
But i got it again for $7 and built it up soon after .. sweet bike
People donate cool shit sometimes.

You would not believe the awesome shit i see when i look at my local Bottle Depot !
They do electronics recycling and we have a lot of middle / upper class people here that chuck shit.
I was just there looking at SHITLOADS of massive gigantic flat screen TV's
The girl in front of me was wheeling in a sweet looking bookshelf stereo system & printer. LOL
If i was not on a bike i prob would have told her gimme that stereo (instead of PAYING money to chuck it)

Anyway i say use what you like how ever ya want it !
Brand names etc don't matter.. does it work for you ? then great !

My amp i got in 2005 for $7 is still going strong and i love it !

Yamaha AX-400u "Natural Sound" Stereo Integrated Amplifier (Canada Model)
55 watts per channel made 1987 in Japan with high quality parts !