Should I get my old hi-fi working again, or just use the TV's speakers?
May 22, 2015 2:16 PM Subscribe
I have a Marantz PM4001 amplifier and pair of bookshelf speakers that I've not used for months, as my new media center setup does not have analog outputs. Should I buy a digital-to-analog converter (which needs its own power supply), or should I just simplify my whole setup? (E.g. just rely on the TV's built-in speakers.) I have kind of got out of the habit of listening to music and am not sure I need this anymore.
Please help me make a decision. This is a pretty decent hi-fi system, 10 years old, but lately it's been kind of wasted on me. Since my first child 8 years ago, I've gradually been listening to less and less music. I find this sad, and would like to get back in the habit, but not sure if I will. (Same happened to my parents.)
Currently the hi-fi is useless, since I can't connect it to my media center, which consists of a Roku 3 box and a Samsung UE26H4000W LED TV. If I play music, it's via Plex or YouTube, on the TV's built-in speakers. To my non-audiophile ears, it sounds OK, but perhaps I just can't remember what I'm missing anymore. Maybe the indifferent sound quality is partially to blame for my infrequent music listening.
I have 2 choices:
1. Buy a cumbersome digital-to-analog converter like this from eSynic (sacrificing a plug outlet for its power supply), and connect the TV to the amplifier. However, would this make TV watching worse? (If it disables the TV's internal speakers, and dialog comes from the bookshelf speakers in the corners of the room.) Would I need to disconnect this every time I watch TV?
2. Cut my losses, and sell the amplifier and speakers to a friend or on eBay, and just use the TV in future. This will hurt from a sunk cost perspective and the feeling that I'm giving up on music that I used to be passionate about.
What should I do? What would you do?
Please help me make a decision. This is a pretty decent hi-fi system, 10 years old, but lately it's been kind of wasted on me. Since my first child 8 years ago, I've gradually been listening to less and less music. I find this sad, and would like to get back in the habit, but not sure if I will. (Same happened to my parents.)
Currently the hi-fi is useless, since I can't connect it to my media center, which consists of a Roku 3 box and a Samsung UE26H4000W LED TV. If I play music, it's via Plex or YouTube, on the TV's built-in speakers. To my non-audiophile ears, it sounds OK, but perhaps I just can't remember what I'm missing anymore. Maybe the indifferent sound quality is partially to blame for my infrequent music listening.
I have 2 choices:
1. Buy a cumbersome digital-to-analog converter like this from eSynic (sacrificing a plug outlet for its power supply), and connect the TV to the amplifier. However, would this make TV watching worse? (If it disables the TV's internal speakers, and dialog comes from the bookshelf speakers in the corners of the room.) Would I need to disconnect this every time I watch TV?
2. Cut my losses, and sell the amplifier and speakers to a friend or on eBay, and just use the TV in future. This will hurt from a sunk cost perspective and the feeling that I'm giving up on music that I used to be passionate about.
What should I do? What would you do?
How about buying a new Amp that has HDMI in and outputs?
Connect all your sources (cable box/Rocu/ATV/DVD) to the Amp. And the output (TV + speakers) on the other side.
Alternatively you could consider a soundbar. This will also add a center speaker so you want have to change the volume all the time to hear a conversation in a movie...
posted by Mac-Expert at 2:33 PM on May 22, 2015
Connect all your sources (cable box/Rocu/ATV/DVD) to the Amp. And the output (TV + speakers) on the other side.
Alternatively you could consider a soundbar. This will also add a center speaker so you want have to change the volume all the time to hear a conversation in a movie...
posted by Mac-Expert at 2:33 PM on May 22, 2015
This is just my perspective, but to me 11 pounds to be able to use a good hifi system seems like a no-brainer. I bet having it available will make it far more likely that you'll get back into listening to music.
posted by General Malaise at 2:44 PM on May 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by General Malaise at 2:44 PM on May 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
slightly different from your listed option, you could buy a mini amplifier like this and connect it to the audio outputs of your TV, then wire the speakers normally. That way the amp can stay near the TV / power source, and the speakers can still be placed wherever you want. I used some old bookshelf speakers with one of these attached to an Airport Express, rather than computer-style powered speakers.
posted by TDIpod at 3:42 PM on May 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by TDIpod at 3:42 PM on May 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Do you watch movies? Even if you don't know whether you'll be listening to music by itself, if you watch movies -- or even just grandly produced TV dramas with good sound design or musical underscore -- having well-amplified sound makes them a lot more fun imo; adds to what media appliance people call an 'immersive experience'.
