Linux Mint 20, Music and Cheap Stereo Equipment seems like a bit of a weird combination, but there's something exciting about getting results on a budget.
I like listening to music. Over the years I have ripped almost all my CD and DVD collections to file so I can listen to them on modern devices like computers, phones, tablets and mp3 players. I decided not to do what I did when cassette tapes became fossils. I spent so much money before mp3 was a thing.
So, I have been using a set of Logitech X-230 speakers for years. These things are quite old, have been in use for years, and can't handle much volume if the Bass is turned on anyway, so I was thinking about doing some surgery, either piggy backing a set of bigger car speakers to the little twin 2" speakers in each satellite. I thought I might get some extra mid range without losing too much bass or treble.
Than my son mentioned he had a set of X-230 speakers that he was planning to sell on ebay. He had to fly up for a visit, so he brought them along for the ride. That way I could pick the best set to keep original and perform surgery on the others.
I forgot about them for a few days, then when I was looking through a box of 'stuff' I found a 6 inch male to female one into two splitter cable for 3.5mm audio, and an idea started to form.
The problem was distortion in the small speakers if I had the Bass turned up. The Logitech X-230 set have a volume control on one of the satellites, and on the sub-woofer.
What if I connect both X-230 sets to the splitter, dial UP the Bass on one, and dial the corresponding satellite volume down until any distortion stops?
On the other set, I could try dialing the Bass DOWN on the sub-woofer and dial the volume on that satellite pair up.
So I tried it. Then after an exciting day listening to a vastly improved stereo experience, I remembered Linux Mint uses PulseAudio, and I had installed PulseEffects!
So I started PulseEffects and tried some equalizer presets I had experimented with around Christmans.
W O W !!
I have the two 8 inch sub-woofer boxes stacked one on the other with a layer of foam between them.
I have one pair of speakers each side of, and behind my 55 inch monitor (about 1.5 metres apart), with the Sub on the floor about 1.5 metres lower and dialed down to about 20%(ish).
I have the other pair of satellite speakers a little further apart, about 200mm further to the front and about 200mm lower and that Sub is on top of the other and dialed to about 80%.
The volume of the satellites is simply adjusted separately until the desired richness and thump is coming out, and the mid range and treble sound crystal clear.
The whole thing is then tweaked depending on how the input of various mp3 files affects the sound over an afternoon of music, and the setup can be saved as a new preset in PulseEffects.
I had been planning to buy a new audio system for the computer, but this leaves everything I could imagine getting for dead at a total price of a couple of hundred dollars.
Providing the two speaker systems have a volume control on the sub, and another on one of the satellites, a similar system could be rigged cheaply using any couple of budget speaker sets. Mixing brands or models would not be likely to affect the setup much, and the only unusual part is the 3.5mm - 1 male plug - 2 female sockets splitter, and they are available at any electronics hobby store for a couple of dollars.
For now, I am enjoying the richest sounding music experience I can remember since the 60s when we all discovered our first 'National Panasonic' affordable stereo systems :D
Actually, this is more like when we discovered BOSE..
