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Advice requested - speakers for TV
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I recently bought a new TV. The picture is good, but I'm not happy about the sound. As an experiment, I tried plugging my 2.1 speakers from my computer into the headphone socket and got a distinct improvement.
1) does anyone know if this is a good way to improve the output, or am I missing something better? 2) Can anyone recommend a system to buy? 
Television speakers are designed to fit in the television case. Standalone speakers are designed for decent sound replication.
1) It is a good way to improve the output, but there is a better one. I run my audio through my home stereo system (which I'd already optimized for excellent audio in that room). 2) Whatever sounds good to you - they're your ears, so you know them best. -- Rob Kelk "Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of the same sovereign, servants of the same law." - Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
How do you do that? Is there a standard cable?
My stereo system is ~15 years old and was far from top of the range when I bought it. I don't know what connectors and capabilities it's got. I'll have to look at them both tonight. I also need to check if my TV has any audio outputs apart from the headphone socket.
Check your TV for whatever Audio Out connectors it has - nowadays, most TVs have the standard RCA stereo outputs. Check your stereo for whatever Audio In connectors it has - since it's 15 years old, it should have standard RCA inputs or mini-RCA inputs (that look like headphone jacks).
If you have the same kind of connectors on both, you're home free - even Best Buy can sell you the appropriate cable (although they'll overcharge you for it). If you only have the headphone socket on the TV and the RCA connectors on the stereo, then visit your local Radio Shack / The Source / whatever home-electronics supply store is in your neck of the woods, and tell them you want to connect a headphone jack to a stereo. They should be able to sell you a mini-RCA-stereo to RCA cable. If you have something funky on the stereo... take a photo of the connectors and show it to the guys at Radio Shack. They might be able to help you. -- Rob Kelk "Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of the same sovereign, servants of the same law." - Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012 
Some televisions these days have the option of either a fiber-optic output or an HDMI output (or sometimes even both) just for a surround sound system. However, this isn't always the case as most sound systems these days are part of an all-in-one package where the central unit is a DVD/BD Player, Digital/Analogue TV Tuner, Surround Sound Processor and Amplifier, and an iPod/iPhone Dock. Some even offer Digital Video Recorder capability, but some people just hook up their PCs to the system. (If you have AppleTV, then this is a foregone conclusion.)
Quality of sound has grown to such a degree of ease to replicate that even the least expensive systems can give you a great audio experience. My recommendation is to consult Consumer Reports to get the most bang for your buck.
post brand and model of TV, post brand and model of stereo unit.
pictures of the jacks on both would be even better. 90% likelyhood you're either looking at http://www.walmart.com/ip...mm-To-RCA-Cable/10985744 or http://www.walmart.com/ip...reo-Audio-Cable/11600027 "No can brain today. Want cheezeburger." From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies
My TV is an LG 32LF77. It has a headphone socket and an optical digital audio output. I don't know what one does with an optical digital audio thingy.
My stereo is a Aiwa NSX-SZ310. It has RCA phono input.
Your best bet, then, is the UK equivalent of the first link above, to plug your headphone output into the RCA input of your Aiwa.
http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.208-5227.aspx looks lovely, from Tesco. You will be limited to stereo sound, which isn't that big a deal, if you ask me. The 'best' way to view television, is with an external tuner that passes video to your display, and audio to a seperate amplifier. This, however, is a waste of time and money for about 80% of the people out there who just want to see if Dr. Who is gonna snog someone this month... You are pursuing a perfectly valid and elegant method of chasing the 'better sound' goal here. The only thing I would recommend that hasn't been listed already is to get a headphone-to-phono cable with a right-angle plug so it can be ran down the side of the TV more elegantly. Cheers! "No can brain today. Want cheezeburger." From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies |
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