How to Connect TV to a Surround Sound System

You can incorporate your TV into your surround sound system.

You've gotten a taste of surround sound from your DVD home theater system and now you want to get your television in on the action. You'd love to see and hear all your favorite sports games and television action shows in surround. Assuming that you have the right equipment, integrating your television into a surround setup is quite easy.

Things You'll Need

• Home theater receiver
• Surround speakers
• Digital audio cable

Instructions

1. Determine the type of cable that you need. In order to properly transmit a multi-channel surround signal, you'll need a digital connection. Digital connections can be either coaxial or optical. Check the audio outputs on your television or cable box and the inputs on your home theater receiver. Some receivers have a specific input for "TV" while others may require you to use another input like "Aux."

2. Purchase the appropriate cable. Coaxial cable is slightly less expensive than optical, but either can be purchased for $15 to $30.

3. Connect your television's output to the receiver's input via the appropriate cable.

4. Switch the receiver to the appropriate input selection (i.e. "TV"), turn on the television and you will be able to get surround sound for your television programs.

5. Use analog cables to connect a TV or cable box to receiver. If your television or receiver does not have digital connections or the digital connections are not the same, you can use RCA wires connected from your TV or cable box's outputs to the receiver's inputs. However, analog cables will not transmit surround sound formats such as Dolby 5.1, so you will not be getting true surround sound and will need to rely on the program modes of your receiver to simulate surround and route to all individual speakers.

Tips & Warnings

• Note that most television programming is not available in surround sound format, but rather two-channel stereo. Check with your television provider to see what is available in surround.

• Be sure that your receiver is set to the appropriate program mode to process the surround sound format being broadcast (i.e. Dolby or dts).

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish