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Help with adding speakers to 42" plasma tv

#1
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10/8/09 at 12:05am
  • Joined: October 2009
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Ok so there is only 1 audio output and that is a optical output. Ive done research on it but havent found anything helping my question.

How do I hook up normal say.. computer speakers to my tv. If I cant then say I buy a optical output wire what do I hook it up too? Do audio surround sound recievers have the optical input to make sound from my tv go to external speakers?

I basicly want the cheapest reciever with that optical input but I cant find any with it. Any info would HELP ALOT!
Thanks
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#2
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10/8/09 at 5:11am
  • Joined: May 2003
  • Location: Eastern NC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by caraudionut View Post
Do audio surround sound recievers have the optical input to make sound from my tv go to external speakers?
Yes.
But computer speakers don't hook up very well to receivers. They also may not be able to handle the power of the receiver.

What you need is an HTIB (home theater in a box). Here's one: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-HT-Z320-Home-Theater-System/dp/B001XCX9K2/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&s=aht&qid=1255003563&sr=1-26
This has one optical input though. You might want to get a system with more optical and digital coax inputs, in case you want to hookup a dvd player, ps3 or Xbox, etc.

Samsung HL61A750 (LED DLP)            Onkyo TX-SR805
Oppo BDP-83 Blu ray                                  Polk Audio LSi9
Polk Audio LSiC                                  Sony SS-MB100H
JBL PSW1200 (Sub)                        ...
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#3
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10/8/09 at 6:09am
  • Joined: May 2002
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What source(s) are you using?  Cable/Satellite, DVD, Blu-Ray, game systems?

A common misconception is that the digital audio out on TVs can be used to feed a surround sound system.  This is not true in nearly every case.

Any audio that is fed into your tv from an external source (like the ones listed above) will be downcoverted to simple stereo before it is sent out of the "digital audio out" jack on the back of the TV.  Only audio picked up from the TV's own internal tuner can be output in 5.1.

If you have multiple sources capable of 5.1 or better sound, your best bet is to get an Audio/Video Reciever and a set of 5.1 speakers.  An A/V receiver serves as the "hub" of the system.  All sources (both video and audio) are routed through the receiver.  A single video cable is run from the receiver to the TV and the sound is channeled to the 5.1 speaker system.  Typically, the TV's speakers (which are nothing to write home about anyway) are completely bypassed.

The most inexpensive solutions (you didn't mention a specific budget - do you have a figure in mind?) like Ed mentioned are all-in-one home theater in a box systems.  Such systems are very easy to set up and convenient, but are often limited in the number of inputs available to them, and the speaker build quality is often their weakest link.

There are a number of good HTiB systems from Onkyo, Panasonic, Samsung, etc.  If you can tell us what devices you want to hook up to the system, whether it's HD or not, and what sort of budget you have in mind, we can probably make some good recommendations for you.
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#4
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10/8/09 at 12:27pm
  • Joined: December 1969
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Quote:
Any audio that is fed into your tv from an external source (like the ones listed above) will be downcoverted to simple stereo before it is sent out of the "digital audio out" jack on the back of the TV.  Only audio picked up from the TV's own internal tuner can be output in 5.1.
 


With some TVs you won't even get this much.  Some don't pass anything at all via the digital audio out (coax or optical).  It is only there for digital signals from its own internal tuner.

 

The short answer to John's basic question is "No"  You can't connect external speakers to your TV, and you can't use the optical output to get digital sound from sources other than the TV tuner.   There's no way to upgrade the sound for this TV that does not involve buying some kind of receiver and some real (not PC) speakers.

The recommendations for Onkyo and similar HTiBs above are good ones, but at a miminum John is looking at dropping a couple of hundred bucks on either cheap separates or a good HTiB (a bit less if he goes used) to get decent sound to go with that cool picture.  "There is no royal (or cheap) road to home theater"

Regards,

Joe

My Home Theater

My DVD Collection

My niece, "Miss Goofy Face"
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#5
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10/9/09 at 7:40am
  • Joined: October 2009
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Thanks so much for the great info. Now I have to spend around $250 just to get decent sound out of my tv LOL . There making name brand tvs cheaper and cheaper as the years goooo. For dang sakes It didnt even come with vga plug. Only hdmi


Oh here is another small question. My old tube tv I had a VCR hooked up to it and off of that I had rca wires going to a old but goody stereo reciever and speakers off of that. Wouldnt that work ? It worked on my tube tv. To save me $250 dollars on optic input reciever
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#6
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10/9/09 at 11:33am
  • Joined: May 2002
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Again, what source(s) are you talking about - digital cable?  Satellite?  DVD/Blu-Ray?  XBox/PS3/Wii?

If you have the old stereo receiver, you can probably simply pass the audio (using stereo RCA jacks) from the source (whatever it is) directly into the stereo.  No need to use the VCR.  If you have multiple sources, and your stereo only has one set of inputs, then you're back to square one and need some sort of switching device (i.e. an A/V receiver).

Perhaps it would help if you were to tell us what your eventual goals are.  Do you simply want better stereo sound than what the TV speakers provide?  Do you want any sort of surround sound?  Do you want to "get there in one quick and easy step" or are you willing to invest in/build a system over time?

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#7
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10/9/09 at 6:33pm
  • Joined: October 2009
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I dont know what you mean by what source. Its a tv that I want speakers hooked up too, no blueray, ps3, ect..    It has cable hooked up to it to recieve tv channels. Thats all the info I have. I have to use the vcr due to the fact that it does not have audio out plugs on the back of the tv. Im pretty sure it would work just like when I had it on the tube tv. So thats a saving money solution. You dont need to buy a optical reciever for $250.00 


This is how it goes down:
-Cable in vcr
-Cable out to tv from vcr to tv
- rca audio output on vcr to  any reciver that has rca input 
- plug in any speakers to cheaper reciever / or device that has audio in . Alot of normal sony / philips/ cd players have the audio input also.
- Turn vcr on and select the tv channel and use vcr chan up and down. to change channels to have audio come out of speakers/subwoofer.


Glad I figured this out on my own. Start recomending this to other people also to save money...
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