Thank you for that information.

The amplifier and my desktop iMac that has my iTunes on it are 20 feet away from each other.

I do have speaker wire running under the house, can that be connected to my iMac with a converter of sorts? The amplifier is already connected to the other end of that wire.

I wouldn't think Bluetooth wouldn't give me the sound quality that my speakers would. I listen to alot of beautiful music!

Thanks again, Ginny

Bluetooth is a means of transport, like a wire. So long as two devices are in-range, it transmits the digital signal without doing anything to it at all. Digital signals are binary - on or off, either present or not present. If sound is playing on the receiving end, the receiver received the full signal the transmitter sent.

You can get a Y cord as I described that's 25 feet long but I'd probably go for bluetooth.

There are different power levels of sound conveyed electronically. Sound travelling from a source (like a tuner, a CD player, a Sonos terminal, the output from a PC) that's input to an amplifier is called "line level". Sound post-amplifier that goes to speakers is called speaker level. The output from a PC is at line level. It needs to travel through an amplifier to drive speakers. You asked about connecting your existing amplifier to your PC and I answered that question. If you want to do something differently, that would be a different question and a different answer.

What is the sound source that was recorded and is contained on your PC? Most audio files people have are of low quality, I wonder what it is you have that you consider to be high quality.

I'm still wondering if I could run the speaker wire that is currently under the house to the PC? Wouldn't that connect them?

I can't have the cord you are referring to in the house without pulling up some carpet.

"I'm still wondering if I could run the speaker wire that is currently under the house to the PC? Wouldn't that connect them?

No, that's unlikely to work. I addressed this situation in earlier comments - the signal to speakers needs to be at speaker level, that's what comes out of an amplifier's speaker terminals. Sound from an sound source, as a PC's audio output, is at line level. You'd need to insert an amplifier in the signal path to produce a speaker level signal that could drive the speakers. A line level signal would not.

To connect one set of speakers to two different sounds sources, you need a speaker splitter (which is not a speaker selector).

You didn't specify your iMac model but you may be able to connect an HDMI*-to-RCA adapter to your computer as described here with the appropriate type and length cable.

*or other port

There are USB to RCA adapters too but it would be the same, a line level signal needing to be connected to an amp.

A bunch of comments here, expanding on Elmer's:

Are you saying that you can't run a wire 20 feet from your computer to your amplifier? The only way I can think of to use your existing speaker wire is to move your amp to be near your computer and use the speaker wire to connect to your speakers. But if you want stereo, you would have to have two speaker wires. Otherwise, you have to go wireless.

It is possible that Bluetooth might have poorer quality, but YouTube isn't the best either.

What kind of inputs does your amplifier have, and what kind of connections does your computer have? In my case, I have HDMI ports on both devices and use that. I don't know how "old" your amp is; mine is 10 years old.

I will answer your questions later today mtvhike

I talked to Crutchfield and this was recommended.

Crutchfield DAC recommended for my situation

This would work fine, but it doesn't solve your original problem - connecting your computer to your existing sound system which is 20 feet away.

The man that came up with this idea on Crutchfield was very nice but had to search for a solution........I guess he missed the 20 foot distance.

It sounds like there is no good way to connect my desktop iMac to my speakers at the other end of the room.

One easy solution I'd think would be to copy my iTunes Library onto an iPad and keep the iPad close to the amplifier. - Right? I have an old iPad I could use.

Well, there is Elmer's Bluetooth solution, which is worth trying!

I wish you would tell us what model iMac you have or what ports the iMac has.

I'm going to back up a bit - Bluetooth transmits a digital signal not an analog one. You'd still need a DAC in some format on the receiving side to convert it to the analog type that an amplifier needs. Some amps have DACs built in and will accept digital input, others won't.

Putting the music on an old iPad or old smartphone and connected with a double-ended 3.5 mm cord will most certainly work. Or, buy a new amp that has wireless receiving capabilities.

Or, the easiest way of all that I should have mentioned, buy either a Sonos Port that will connect directly as an input source to the amp (RCA cords) or Sonos speakers. Both will play directly from from music on your PC and can be controlled by smartphone/tablet/PC apps.

My iMac is the 21" "Late 2012. Here are the specs.

Connections and Expansion

• Headphone jack
• SDXC card slot
• Four USB 3 ports
• Two Thunderbolt ports
• Mini DisplayPort output with support for DVI, VGA, and dual-link DVI (adapters sold separately)
• 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)

I need to buy a new computer asap. It will be one of the two listed below.

27" iMac:

• 3.5 mm headphone jack.
• SDXC card slot (UHS-II)
• Four USB-A ports.
• Two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports with support for: DisplayPort. ...
• 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
• Configurable to 10Gb Ethernet with support for 1Gb, 2.5Gb, 5Gb, and 10Gb Ethernet.
• Kensington lock slot.

21" iMac

Connections and Expansion

• 3.5 mm headphone jack.
• SDXC card slot.
• Four USB-A ports.
• Two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports with support for: DisplayPort. Thunderbolt (up to 40Gb/s) USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s) ...
• 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
• Kensington lock slot.

Thanks!

I'd try one of these (or a similar device) and cable. Computer USB --> Adapter USB In. Adapter RCA Out --> Receiver RCA In.

• UGREEN USB External Stereo Sound Card Audio Adapter...
• LiNKFOR USB to SPDIF Coaxial RCA and 3.5mm Headphone Jack Converter...
• Dayton Audio DAC01 USB Audio DAC...

