Preliminary operation
Before even explaining to you how to connect speakers to TV, it is good to distinguish between two different types of equipment: active and passive cash registers. The active speakers they are able to work autonomously and without relying on a mixer or any other external amplification device, as they are equipped with a integrated amplifier. Typically, they are connected directly to the TV and require power from an electrical source or battery.
Le passive speakers, or "satellites", do not have an integrated amplifier and, consequently, are not able to reproduce sounds correctly, if not previously connected to an external amplification device (eg. mix or subwoofer self-powered, typical of 5.1 / 7.1 audio systems). This type of speaker, however, does not need a direct power supply: the energy is drawn directly from the amplifier to which they are connected.
Understanding whether you are dealing with active or passive speakers is simple: the former, as explained above, must necessarily be equipped with a independent power source (be it a battery or a power outlet) and a potentiometer (the classic "lever" of the volume, so to speak). These crates can be connected directly to the TV through the type of connection provided by the devices (be it RCA, S / PDIF, HDMI or Bluetooth), as I will explain in the next section.
The situation is different for what concerns the passive speakers: in fact, they must be connected via the cables supplied with the external amplification device (mixer, self-powered subwoofer or amplifier), which is in turn connected to the TV via the appropriate output. Volume and level control of each satellite (or each category of satellites, eg “front” ones) is done through the amplifier.
Therefore, if you have passive speakers, you must first connect them to the amplifier using the cables / jacks supplied, connecting each satellite to its input based on the category (front, rear, right, left and so on), usually specified on the back of the amplification device. In some cases, the plugs are distinguished by different colors: if this is your case, you must take care to match the color of the plug to the color of the relative input located on the amplifier, following the following diagram.
- White - left speaker
- Red - right speaker
- finanacing - central case
- Blue - left front sourround satellite
- Grey - front right surround satellite
- Brown - Surround back left satellite
- Ocher - Surround back right satellite
- Viola - subwoofer
However, I advise you to strictly follow the instructions relating to your amplification system to avoid making mistakes or wrong configurations. Once you have completed the connection between the speakers and the amplification device, you can connect the latter to the TV, following the instructions I gave you in the next section.
Connect speakers to the TV with cables
Now that you've finally understood the difference between active and passive speakers, it's time to take action and understand how to connect speakers to TV via cable. The connection techniques, in this case, are different and are strictly linked to the type of speakers (or audio system) in your possession: below you will list the most common.
3.5 mm jack (analog audio)
If you have a speaker system that provides connection through the classic jack from 3.5 mm (the one also used for headphones, so to speak), you can proceed with the connection with disarming simplicity: all you have to do is feed the crates or system at your disposal e connect the jack at the appropriate TV entrance, nothing more, nothing less!
In the vast majority of cases, the audio is "automatically" redirected to the speakers, without you having to do anything: if you have a new generation TV available and this does not happen, I recommend that you enter the Settings of the same, to search for the section Audio and to set playback using the Headphones or Speakers with jack.
How do you say? Does your TV not have the 3.5mm jack? This means that the TV is able to produce audio in digital format only, so it is necessary to have an additional external device, which is called DAC, able to transform the digital audio signal out from the TV in analog audio signal reproducible from the speakers. There are different types of DACs on the market, both economic and professional: here are some of them.
Once you have purchased the one that best suits your needs, all you have to do is insert the jack into the appropriate housing of the DAC and connect the latter to the TV via the SPDIF / TOSLINK or HDMI digital input, as I will explain in the following sections.
RCA (analog audio)
Il RCA connector, if you've never heard of it, it's a type of connector that can carry both signal audio what a signal video, both analog; the speakers (or audio systems) prepared for the RCA connection, clearly, only support the transmission of the sound signal.
Usually, a TV compatible with RCA connectors has dedicated color inputs White (mono / left audio channel), red (right audio channel) e yellow (video signal): therefore, to connect the speakers, all you have to do is insert the pair of colored plugs coming from them into the appropriate inputs on the TV panel, following the colors, and ... enjoy the result! The TV should automatically stream audio to the speakers, with no additional configuration required.
