# HTPC's, speakers & hard drives



## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

So Saturday morning, while perusing HTS forums, my faithful old Opteron 170 based PC died on me. Had various BSOD and every time I rebooted I got a different one. Then on Sunday morning it would not even power up. As this rig is getting a bit long in the tooth, I have yet to do much troubleshooting other than swapping out the PSU. So on a whim, more or less, I went out and picked up a new 15.4" MacBook Pro w/ Core i7. 
I have been looking for streaming solutions and laptops for several months and was about to purchase a ROKU XD/S but I don't think I will now. So to get to the point... I'm wondering if anyone with a HTPC has ever had any issues with speakers and hard drives? I'm sure my speakers are well shielded, but still... The most convenient spot to place the laptop is on the sub, I don't think thats a good idea just because of the vibration. Second would be the floor but with the carpet I'd be concerned with the laptop overheating. 
I'm interested in hearing about others' experiences along these lines. Anyone ever loose a HD due to the magnets? Or suspect issues due to the speakers?


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## mechman (Feb 8, 2007)

If it were me Mark, I'd find some sort of shelf type solution to put the Macbook on. Mainly for the issues that you've raised.


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## gorb (Sep 5, 2010)

I've never had a drive damaged by a speaker or a sub, but I've also never put a laptop or a drive on one. I'd definitely recommend getting some sort of shelf like mechman said.


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## Infrasonic (Sep 28, 2010)

A friend of mine thinks he wiped his HD by placing his PC (tower) right next to his large woofer. He ended up having to get a new HD. Magnets + vibration = bad!


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## sTechnical (Mar 15, 2011)

Im a complete newbie when it comes to these things, I really dont need the av reciever as the HTPC itself will control the sound via the x-fi xtreme music surely?
So would the sound quality be far superior on the logitech z5500 via the 3 analogue cables to the soundcard.
Ive heard that the optical out to a home theater system does'nt always give true 5.1 and can cause problems.
thanks......


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Not sure. I have had several computers with S/PDIF and/or optical outputs. I have never been able to discern a difference between the two nor have I ever had issues with 5.1 from these computers.


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## Infrasonic (Sep 28, 2010)

sTechnical, you could use the optical out from the sound card to the z5500 and you should not have any problems. You could use your computer as the 'receiver' as long as you don't run out of inputs or need to connect speakers via regular speaker wire. Good luck!


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## peterselby7 (Nov 29, 2008)

nova said:


> Not sure. I have had several computers with S/PDIF and/or optical outputs. I have never been able to discern a difference between the two nor have I ever had issues with 5.1 from these computers.


Using the optical cable has the advantage of helping to keep ground loops out of your home theater gear. That is if you have the HTPC on a separate circuit. I use three circuits on my home theater. One for the HTPC, one for the amplifiers, and one for pre-amps and source equipment. 

Overboard yes, but I don't have to worry about my amps causing a circuit to pop and shutting down my PC either.


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