Audio Cable Advice

[admin_exported]

Hi All,

This is my first post so be gentle ;-)

I have a 37" Samsung LCD TV (model number LE37A457)and have just bought a pair of Mordaunt-Short 25i floor standing speakers.

I want to be able to connect the speakers to the TV to get me going until i can get hold of a decent amp.

What cables should i be looking at that will do a job for this?

Thanks

 

[d4v3pum4]

Welcome to the forum

I'm afraid you're going to need the amp. The TV has no way of driving external speakers, in fact Samsung TV's usually struggle to drive their internal speakers! Sorry but you will need to buy an amp in order to get his working. Your TV has two different audio outputs from what I can gather. The first is the line out, which is an analogue RCA connection (red/white). You will probably have one of these cables (RCA phono) lying around or perhaps a composite video cable (ignore the yellow video cable and simply connect the red/white). The second is an optical cable, which is also known as toslink.

http://www.audiovisualonline.co.uk/dynamic/eshop_products.set/ref/1434/fisual-digital-optical-cable-pro-install-series/display.html

http://www.reviewcentre.com/review208584.html is an example of an optical cable.

Do you intend going full 5.1 i.e. fronts, centre, rear speakers plus a subwoofer or simply stick with the 2.0 stereo setup?

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the quick response ;-) Thats fine that i'll need an amp. I've detailed the spec of my tv below and i am thinking of going 5.1 in the long run just wanted to get up and running for the meantime. Im getting a PS3 next weekend too so ill have all i need except the amp :-(

VIDEO

Screen Size 37"

Resolution 1,366 x 768

Dynamic Contrast Ratio 10,000:1

DNIeT Yes

HD Ready Yes

Backlight C C F L

IDTV Yes

AUDIO

Sound Effect System SRS Trusurround

Sound Output(RMS) 2 x 10 W

Stereo Type A2 / NiCAM

Input & Output(Side)

HDMI 1

composite (AV) 1

S-Video 1

Headphone 1

Input & Output(Back)

HDMI 2

PC input (D-sub) 1

Component(Y/Pb/Pr) 1

RF Input 1

Video Monitor out, L/R No (Audio only)

Optical sound out 1

RS232C (for Service only) 1

Scart 2

Can you recommend a decent budget amp that i can aquire also. Ultimately i want a Denon AVR-1909 but a cheaper alternative will be surfice until i can upgrade.

Thanks

 

[d4v3pum4]

If you go 2nd hand pretty much any AV receiver (Amplifier) will do. The first receiver on the market that could handle HDMI audio was the Onkyo 605 so maybe look for a 2nd hand one on the net. The Yamaha 761/861 can also be found cheap. If you ignore HD audio over HDMI (from your PS3) as a requirement, pretty much any amp with optical inputs will suffice for now. Most budget receivers will have two optical inputs as a minimum. Yamaha (models prefixed by RXV-3 e.g. RXV361) and Cambridge Audio (540R V2) are usually pretty good for the cheaper stuff. Have a look on ebay and see what is available. You could get a package such as the Sony HT-DDGW800 which comes with speakers. You could use these until you have the funds to upgrade the rest of the speakers but if your heart is set on a Denon 1909, my advice would be to simply save up until you can afford it. You never know prices may drop further in that time (it's already pretty cheap). The cheapest brand new HD audio receiver is the Sony 820, which would be a pretty good partner for the PS3 anyway and would last a while without upgrading. Build and sound quality won't match the Denon but it wouldn't be far off. Do you have a budget?

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info. I'm beginning to get to grips with what i need. My TV deals with HD in 720p so i want an amp that can downscale from bluray and deal with dolby true HD, so i guess my budget works around those as an added requirement. I want to get the best from my TV, PS3 and speakers without going mad on the price. Not sure what ive said is right but i hope you can correct me ;-) Sorry if this is going off-topic now.