Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with surround and speakers

How can I use my TV speakers as the center channel on my receiver?

odinsdream — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 07:02:13 -0800

How can I use the speakers in my TV as the "center" speaker on my receiver? I have a receiver hooked up to four normal speakers. I'd like to use the speakers in my TV as the center speaker.

My TV has audio inputs for each set of video inputs. These are normal RCA red-white connectors.

Is there some way to connect powered speaker wires to these without breaking the TV? My first thought was to open the TV and disconnect the speakers from the internal wiring and substitute my own. I'd prefer not to do this since the TV is new and still under warranty.

The other problem would be that the TV has two internal speakers, left and right, which I want to treat as one.

Any thoughts?

"We should have recorded the album in Dubley..."

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:31:52 -0800

Wireless speakers for a Philips HTS3555 surround sound system? After years of setting up and breaking down computers, I hate wires with a hateful, bloody passion. Is there any way to use the speakers with this surround system in a wireless fashion, without much extra expense? Is there another system you might recommend which includes wireless speakers and more or less the same features as this system?

2.0 + 3.1 = ?

daver — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 12:30:14 -0800

Surround Sound 2.0 setup: What do I do w/ my new amp and old speakers? I have 2 old Boston Accoustic "a150" 100 watt speakers, and a powered yahama 'inline' subwoofer. My old amp is dead, now I have a new (to me) Denon AVR-2700 surround sound amp.
Basic question: do I now also need 3+1 more speakers to make life complete? Or can I get reasonable performance from my old speaker setup?

Additional info: I'm just fine with how music and movies sounded on my old Stereo amp.

Extracredit:
* If I need 5.1 speakers, do I need to go out and get matched speakers, or can I use my 2 A150s as 'fronts'
* Is it reasonable to run my built in TV speaker (from a huge old Toshiba Cinema Series TV) as my 'center' channel?
* What am I loosing out on if I don't move to a 5.1 speaker setup?

Thanks in advance...

Help me wire this crazy-ass layout for surround sound...

twiggy — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 20:32:20 -0800

Help me inexpensively and at least somewhat discreetly wire my place for surround. The problem: Really challenging room layout and a tight budget. The short version of what I'm looking for is:
- Recommendations of quality but affordable speaker cable (please, no Monster)
- Ideas on how to find out if/how I can drill into the soffit safely (if you need pics, I can put some up)
- Ballpark figures on having a room wired for surround if you've had it done
- Creative ideas for semi-attractively achieving this wiring without going into the wall
- Or .. point me to a magical tool that will let me go through the wall with minimal damage and easy/inexpensive repairs?
- I already have the surround system, and I'm house-poor - please do not recommend I purchase wireless speakers

The more detailed notes with regard to this challenge:
- Floors are hardwood, I can't tuck wiring under baseboards or carpet, unfortunately
- It shouldn't make a huge difference, but the system I have is 6.1 surround (3 rears), not just 5.1
- Ceilings are somewhat high (9 feet). There is a soffit running around the perimeter (from the left of the entertainment center toward right, all the way around the wall with the balcony doors, and over to the kitchen), but it is unclear if I can drill into this soffit safely. Ductwork definitely runs through it, but it seems awfully big for all of that space to be air duct. Is there a safe way to find out if/how/where I can drill in and pull cables?
- Note all the doorways / hallways in the floorplan below. I was going to buy that white conduit-type tubing you can run along your trim, but it seems like it'd look awfully goofy going around so many doors or hallway openings. Please excuse my really crappy and not at all to scale MS Paint mockup of the room's floorplan:

- I'm very house-poor having just spent most of my savings on this condo, so I'm afraid spending several hundred dollars having an electrician pull cables is probably out of the question, though I don't know how much that costs.

I fully understand that waiting until I have the money to have a professional run cables is an option. However, I have 2 cats and leaving the wiring running all over the floor temporarily is not really an option as they like to muck with things once in a while, so right now I can't hook up the speakers at all. I'm really really missing the ability to listen to music and watch movies with decent sound.

Home theatre audio picks?

drpynchon — Wed, 25 May 2005 23:47:57 -0800

Say you're on a budget and you need a receiver and a surround sound speaker system... So you just got one of these fancy dancy 42" plasma HDTVs, and for absolutely free no less! But the catch is there are no speakers included, and you wouldn't want to spoil the experience with shitty factory speakers anyway.

So you have $700-900 to spend on a receiver and surround sound speakers. The room is about 12' x 15', and you're more interested in the quality of the "surround" and general sound quality over sheer volume. You'd also like to use the system for general purposes other than TV/DVD viewing, basically meaning you want to run your mp3 player through the receiver. You'd like the system to last at least 5 years and hopefully much longer. In the future there may also be an Xbox 360 or Windows Media Center PC involved in the mix...

Well folks, what combo of receiver and speakers would you go for?