---

• Your Cable Store 25 Foot RCA Audio Cable

I would be sure your new computer has an HDMI port, or you can get a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter or cord. This suggestion is independent of your audio problem, because you don't want to run a new wire and, I suspect, your "older amp" may not have an HDMI input. Following up on what Elmer said, I'm not particularly familiar with Sonos, but I use a similar system using a competitor. My music is stored on my computer which is connected to my streamer via WiFi (better than BlueTooth) and the streamer is plugged into an amp. (My newer amp actually IS the streamer, and I think Sonos makes something like that). Check out the Audio-Video forum https://www.avsforum.com/.

This sounds simple, is it?

"My music is stored on my computer which is connected to my streamer via WiFi (better than BlueTooth) and the streamer is plugged into an amp."

Is this article talking about what can be done and what you did?

streaming

There are several options mentioned in that piece, including the Sonos product line that I mentioned a bit earlier. I'd recommend you go in that direction.

Sonos is an entire system of wi-fi speakers and components. You don't need any Sonos product for what you are trying to do -- connect your iMac to a receiver. The solutions I recommended above could cost you as little as $50.

P.S. I have Sonos speakers.

All these solutions will work IF the OP can run a wire to his older amplifier. Both Sonos and BlueSound (and some others as well) are overkill in that they are designed as part of an ecosystem which is designed primarily for streaming from the internet, but can use a local source such as Ginny's Mac.

Ginny: does your speaker wire run to both your amplifier location and to your Mac's location? If so, you can connect that wire at both ends to something like this the image below, assuming you have a 3.5mm connector for your amplifier. Also, is this a single pair of conductors or is it a stereo pair. If it is just one pair of conductors, then you won't get stereo, but how important is that?

Wdccruise, did you miss the comment that the OP saying that running a cable isn't feasible?

I'm not sure what the comment about Sonos being "an entire system" is oriented toward. A Sonos Port device solves the "no cable problem" and the background resident software provides easy access and app control of music. Setting up Sonos equipment and getting it and the software rolling is simple and very Apple-like - it does much of the heavy lifting on its own and automatically.

Elmer, I thought she said that there was an existing speaker wire, and I was suggesting a way to use it. The Sonos Port cost $449 from Crutchfield, and is out of stock.

"Both Sonos and BlueSound (and some others as well) are overkill in that they are designed as part of an ecosystem which is designed primarily for streaming from the internet"

Sorry, mtvhike, I have a different recollection. When the first Sonos product was released, there were no internet streaming music services. And few internet accessible audio streams, as with most radio stations these days. Music piracy and copyright violations had become rampant in the early years of this century and sites like Napster and The Pirate Bay, among others, were used by many music fans to amass huge collections of audio files. Devising technology to easily transport PC (or NAS) resident digital music files to existing sound systems in homes was addressed in the early days by a company named Slim Devices (with its Squeezebox product line) and then, later, Sonos as its competitor. That was the mother of the invention.

I agree that perhaps the majority of today's users of Sonos and similar products are using internet streaming sources when listening to music. I shouldn't dwell too long on your word choices but I think today's use patterns reflect practices in today's music listening market and the flexibility of the products rather than a manifestation of what the products were "designed to do".

@Elmer J Fudd: "Wdccruise, did you miss the comment that the OP saying that running a cable isn't feasible?"

He didn't say that. He wrote, "I can't have the cord you are referring to in the house without pulling up some carpet."

"Both Sonos and BlueSound (and some others as well) are overkill..."

Correct.

Haha.

Elmer, I wasn't that aware of the early history of Sonos - when I started looking for systems like that, I was primarily interested in streaming from internet "radio" stations with a cleaner interface than my Yamaha receiver has.

I had a music collection of over 400 CDs and 300 vinyl albums around Y2K. My albums were well organized but my CDs were a mess because they'd be in and out of multi-disk changers in two different cars and a multi disk player connected to my stereo and it was impossible to keep it together. I think it was Sony at the time that sold a CD jukebox type device with capacities in multiples of 150 - so 150, or 300, or 450. Each a VERY large box in a multiple of $700-$800 as I recall, so call it those three configurations for $750 or $1500 or $2250. Right about then I learned about Wifi streaming devices, the choices were a more advanced and full featured one from Slim Devices called Squeezebox that could handle lossless formats and a more rudimentary one from Sonos that at the time had more limitations than features and wouldn't handle lossless files.

I wound up ripping all my CDs to lossless FLACs. I tried to "rip" my albums to digital versions too but it was too labor intensive and I gave up about 1/3rd of the way in. I bought CDs for my favorite albums, ripped those and added to the collection.

Slim Devices tried to self-finance and avoid VC money but it couldn't keep going. It ran out of gas (and money) and sold out to Logitech, which didn't know what to do with it and finally discontinued a great product line several years later. Sonos continued, took in outside funding and still exists, of course. Sonos today makes great products, easy to use and a market leader so that support is robust (another early complaint it needed to live down). I don't know anything about the other company you mention.

I still use my Squeezebox products and now, >15 years from when I first started with them, my music collection has over 20K tracks. There remains an enthusiastic and robust Squeezebox user group and updated apps to use. Logitech still pays for a surprisingly active forum and has retained one technical employee who oversees user improvements to the software and comes up with new internal apps every now and then. Hardware can be found on Ebay, I was able to get several devices to to equip a second home a few years ago and also a replacement when one died.

I don't recommend the Squeezebox route for new buyers, Sonos makes a lot more sense. From a setup and maintenance standpoint, the two are akin to comparing a Windows or Android device to an Apple one, with Sonos being Apple-like. The Squeezebox world is flexible, configurable, and very capable but there's a learning curve. Sonos is much closer to being a plug and play setup .

I just heard from a friend who uses an iPod do accomplish what I want to do so that's a route I can take if need be. You guys have been so helpful I really appreciate it.