Hooking up stereo question

[Jeff Monson]

I have a 24" vizio tv in my shop, I'd like to get the audio from it to play through my stereo speakers. The tv has lots of inputs (hdmi, rca and component) but no dedicated rca output. Is there something I'm missing here or another adaptor or something that will work? The stereo receiver is just an old pioneer with rca inputs.

[Jerome Hanby]

That's a PIA lack of feature of most TVs, lots of inputs, no outputs. If the TV has a jack for headphones you could build an adapter for that. You would need to attenuate the signal a good bit, basically make it so that moderate volume on the TV would come out at about line level voltage (peak to peak voltage about 1.7 volts). If you don't have an oscilloscope, then there may be some aftermarket product you can use.

How does the TV get it's signal? If it's satellite or cable, then the box may have line outs for audio. If it's over the air, a cheapy TV audio receiver with line outs may be the easiest solution.

[Jeff Monson]

That's a PIA lack of feature of most TVs, lots of inputs, no outputs. If the TV has a jack for headphones you could build an adapter for that. You would need to attenuate the signal a good bit, basically make it so that moderate volume on the TV would come out at about line level voltage (peak to peak voltage about 1.7 volts). If you don't have an oscilloscope, then there may be some aftermarket product you can use.

How does the TV get it's signal? If it's satellite or cable, then the box may have line outs for audio. If it's over the air, a cheapy TV audio receiver with line outs may be the easiest solution.

Jerome, the tv gets its signal via cable, no box though. Also has no headphone jack. Where can I get a "cheapy tv audio receiver" ?

Thanks

[Greg Portland]

You need an external QAM tuner box to decode un-encrypted cableTV feeds. These are often included with ATSC tuner boxes (over the air digital TV). The box should run you <$50 new. Run the video cable from the box into your TV and the audio into your receiver. You'll need to do this if your TV has no audio outputs.

Does the TV have -any- outputs? Depending on the connections there may be a cheaper solution.

[Jeff Monson]

 
Does the TV have -any- outputs? Depending on the connections there may be a cheaper solution

I think they are all outputs, of course they are not labeled whether they are "input" or "output", they are just labeled what the port is "hdmi" "component" etc. I tried hooking up to the rca's but had no luck, assuming they are all inputs. The only other one is labeled "optical" but I have no clue what that is for.

[Eric DeSilva]

If this:

http://www.vizio.com/lcd-hdtvs/vx240m.html

is your TV, you only have one output--optical digital. If your stereo has an optical digital input, you just need an optical cable to connect the two together.

If your stereo is older and has a digital coax input (usually single RCA that is yellow), you can get a converter--I have a CO2 made by M-Audio that that is a bidirectional optical/coax converter, but it was $80. There are probably cheaper options.

If your stereo is even older and has only analog RCA inputs (red and white coax), you'll need to get an digital to analog converter (DAC). Look for something with an SPDIF in and analog coax out. Those can get really spendy for audiophile grade DACs.

[Jeff Monson]

If this:

http://www.vizio.com/lcd-hdtvs/vx240m.html

is your TV, you only have one output--optical digital. If your stereo has an optical digital input, you just need an optical cable to connect the two together.

If your stereo is older and has a digital coax input (usually single RCA that is yellow), you can get a converter--I have a CO2 made by M-Audio that that is a bidirectional optical/coax converter, but it was $80. There are probably cheaper options.

If your stereo is even older and has only analog RCA inputs (red and white coax), you'll need to get an digital to analog converter (DAC). Look for something with an SPDIF in and analog coax out. Those can get really spendy for audiophile grade DACs.

Eric, that is the model I have...but my stereo is older, red and white rca's. So a optical converter is the only way dont really want to dump a bunch of money on a converter that is worth way more than the receiver.

[Eric DeSilva]

Eric, that is the model I have...but my stereo is older, red and white rca's. So a optical converter is the only way dont really want to dump a bunch of money on a converter that is worth way more than the receiver.

Actually, if you have analog red/white inputs, the only way to get audio is to use a digital to analog converter--a "DAC". All the DACs I know of are audiophile grade, and generally pretty spendy. You might look into getting a cable television box from your cable company--I know you don't need it for the signal necessarily, but you will find it probably comes with a better selection of outputs.

[Greg Portland]

As I said earlier, get an external QAM tuner box. This will be cheaper than a DAC. It will likely come with a ATSC tuner as well so you can get over the air HD (depending on where your local towers are located & what antenna you have). Ebay is a good place to look for cheap or used tuners...