: Can I connect the "headphone out" of a ZOOM effects pedal (A3/G3) to a set of 2.1 stereo powered speakers and get decent sound? Is there anything I should be wary of? I'm planning to buy a guitar and kinda in doubt whether

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If your stereo has an "aux" input, of the kind you'd plug a separate CD player into, then yes, you can connect the output of most multi-effects pedals to this.

It's likely, in fact, that the output is labeled "headphone/line out". But any headphone output can be used as a "poor man's line out".

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Yes, it can be done but I don't think it's worth it.

Two possible outcomes:

A. You'll spend your whole life either wondering whether it's you that can't play or if it's your plastic box that sounds bad and hollow and gritty. you'll probably not be able to understand what's wrong with your playing and you won't improve much, especially in terms of control, phrasing and dynamics.

B. You'll get bored of the little box's hollow sound pretty fast and conclude that playing guitar ain't much fun after all. You'll try to resell the whole thing but will discover quick that there's no market for that.

My advice is: a musical instrument is a musical instrument, not a device.

You money is best spent on - well, lessons, you have a teacher, right? - and on a modeling amp like the Vox Valvetronix series, you can get the AD15VT model used for well under 0 and it sounds great for all styles, from blues to metal.

It is especially good for a credible AC-30 emulation (if you are into jangly rock like R.E.M. or are after Brian May's sound) and for hard blues a la Stevie Ray Vaughan.

I know because I have one and it has made me fall in love with guitar again, after an emulator connected to my monitors sucked all love of guitar out of me.

Its high gain emulations aren't the best, but nothing, say, a DS-2 can't cure if you are so inclined.

Then again, get a teacher first and maybe see if he/she can help you choosing a good starter amp.

Just in case I haven't made myself clear:

get a teacher
get a teacher
get a teacher

Defer all equipment-buying decisions to after you've gotten yourself a good teacher - especially because a teacher will help you choose a guitar and amp that doesn't suck and help you get it set up, and believe me that there's plenty of unplayable, crappy pieces of wood out there.

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Be wary of the headphone output levels in the pedal and the actual volume on the system in order to:

1) get a clean sound.

2) reduce the risk of blowing a speaker when using a heavy distortion or high gain effect.

It is common sense even when connecting to an amp but extra care is needed when using systems the way they are not intended to.

The Zoom G3 has a L/Mono/Phone output, so it can give you a nice line out signal, additionally you can connect the pedal in stereo using the L and R outputs and the correct plug adapters (from 1/4"phone plugs to RCA plugs) or with the stereo Phone output using a cable with an stereo 1/4" plug (or miniplug with an adapter) and the 2 RCA plugs to connect to the stereo. system
www.zoom.co.jp/products/g3/spec/