TV sets have built-in speakers, but their speaker size is limited because modern TVs are made as compact and thin as possible. A lot of TV owners buy external speakers to get better sound quality. You can improve your TV sound system and enjoy watching TV by adding speakers such as a home theater system or amplifier. This article will help you find out how to connect speakers to TV with speaker wire and some different options. I hope to help you get the right kind of sound you need and enjoy the theater-quality sound.
How To Connect Speakers To TV With Speaker Wire
Here are the steps on how to connect speakers to TV with speaker wire.
- At the rear of your TV or cable box, find the color-coded audio output jacks. Usually, the RCA audio output jacks are colored red and white.
- Plug the red RCA audio cable into your TV’s red RCA audio jack and plug the white RCA audio cable into your white RCA audio jack. To improve your speakers’ sound quality, make sure that the color-coded jacks and plugs are correctly matched.
- Switch on your TV and, one by one, check each speaker. When two or all speakers are operating at the same time, it is hard to hear an individual speaker’s performance. In order to hear its output, unplug all other speakers except the one you are checking. For all other speakers, repeat this process and check connections for speakers that are having problems.
Connect Using An Amplifier or Receiver
- At the rear of your TV, find the RCA audio output jacks. Using RCA cables, the two color-coded (red and white) audio input/output jacks transport audio signals from the TV to the amplifier. At the rear of your amplifier or receiver, find the RCA audio input jacks.
- Plug one end of the red RCA audio cable into the back of the TV’s red RCA jack and then into the back of the amplifier’s red RCA jack. For the white RCA audio cable, do the same method.
- By plugging the speaker wires to their corresponding jacks or terminals on the amplifier, connect the left, right, middle and rear-channel speakers to the amplifier. By connecting the positive wires to positive terminals and the negative wires to negative terminals, observe proper relation polarity. Red wires should connect to positive terminals, while negative terminals should connect to black wires.
Can You Connect Speakers Directly To A TV
No, you can’t directly connect the speakers to the TV. TVs do not provide speaker outputs that can drive speakers. You may need an amplifier to use them. However, most TVs have audio outputs that allow you to connect them to speakers. A small external amplifier or a home stereo receiver is an excellent option.
The electronics and cables for the speaker system that you need depend on the TV’s output jacks. The bad news is that speakers can’t be wired directly to a TV. The good news is I’ve got some tricks you can follow on how to connect speakers to TV with speaker wire, and also reasonably quickly.
Can You Connect Sound Bar To Your TV
Most soundbars require a single wired television connection. This can be done via an HDMI or optical cable, and many provide analog stereo RCA connections. The majority of soundbars are long and short, so you can place them on furniture tables. For a more impressive movie-watching experience, get a sound system with a portable subwoofer.
Connecting Bluetooth-enabled Speaker To TV
Digital TVs are fitted with streaming Bluetooth audio, which opens up a variety of sound quality enhancement. This design lets you connect to a portable Bluetooth speaker, wirelessly. For late-night binge-watching or to boost audio for hearing-impaired audiences, wireless Bluetooth headphones are a great choice.
You can connect a Bluetooth transmitter such as the Soundcast VGtx to an optical or 3.5mm analog output if you have an older TV model. Using Bluetooth with some TVs disables the built-in speakers and analog/digital audio outputs of the set. That way, you can only hear audio through the wireless speakers.
Basic Speaker Wire Connectivity
Knowing how to connect speakers to TV with speaker wire is important for your safety. The basic speaker wire has only two parts: a positive (+) and a negative (-). The RCA or Optical/TOSLINK kind (-) is another speaker wire connection. But if you are not careful, there is still a risk of getting these connections wrong. This is clearly something you want to avoid because it can seriously damage device output by exchanging positive and negative signals. It’s worth the time to double-check that these wires are wired properly before connecting to speakers.
The terminals on the back of the stereo equipment can be easily recognized, but the same cannot be said for speaker wires. This is where there can be uncertainty since the marking is not straightforward.
Look for a single stripe or dotted lines on one side if a speaker wire doesn’t have a two-tone color scheme. The stripe or dash can be dark if your wire has a light-colored covering. The stripe or dash is likely to be white if the insulation is dark-colored. Know more about connecting speakers.
Conclusion
While receivers are a traditional alternative, there are times when you want to connect wirelessly. Some units will not have it in the box for your TV set. You no longer have to think about not getting a receiver now that you’ve learned the hack on how to connect speakers to TV with speaker wire.