If your speakers supported analogue transmission on RCA but your TV only had digital outputs (S / PDIF - TOSLINK or HDMI), you must equip yourself with a special DAC to convert the signal, as I explained to you in the section previous.
S / PDIF - TOSLINK (digital audio)
Another connection mode available between televisions and speakers is the so-called S / PDIF - TOSLINK (or “optical audio”): the connection, in this case, is via a built in cable optical fiber and the audio is transmitted in mode digital. TOSLINK technology is generally present on all new generation televisions and is adopted, in many cases, by 5.1 and 7.1 Home Theater systems: you can hardly find this type of connection, however, for active speakers.
The TOSLINK cable has a cylindrical plug at the end that ends with a bullet-shaped connector and a square plug with a central metal protrusion; the entrance to the television, on the other hand, is easily recognizable by the square shape with a small central hole from which, when the device is switched on, a faint red light comes out.
Making the connection via the optical output is very simple: all you have to do is turn on the amplifier, connect one end of the TOSLINK cable to it (input Digital Video-In) and connect it to the entrance Optical Digital Video Out (or similar) of the TV; if necessary, access the Settings of the latter, enter the section Audio and set audio playback via S / PDIF, TOSLINK or Optical output.
Keep in mind that, on some televisions, you may not find the "regular" TOSLINK input but the mini-TOSLINK input, similar to the original but smaller in size: in this case, to make the connection, you must equip yourself with a special cable or a specific adapter.
HDMI Arc (digital audio)
You are used to using the HDMI port to connect devices such as TV Boxes, external dongles and so on: what if I told you that, thanks to HDMI Arc technology, you can use the same port to connect a digital audio system? Well, that's right: Arc, in fact, it stands for Audio Return Channel and identifies the possibility of offering a audio return channel dedicated, to an external amplifier or mixer. In this way, it is also possible to connect particularly powerful audio systems to the TV, without using additional cables to transport the sound signal at the highest quality.
Although the panel housings and the shape of the cable are in all respects identical to those dedicated to "mixed" HDMI, you have to be careful: if your TV is compatible with this technology, you will find the wording HDMI (Arc) at the dedicated entrance. Furthermore, even the connection cable can be slightly different than the classic cables: usually this is included with the speaker system you intend to connect but, if not, you can still get an HDMI cable with Arc support online for a few euros.
However, making the connection between an HDMI Arc speaker system and the TV is disarming simplicity: all you have to do is turn on the amplifier device, connect the two ends of the cable to the respective device panels and enjoy the sounds. of your TV, without any kind of additional configuration.
Connect wireless speaker / soundbar to TV
Have you bought some Bluetooth speakers or a wireless soundbar to enjoy the sound of the new TV, without the inconvenience of using cables and cables? Then this is the section for you: if you have a TV with integrated Bluetooth, pairing is really a breeze!
Unfortunately, I cannot provide you with specific instructions for all televisions and all commercially available Bluetooth audio devices, the pages of my site would not be enough! What I can do, however, is to show you a general procedure that applies to most new generation appliances.
First of all, turn on the soundbar or breakage and set them to pairing mode following the instructions related to the device in your possession: usually, it is sufficient to press one or two buttons so that an LED or a voice guide does not confirm the setting in pairing mode.
Once this is done, move to the TV, press the button Menu on the remote control, presses the button Settings that appears on the screen and looks for the section related to Sound or atAudio and, within it, it identifies the option relating to Bluetooth: once this is done, make a Research of detectable devices, select the name of the soundbar or speakers at your disposal and press the button OK to finalize the pairing.
If you have a modern television equipped with Android TV, you have to go to Settings> Accessory remote controlI will access the sezione Add Bluetooth accessory, select the speakers or soundbar you want to pair and then press the button OK to top it all off.
As for TVs without Bluetooth, you can instead use a Bluetooth transmitter or Apple TV, the media center produced by Apple: I told you in detail about these solutions in the appropriate section of my guide on how to connect wireless headphones to the TV, also valid for speakers or soundbars of the same type.
How to connect speakers to the TV
