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I like to practice at home with my electric guitar, but I have to keep the volume low, so I usually use headphones connected to my P.O.D. 2.0 guitar direct box. But sometimes I'd prefer to use speakers (at a volume comparable to an accoustic guitar).

As this is just a hobby, I don't want to invest a lot of money, so I've tried to simply connect the POD (headphone out) to the 2.1 active speaker system I usually use for watching TV. However, to my surprise, this gives me a lot of ringing/rattling/clanking - although I can turn the speakers up to a much higher volume when watching TV without these problems (I also simply connect the speakers to the headphone out there). So I tried reducing the bass and volume a lot, until the problems go away, but then the sound is really bad. It doesn't have anything in common with the sound I get from the headphones.

I always thought, that it should be possible to connect a Hifi system to a POD - but I must be doing something wrong?

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    Shopping recommendations are off-topic, so I edited your title to make it better fit the body of your question, which seemed to be about troubleshooting. I'm sure someone will still tell you what kind of speakers to look for if the problem can't be fixed.
    – user28
    Aug 26, 2011 at 15:29

2 Answers 2

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My HI-FI system (a basic compact hi-fi system) is the only output I use with my POD X3 and I'm really satisfied with it. It's connected through left/right RCA cables.
I don't see why it would not work with a POD 2.0.

I see few possibilities :

  • The cables / connectors you are using are cheap (but if you use them with you TV, I guess it's not that)
  • The output of the POD is too high for the speaker. I think this is the most probable reason but it seems that you already tried to lower the volume... But be careful of what volume you lowered : if it changes the sound it looks like you lowered the amp volume (chan vol), but does the POD 2.0 have a "master" volume (POD X3 has it, seems to be output level with 2.0).
  • Another solution may be to lower the volume with the "mix table" (in POD X3, there is a special location where you can boost / reduce the overall volume of the effect chain. It is generally placed after the amp output. I don't know if it exist for 2.0)
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  • First of all: It's good to hear, that you could make it work with your POD! I already lowered the master volume on my POD. I don't think I have a "mix table", but I'm not sure where to find it... Aug 26, 2011 at 17:35
  • Another question: Are you connecting your cables to a line-in of your Hi-Fi system? Mine is a very simple one, and all it has is a single headphone connector (male mini TRS) - that's it (but it does produce great sound when listening to music). For my POD's line-out, I can choose between "direct" and "AMP" mode - so should I maybe prefer to connect my speakers there (with an adapter)? Aug 26, 2011 at 17:36
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    Yes I'm using the Hi-fi line-in... I have this system : reviews.cnet.com/audio-shelf-systems/philips-mz-7-micro/… which has a left/right RCA line-in. For the output, you should select the "direct" mode. You should plug your sound system on one of the left or right output of the POD with an adapter (except if you absolutely need a stereo sound)
    – Julien N
    Aug 28, 2011 at 17:56
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    And, if you didn't do it already, check the 3.3 chapter of the manual (l6c.scdn.line6.net/data/l/c0a8090b14eb9404fb8507db90/…), there are some tips
    – Julien N
    Aug 28, 2011 at 18:08
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    I just plugged the line-out of my POD ("direct" mode) to a mixer, and then the speaker system to the headphone-out of the mixer. It works really well. Thanks. Aug 29, 2011 at 18:57
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The problem with HiFi systems used for guitar is that they don't have flat response; instead, they're optimized to make listening to mastered music more pleasant. A couple of tips to fight that:

  • See if you have a "direct", "bypass", "pure stereo" or similarly named mode; most modern hi-fi systems feature such a setting for CD playback, which goes around whatever sound processing the unit might use. Incidentally that's what nearly always works best for me when using output from a multi-FX unit.
  • Zero any equalizers that might be present on the speakers.
  • Try using the "headphone" output from the device. Line outputs are typically made to interact with studio hardware and might not work nearly as well.
  • Remember to use the cab emulation, speaker emulation and set everything to send fully processed signal.
  • If your unit has an ability to output +10dB signal (acting like a preamp), ensure that it's instead on line level.
  • Don't go overboard with reverb and echo effects, as they tend to heavily distort the signal and what you hear in effect. Experiment with pure amp tone first and add new things gradually.

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