How to Hook Up a Laptop to a Stereo

Connecting a laptop to a stereo will not only provide richer, louder sound, but also save money by not having to buy separate speakers for your laptop. All laptops have a headphone jack, and this will be the way that you can connect it to the stereo system. Unfortunately, there is no way to add a sound card to laptops to provide surround sound.
In order to connect the laptop via headphone jack to the stereo, you will need to buy a patch cable (see Resources below).

Things You'll Need

• Audio patch cable with two male ends

Instructions

1. Connect one end of the cable into the headphone jack of your laptop.

2. Connect the other end to the microphone "in" jack of your stereo.

3. Turn on the stereo, and change the input to the microphone. Some stereos will have a separate microphone level adjustment that you can use to adjust volume level.

Resources

• Patch cable at Amazon.com