Can I use my stereo speakers as monitors?

[JaneBass1]

I have 2 speakers that connect to my stereo with bare wire. Each has 1 black/1 red wires.

My mbox input is a 1/4 female.

How can I convert the bare wires to 1/4 male jack?

Can I just cut a speaker cable that has a 1/4 male jack and tape the ends to my bare wire speaker cables?

 

[Nick Kay]

Those bare wires don't carry line-level signal, I'm betting. The amplifier is inside the stereo unit, and those boxes are just speakers. You cannot connect them directly to a line-level source like the MBox outputs. You can probably plug the MBox outputs to an auxiliary line-in on the stereo unit, though.

 

[blipndub]

which means you need to run the mbox into an amplifier that will run the speakers.
This one would work

Invalid Link Removed

Most home stereo speakers do not produce a "flat" response (no eq) and so are not ideal for recording monitoring. but yours should be fine until you can upgrade, they will give you a ballpark of what things will sound like.

 

[monkeyland]

pretty much everyone that has experimented with home recording has used home speakers at some point. they will get you through for a little while but should be one of the first things that you upgrade. it will make a huge difference in the sound of your recordings.

if you have a decent amp then buying a pair of non powered monitors is a nice affordable way to go about it.

 

[bongomania]

As said before, you need an amp to power those speakers. But on the positive side, if you ever expect that your music might get played on somebody's home stereo one day, then it's a really good idea to monitor your mixes through average home stereo speakers. Most engineering and/or mastering booths will have a set of precise accurate monitors, a set of home stereo speakers, a set of car stereo speakers, maybe even an iPod dock speaker thing, and a set of reference speakers which may not be any of those other things but which the engineer is accustomed to for reference purposes.

 

[blipndub]

Right. And you should mix down to 16bit for cd and then convert to mp3 to see how things will sound on different players. I listen to all my mixes in the car (with a really bad stereo) and on the home stereo, as well as in the studio.

 

[JaneBass1]

you were right on this one.

i connected my speakers and there was no volume whatsoever coming from them. maybe like a tiny sound.

then i connected instead my stereo and you can obviously tell the difference. the stereo is what does the work.

 

[Doc Labyrinth]

You can use the existing receiver from from your stereo. Just go to Radio Shack and buy a 1/4(1/8) to RCA adapter cable, and plug from your Interface's output to an input on the back of your receiver, then hook your speakers into the receiver as you normally would.

 

[blipndub]

If you do use your home stereo as the amp be sure to flatten (set to 0) your eq for bass and high and middle. You will be confusing yourself if you have your bass up to 6 on your amp, so it's not a true representation of what you've recorded.