Getting Connected - How To Connect Your Surround Speakers To Your Tv?

A common question I am asked by prospective hometheater buyers is ” How do I add Surround Sound to my existing tv setup ?

My answer will normally be if the tv they purchased is more than a few years old, is get a new tv and buy a new [tag]hdtv[/tag] or hdtv ready tv plus receiver and connect everything through that…

But this advice will depend on number of factors.

The most common approach by major tv manufacturers today is to provide the true home theater enthusiasts the option of buying a seperate audio /video receiver and just using the hdtv as a monitor with a built in digital tv tuner.

I have confess to still being the owner of an older style tv with dolby logic which was in fact the forerunner to the now common place dolby prologic which has been replaced by the superior dolby prologic II and [tag]dolby digital[/tag].This consisted of a basic Tv set with stereo speakers and two speakers of doubtful quality which were placed at the rear for creating the surround effects.

It was some 2 years or so later that the center speaker was introduced with the introduction of dolby prologic. Whilst at the time the sound quality was pretty amazing when compared with the previous stereo televison this now redundant 32″ Toshiba tv now seems so basic in the quality of sound and picture as to be embarrasing.

It is for this reason and the speed of which advances happen I do not recommend buying a second hand tv set unless you really are on a tight budget as things move on so quickly in home theater land and any new purchase should be in anticpation of future advances such as HDTV.

That’s right now days the way forward for the new comer to home theater is to purchase seperate components namely a hdtv or hd ready tv and a receiver or av amplifier which will usually have built in all or any of the following decoders. Dolby Prologic , Dolby Prologic II , Dolby Digital , DTS and in some cases at the higher end Lucas THX.
How it works is the receiver takes the signal produced by the source usually a DVD player or [tag]HDDVD[/tag] player but could be the out put from a TIVO or other digital recorder (usually with built in hard disk) and converts this into picture and sound which can then be seen and heard through the other components of your home theater system and viewed through your tv.
Examples of well known manufacturers who provide this type of audio and video equipment include well known companies such as Sony,Toshiba,Harman Kardon, JVC, Denon, Bose and many more..

Sadly all to commonly I see home theater systems connected together with the out of the box cables which are normally very low grade and will produce a seriously inferior sound and picture which in certain cases will make a $1000 lcd televison look and sound like a heap of junk.

Why people spend hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars on home theatercomponents and then spend five bucks on the connecting cables never ceases to amaze me but it happens all the time.

It should be a crime ..It’s a bit like buying a NASCAR and running it on low octane gasoline.

Hope you get the picture ?

or maybe not : > ) if you used those crummy out of the box cables (go on bin them now) ?

The cheap supplied cables will normally be red and white for the left and right audio channels and yellow for the video channel.

But please please do not be tempted by this drastic cost cutting measure. The quality of audio and video will totally suck and you will be missing out on so much for just a few extra bucks.

If you are looking for a quality surround sound set up either 5.1 or 7.1 and I am sure you are? You will need to upgrade to at very least a optical connection don’t let your system suffer for the sake of this. These can be obtained from Better Cables at a between $40-60 dependent of the length of the optical cable you require.

They are currently offer free shipping on all their cables within the US and usually have some great offers.

IMPORTANT :- Make sure to buy the right length of whatever cable you buy as you can’t cut to these to size and unscrew a connector like traditional wire cables.

I found this out a few years ago, when I brought a optical cable just a lousy 1/2 inch short.

Was I hacked off?

You betcha !

That was $190 bucks down the drain since I had first brought this most amazing cable at the time a new type of cable I had found in a store in Penang Malaysia when on vacation. Bear in mind this was more than 5 years ago when they were already talking about HDtv over there and we in the west think we are on the cutting edge of technology.

I guess that is a whole different subject and one I will be discussing another day would love to get your views on that one.
If you ever get the chance to visit Malalysia you can find some great AV bargains which are pretty much state of the art and some are so advanced you won’t have even heard of them back home.
This basic form of optical connector works by using a fiber optic cable some times refered to as Toslink Optical cable which is used to provide the connection between the components of your home theater system.

Depending on the quality and age of your equipment you might want to give serious consideration to using component video cables, [tag]HDMI[/tag] or DVI.

Typically a componet cable such as Silver Serpent Component Cable from Better Cables will start at around $60 and depending on length could cost several hundred dollars.

Where as a 3.28 ft DVI cable will set you back around one hundred bucks and looks a bit like the a cross between a scart cable and a computer cable.

As more and more people are moving to HDTV a digital connection HDMI cable is becoming more common place and subsequently already prices have started to fall. Still expect to pay around $120 for 3.28ft upto $300 for a 32 ft cable
custom built by Better Cables.

In the unlikely event that 32ft is not enough they can provide amplified cables as well.If you have purchased your tv or plasma screen in the last year or so then you will likely have come across The term HDtv or HD ready tv if not read our article at www.hometheaterfanatic.com/hdtv before making your choice.

If you a buying a new home theater setup from scratch today then you must subject to budget give really serious thought to an HDtv or HD ready tv. Once you have experienced this incredible new development you will never want to go back to the traditional CRT Televsion or the portable in the kitchen or in the bedroom.
When connecting your receiver you have a couple of options which basically allow you to run your tv through the receiver or independently as a seperate unit.

I personally choose to run my system with two controls as there can be some degradation of the signal if you choose to run both the tv and receiver through the receiver.

To be fair this is my personal preference I guess most commonly most people will choose the later option but there is no hard and fast rule.

But do make sure you take the time to set up your home theater system correctly it will make so much difference and spending that extra to get the connecting cables right will reward you in your viewing and enjoyment of your home theater system.

Technorati Tags: cable, component, dolby-digital, dvi, HDDVD, hdmi, HDTV, tivo, tv

Tags: cable, component, dolby digital, dvi, HDDVD, hdmi, HDTV, tivo, tv