How To Use Computer Speakers With TV
The latest brands and designs of TVs in the market will tempt any buyer to buy a new TV without thinking twice! From the slim flat screens to the frameless or curved ones, there’s no better way to enjoy your Saturday Night Football. However, the compact design leaves manufacturers with little space to fit decent speakers, leaving you with low-quality audio that undermines the high-resolution pictures.
The only way to resolve this issue is to enhance the audio quality. One great way to do this is by using computer speakers. So, if you have a pair of computer speakers lying around the house, you are almost there !
This post tells you how to use your computer speakers with your TV to enhance the audio quality.
Hooking Up the Computer Speakers to the TV
All PC speakers come with a 1/8” male jack, which normally plugs into the computer’s 1/8” male jack. There are a couple of ways you can plug the computer speaker’s female jack to your TV, but this will depend on the design of your TV.
Your television may have either of the following:
- A 1/8” audio out or
- Right and left (red and white) audio out
If your TV has the 1/8” audio out, this will be the easiest way for you! This is because you only need to plug the male end of your PC speakers to the female 1/8” audio out. However, if your TV doesn’t come with the 1/8” audio out, the process is slightly more complicated.
A TV without the 1/8” audio out
In case your TV doesn’t have the audio out, you might want to look for something that resembles the red and white out (those found on RCA cables for right and left audio). Now, there are two ways to get your 1/8” computer speaker jack hooked to the right/left audio out, but they are basically the same thing.
The first option, which is also the easier one, is to get yourself a 3.5mm stereo female or two RCA stereo male Y-cable. From here, follow the steps below the get your speakers connected:
Step 1
Hook the 1/8” audio jack from your computer speakers to the female end of the Y-cable.
Step 2
Hook the red/white RCA cable ends to the red/white audio-out on your TV.
That is all it takes to get your computer speakers connected. The advantage of going with this setup is that it allows you to control the volume of the computer speakers using your TV’s remote. However, this is only possible on limited brands of the latest TV models.
You’ll also have to determine what the volume baseline of the speakers is. One way to do this is to set the TV volume in the middle then manually turn the PC speaker volume to preferably a medium sound setting. At this point, the two will be synced, allowing you to adjust the volume of your computer speakers using the TV remote.
The second option of connecting the speakers will apply if you have a Y-cable with a male end as opposed to a female end. This means you’re using a 1/8” male jack instead of the 1/8” hole. Remember to ensure that it matches the 1/8” jack from your computer speakers.
In such a situation, you will need a cup-link to let you turn the male end of your Y-cable into a female end. Use the cup-link between the 1/8” PC speaker jack and Y-cable, and repeat the two steps above to connect your speakers to the TV.
Just as mentioned earlier, this method also allows you to manipulate the volume of your speakers using the remote control (it will, nevertheless, depend on the TV you’re using). From here, you can play something on your TV, whether music or a movie, to test your improved audio quality.
Why Do the Newest TV Models Have Poor Audio Quality?
Lately, this is something that is at the top of the list of complaints for most TV buyers. The thing is, as manufacturers put more emphasis on the compactness/slimness of the TV and features that enable such, the speaker ends up being an afterthought in the overall design.
In essence, there is no way to fit a big speaker in the thin design of current television models, and the smaller the speaker, the lower the sound quality. The latest LCD and LED TV models tend to have speakers that can hardly rival the audio of a cheap laptop.
Another thing is that the speakers are usually positioned on the rear end of the TV, especially with the frameless TV designs. With the speakers facing backwards, it's hard to hear everything coming from the audio when you’re watching a movie or listening to music.
At the end of the day, you have a slim and compact TV with a neat design, high-resolution pictures but the sound is pretty underwhelming. The only remedy for this is to boost the audio with external speakers, whether using soundbars or the computer speakers we’ve been discussing.
Remember to Choose the Correct Computer Speakers
If you’re going to buy new speakers to connect with your TV, make sure you don’t settle for the first cheap computer speakers you come across. While many inexpensive models will do the job, you still have to check whether they’ll be the perfect fit for your requirements.
Additionally, be sure to position the speakers in front and not behind the built-in TV speakers for better sound production. You can opt for 5.1 speakers to enjoy the bass from the sub. This will also let you enjoy the surround sound when watching the latest action flicks!
Conclusion
So, the next time you buy a new TV and feel that the audio is not what you expected, be assured that you can still get the kind of audio quality you had in mind! The above post explains how to connect computer speakers to the TV for those who want to enhance the sound production of their TVs.
About the author:
Barry Allen
I grew up to be a self-proclaimed stuck-up audiophile, and I – partially – blame Pinnacle Speakers for it.
The whole point of me starting this website was to keep the tradition going. Although the means have changed, the mission remains the same: Bringing „sterling sound“ as they once put it into home theaters and sound systems worldwide!