Neither, for that matter, are tinny little computer speakers. Besides the obvious advantages in sound quality, marrying your computer and hi-fi also allows you to get music from vinyl, cassette and radio into your iTunes Library and onto your iPod.
Playing through a hi-fi
Connection with cables
Computer to hi-fi
So if your computer and stereo share a desk or are only a few feet apart, you can easily pick up an RCA-to-minijack cable and run it straight from the computer to the hi-fi's line in. (Some computers have RCA line-outs as well as a minijack, in which case you can use a standard RCA-to-RCA cable.)
iPod to hi-fi
Simply run an RCA-to-minijack cable between your hi-fi's line-in and your Pod's headphone socket or, much better, the "Line Out" on the back of the Dock. Connecting wirelessly
AirTunes
Then, any computer with Wi-Fi capability - known as AirPort on a Mac - can beam music straight from iTunes to the hi-fi, even from the other side of the house. FM transmitters
It's also the only easy way to connect to a hi-fi that lacks a line-in socket.
