speaker/amp recommendations
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anyone recommend speakers/amp or just stand alone speakers that they have used for a bartop arcade build? I'm unsure which way to go with this, and what a good solution would be good without spending a fortune. They would be linked to a raspberry pi3 fitted with a controlblock, but the LG monitor used doesn't have built in speakers
Thanks in advance
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PC speakers?
Back when I was looking at building a Mame Cab, the best solution seemed to be 4" car speakers and a cheap audio amplifier like this a Mini Digital Amplifier, think it was possible for around (Speakers and amp) £30 if I had gone that route.
I was looking at 'Mini Audio amp' as a search start.
The bonus being, space allowing, could mount the amp volume controls somewhere
Headphone jack to coaxial from Pi to amp L and R, then just wire speakers into the back.
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Hit up goodwill or craigs list and pick up a pair of used but working (or you can also possibly find them for free if you are lucky) external pc speakers. tear them down and you have an amp and speakers that are the right size for a very reasonable price.
I was able to get 2 sets for free at work when people upgraded their computers and just threw the speakers into the trash.
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Thanks for your input - i have also thought about a speaker bar that could be mounted behind the marquee, but didn't know what everyone else had? I'm trying to avoid speaker hum as well, although I appreciate that retro games are never going to offer the highest quality sound
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to avoid humming i tried a USB soundcard, but the hazle to get it to work properly, just made me buy a Ground Loop Noise Isolator on Aliexpress for a couple of bucks, that works like a charm....
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I don't know anyone who has used them but small sound card/amps exist as raspberry pi shields.
This is one:
https://www.hifiberry.com/pick-a-board/There are others.
Edit: This looks nice! https://www.hifiberry.com/products/ampplus/
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thanks for the recommendations - really appreciate your advice
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I had hum with my setup. I used a USB to 3.5 mm jack and an ebay amp like the one pictured above.
I didn't want a ground loop isolator, so I ground the amp by running a small wire from the frame of the amp up to the HDMI outlet on the monitor. No hum.
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@Concat I looked at ground loop isolators, but need to sort what kind of amp or speakers I'm getting first - the bartop cabinet takes 4 inch speakers that mount in the cabinet, so I'm leaning towards a 12v amp that can link to my pi3
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