Speaking of speakers…
If you read my post on video outputs, you’ve got some beautiful video flying from your homemade Tivo to your TV. But what are you going to do about sound? Here are some options:
Use your TV
Perhaps the simplest (and cheapest) way to go is to simply plug your computer’s audio straight into your TV. This is simple but gives you the fewest sound options and the lowest sound quality. You’ll have no subwoofer, no surround, no portable speakers.
To use your TV’s speakers, you’ll need a 3.5mm to stereo RCA cable. It’ll look like a Y, with one black on one end and red and white on the other. The black end of this cable plugs into the green output on your sound card while the red and white ends go into your TV.
Computer Speakers
The next option is to use computer speakers. This is what I chose because it balances simplicity and cost with sound quality. There are hundreds of choices ranging from cheap stereo through thousand dollar surround sound systems. If you choose to go with surround, make sure your sound card can support it.
Home Theater
If you want the highest quality sound, you can send your audio through a home theater sound system. You will use an S/PDIF cable and connect it directly to your sound system. If you already have a high quality audio system, this may be the cheapest way to go. However if you have to buy one, this can get very expensive.
Like all things with your handmade DVR, you have to decide what works best for what you want. If you’re looking for computer speakers, I went with Logitech X-530’s and got them for about $45 on eBay (quite a steal!). I’m very happy with them.