# Complete noob: speaker question



## darthsmozers (Dec 31, 2011)

Hi,
I am very old school with my entertainment set up: a tv from 17 years ago (bulky but works fine!), two cheap switches so i can switch between vcr, dvd, wii, n64, old nintendos, efc, and an old stereo consisting of the main unit (cd, aux, radio, tape deck) and two speakers. The two speakers plug directly into the back of the stereo unit via exposed wires(see picture of me holding said wires) whereas the back of the stereo can hook up to the tv or the switches via rca cables. If i wanted to bypass the stereo unit and hook the speakers directly to the switch audio out, is there a simple adapter to go from the wires to rca cables without using the stereo system in between? 
Thanks very much.


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## Ironlight (Apr 13, 2011)

Probably not. The tv/switch audio out is likely unamplified, meaning that it is a "pre-out". It goes into the stereo receiver, where it is amplified and then output to the speakers. That is precisely why they don't use the same plugs for both applications...


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## operagost (Jan 8, 2010)

Why do you want to bypass the stereo? If it's so you can get the switchbox to work properly, you really just need to rewire a little bit. Obviously, if you TV has its own amp, you can just hook the speakers up to the TV directly. It probably doesn't unless it has spring terminals or posts like the ones in your picture.

The switchbox I used to use for our old-school TV is a Philips unit that takes input via Svideo/composite video and RCA audio jacks. The output is through SVideo/composite and RCA audio as well. The TV is an old but excellent Proscan unit, so it has video input jacks and both input and output audio jacks. The video signal chain for one device (say, my NES) was [NES] -> [Switchbox] -> [TV] -> [amplifier]. So for this to work, your TV needs to have line-level audio output through RCA jacks. If you don't have RCA jacks on the audio output, you probably still have a stereo headphone jack. You can easily get an adapter to change that headphone jack into left and right audio RCA jacks, which you can plug right into the AUX input of your stereo. This has the plus of automatically disabling the internal TV speakers for you.


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## darthsmozers (Dec 31, 2011)

operagost said:


> Why do you want to bypass the stereo? If it's so you can get the switchbox to work properly, you really just need to rewire a little bit. Obviously, if you TV has its own amp, you can just hook the speakers up to the TV directly. It probably doesn't unless it has spring terminals or posts like the ones in your picture.
> 
> The switchbox I used to use for our old-school TV is a Philips unit that takes input via Svideo/composite video and RCA audio jacks. The output is through SVideo/composite and RCA audio as well. The TV is an old but excellent Proscan unit, so it has video input jacks and both input and output audio jacks. The video signal chain for one device (say, my NES) was [NES] -> [Switchbox] -> [TV] -> [amplifier]. So for this to work, your TV needs to have line-level audio output through RCA jacks. If you don't have RCA jacks on the audio output, you probably still have a stereo headphone jack. You can easily get an adapter to change that headphone jack into left and right audio RCA jacks, which you can plug right into the AUX input of your stereo. This has the plus of automatically disabling the internal TV speakers for you.


Well, we are tight for space in the unit housing the tv. I dont use the old stereo, but i used to have it hooked to the tv so i could use the aux feature to get tv sound out of the stereo speakers. I was just hoping to do something similar while bypassing the stereo so i dont have to find a place to house it.


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

http://www.crutchfield.com/g_344650/Integrated-Amplifiers.html?avf=N&showAll=Y


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## darthsmozers (Dec 31, 2011)

gregzoll said:


> http://www.crutchfield.com/g_344650/Integrated-Amplifiers.html?avf=N&showAll=Y


Hmmmmm ...... Pricey (for me) but interesting. I shall bookmark this. Thank you!!!!


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

darthsmozers said:


> Hmmmmm ...... Pricey (for me) but interesting. I shall bookmark this. Thank you!!!!


Pricey? What do you want, free?


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## darthsmozers (Dec 31, 2011)

gregzoll said:


> Pricey? What do you want, free?


Uncalled for. I said pricey or me....personal finances. Br i appreciated the idea to look into!


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