Performa 6400: Passive or Amplified Speakers?

[netbeui]

I accidentally posted this in the wrong forum but I couldn't figure out how to delete it there. Sorry!

Does anyone know if you're supposed to connect passive or amplified speakers to a Performa 6400? I heard that the built in subwoofer acts as a regular speaker but switches to a dedicated sub after you connect speakers to the system. Just want to make sure I connect the intended type of speakers (passive or amplified). Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Cory5412]

I've linked to this thread from the other one.

On the 6400, my understanding is that the sub becomes "active" (maybe "more active" is the best way to put it) if you connect external speakers to the speaker jack on the rear of the system. They should be powered speakers, because the 6400 doesn't do any special powering of its speaker port. Many of them were used with Apple's monitors that had speakers built in, but it should work just as well with whatever powered computer speakers you have on hand. I happen to have used mine with the side-firing speakers on a Multiple Scan 15 (non-AV model, though it did still have speakers) and with the glorious audio system of an AudioVision 14-inch display.

Fun sidenote! With BeOS R5, you can manually control what audio outputs on the system are used, including enabling the subwoofer with no external speakers attached, and enabling the internal speaker when there's a headphone or speaker device attached to the system.

 

[netbeui]

Thanks! I'll make sure to connect powered speakers. Btw I searched through a bunch of old boxes and found the manual and sure enough the info is there - it states that you should connect powered speakers..