[spencer]

Hello all,

I'm looking for some guidance for how to put together my fathers day present for dear ol' dad. He currently does not have any type of speakers for his TV, which is in a massive room. They mostly watch TV, but he also listens to the music channels from the cable box while he cleans and cooks. The idea is to try and find some speakers to fill out the  living room (living room is 20x30, attached kitchen/living room is about the same again).

Now for the hard part, I have set a budget of ~50$.

Finding budget speakers isn't too hard (found some old energy speakers at a pawn shop that should do the trick), but is the amplification that I'm stuck on. I would love if they could control the volume via IR. I'm not coming up with much.  Yesterday I came across some powered speakers that use IR, but they are 150$.

Any thoughts?

[srb]

Maybe you could find something used with a $50 budget (?) but it's probably too low.

While wheels are turning, a few things to consider with the hardware are

1.  Does the TV have an analog audio output?  Some do, many don't.  If it does, you could use that with most any amplifier or amplified speaker.

2.  If the TV only has an optical digital output, does the TV setup menu allow you to configure it for stereo PCM output?  Many do, some don't (Panasonic TVs have many models that don't allow you to set a stereo output).

If the output can't be set to stereo, then the digital input of an amplifier or speaker will have to be multi-channel Dolby Digital/DTS compatible, such as a soundbar or AV Receiver with digital input.


If you can find a pair of speakers really cheap, you might also be able to find an older cheap AV Receiver that provides a digital input and power to the speakers, but doesn't have HDMI inputs for video switching.

If you are buying new, you probably won't find anything for $50 and a $75 - $100 soundbar likely won't fill a larger room with sound with 2" - 3" drivers or provide any reasonable amount of bass without an external subwoofer.

Steve

[spencer]

Thanks Steve, that's the info I was looking for. I think the TV does have audio out. I can get audio direct from the cable box as well. At 50$, I assumed I was looking at used.

Can you explain the PCM thought? I'm fairly green when it comes to this.

Thanks

[randytsuch]

Little digital amps are cheap, and sound good for the price.

If the TV or cable box has an analog audio output, you don't have to worry about PCM.

That is the digital audio output, either by RCA jack or optical.

Are the speakers part of the $50 budget?

[srb]

Spencer,

The majority of TV broadcasts are in multi-channel 5.1 Dolby Digital format.  Most AV Receivers and soundbars with digital inputs are able to decode this.

If you are going into a speaker/amplifier that is not a TV or AV device, such as a pair of powered stereo speakers, although it may have an optical digital input it is likely that it cannot decode Dolby Digital and would require that the source have the ability to switch the output mode from 5.1 Dolby Digital to stereo, which may be referred to in the menu as "Stereo", "Stereo PCM" or "PCM", depending on how the TV or cable box audio menu is worded.

If the TV or cable box has an analog audio output (3.5mm stereo jack or L/R RCA jacks) they can be hooked up to any amplifier with analog audio inputs, the output has already been decoded and mixed to stereo in the TV or cable box device.

My bedroom LCD TV (Insignia) happens to have L/R RCA analog outputs and they are connected to a pair of standard amplified speakers that have analog inputs only.

My living room Panasonic plasma TV only has an optical audio output and that goes into an AV receiver.  The Panasonic audio menu has no option to change the digital output into stereo, so that wouldn't work going into the digital input of normal amplified stereo speakers or the digital input of a 2-channel stereo DAC.

However, more TVs and cable boxes do have that audio menu option than not, but it would be helpful to know the TV and cable box models to be certain of their available audio connection types and audio options.

Steve

[spencer]

Are the speakers part of the $50 budget?

Unfortunately. I thought it would be a fun challenge to see if it's possible. Maybe a cheap amp from PE and some used speakers. I think I can control volume on the cable box.  Other thoughts are HTIAB off of a used site.  I just couldn't seem to find a cheap amp (~25$) that had IR volume control.


Steve, thanks for that.