Although simplicity is a great guiding principle, it's also very true what you hypothesize about indifferent sound causing apathy. You may indeed have forgotten what you are missing! In any case, having a nice sound system definitely does often lead to listening to more music, and you write as if that would be a welcome result.
(So I'd say go for the DAC, for the price of a small pizza. Worst case scenario you discover nicer sound doesn't thrill you enough and then sell the set-up.)
posted by bertran at 5:57 PM on May 22, 2015
Although simplicity is a great guiding principle, it's also very true what you hypothesize about indifferent sound causing apathy. You may indeed have forgotten what you are missing! In any case, having a nice sound system definitely does often lead to listening to more music, and you write as if that would be a welcome result.
(So I'd say go for the DAC, for the price of a small pizza. Worst case scenario you discover nicer sound doesn't thrill you enough and then sell the set-up.)
posted by bertran at 5:57 PM on May 22, 2015
Best answer: The DAC seems trivially inexpensive. I know that's what I'd do. A soundbar or new amp are all going to be more expensive, which doesn't make sense given how much you use the hifi.
But you also said that you previously liked listening to it, and would like to perhaps use it more, and are bummed at how little use it gets. So why not get the DAC and see if you still use it? If not, well you're not out much and you can give away the DAC with the rest of the system to its next owner.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:25 PM on May 22, 2015
But you also said that you previously liked listening to it, and would like to perhaps use it more, and are bummed at how little use it gets. So why not get the DAC and see if you still use it? If not, well you're not out much and you can give away the DAC with the rest of the system to its next owner.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:25 PM on May 22, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks everyone, that really helped me make up my mind. I also established that it won't disable the TV's speakers, which was a worry.
posted by snarfois at 1:40 AM on May 23, 2015
posted by snarfois at 1:40 AM on May 23, 2015
Having a kid means that life is busier, but please do make an effort to introduce your child to good music, by which I mean nay music you love. I still love the big band music my parents played. Music builds thinking power, and I suspect you'd really enjoy having it back in your life. Whatever music system you have will be best if it's simple and easy to use.
posted by theora55 at 6:33 AM on May 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 6:33 AM on May 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
Does the TV really not have RCA in/out? Those are the ones that are Red/White/Yellow, like on the back of a VCR. The red and white are right and left audio and the yellow is video. You can just get a y-cord that plugs into R/W and has either 1/8" or 1/4" plugs (ie little or big headphone plugs) on the other. (Sorry to mansplain if u already knew this. :/)
posted by sexyrobot at 10:08 AM on May 23, 2015
posted by sexyrobot at 10:08 AM on May 23, 2015
Response by poster: sexyrobot: It has, although they're marked as component / AV IN: image My assumption was I can't use them as outputs. I'm not an expert though.
posted by snarfois at 4:00 PM on May 23, 2015
posted by snarfois at 4:00 PM on May 23, 2015
Is there a headphone-style jack on the tv for audio out? That's what I use on my tv to go to my old CD/tape player. It sounds much better than the built-in tv speakers.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 9:29 PM on May 23, 2015
posted by ArgentCorvid at 9:29 PM on May 23, 2015
Oh yeah...try the headphone jack...if there is one...a lot of TVs these days don't have them...an unfortunate side effect of them getting bigger than tube sets.
posted by sexyrobot at 11:28 AM on May 25, 2015
posted by sexyrobot at 11:28 AM on May 25, 2015
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posted by J. Wilson at 2:31 PM on May 22, 2015 [2 favorites]