Speaker Recommendations...thanks!

[itzhobbes]

Hey guys, my gf recently ordered me a Panasonic TC-L32X1. The specifications show it has a Digital Audio Out via HDMI. This TV is 32in's and will be in my room. I'm not looking to set up 5.1 surround sound speakers for my room so I was wondering if anyone could make any recommendations for PC speakers that I could hook up to this TV. I wasn't aware that you could hook up speakers with an HDMI cable so that's where my confusion stems from. I will have my PS3 and HD cable box connected to the TV through HDMI cables. Any and all help is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[BassBomb]

My reccomendation would be to not use PC speakers

Get a "2.1" setup, find a reciever refurb or on craiglist

Me personally, I wanted to make the jump out of pc speakers and I bought a 2.1 setup using an old reciever that was in my basement

Far better than a z5500 or z2300 system

 

[itzhobbes]

Well currently I don't really have too much money to spend on speakers. I do have the Logitech Z-640 which I could use to connect from my PS3 with an optical cable but I want to use the speakers for whatever is coming out of the TV and not just the PS3.

Edit: If I were to actually get the Z2300, how would I connect it to the TV? As stated in my OP, the TV has Digital Audio Out via HDMI. Are the Z2300 connected via HDMI cables? Also I'm not really an Audiophile so I just want something better then what the TV speakers can do. Thanks again.

 

[BassBomb]

Originally posted by: itzhobbes
Well currently I don't really have too much money to spend on speakers. I do have the Logitech Z-640 which I could use to connect from my PS3 with an optical cable but I want to use the speakers for whatever is coming out of the TV and not just the PS3.

Edit: If I were to actually get the Z2300, how would I connect it to the TV? As stated in my OP, the TV has Digital Audio Out via HDMI. Are the Z2300 connected via HDMI cables? Also I'm not really an Audiophile so I just want something better then what the TV speakers can do. Thanks again.

I think the Z2300 can do it via optical (unless its only in the Z5500).

Can't you have your PS3 output sound to the tv, and let the tv then pass it through to the Z640?

I wouldn't bother buying any set of PC speakers because they won't be much better than what you currently have

 

[itzhobbes]

If I do what you said, does that mean when I watch TV programming that the sound will come out through the speakers? Also, I currently have the Z640 hooked up to my computer so I'd rather not use those. I really don't mind hooking up the Z2300 to the TV to pass the sound of both PS3 and TV programming. My main concern is that the TV has Digital Audio Out via HDMI. Where do I look to find out if the Z2300 uses HDMI wires?

 

[BassBomb]

Originally posted by: itzhobbes
If I do what you said, does that mean when I watch TV programming that the sound will come out through the speakers? Also, I currently have the Z640 hooked up to my computer so I'd rather not use those. I really don't mind hooking up the Z2300 to the TV to pass the sound of both PS3 and TV programming. My main concern is that the TV has Digital Audio Out via HDMI. Where do I look to find out if the Z2300 uses HDMI wires?

ohhhhh

I thought you said it had Optical out + HDMI....

There isn't much you can do then unless you have a reciever, or unless you can output via stereo (from the tv)

 

[itzhobbes]

Back of the TV

So that's a picture of the back of the TV. The Digital Audio Out doesn't seem like it's an HDMI port. It actually looks like an optical out...I think, lol. I believe the Z2300 comes with a game adapter to hook up to a PS3 which uses optical out so then does that mean I could connect the Z2300 directly to the tv?

 

[BassBomb]

Originally posted by: itzhobbes
Back of the TV

So that's a picture of the back of the TV. The Digital Audio Out doesn't seem like it's an HDMI port. It actually looks like an optical out...I think, lol. I believe the Z2300 comes with a game adapter to hook up to a PS3 which uses optical out so then does that mean I could connect the Z2300 directly to the tv?

game adaptor is stereo afaik

 

[jtvang125]

It's an optical output. I don't know if that tv will pass the audio from hdmi to that output so check your manual. I have the G10 and it also has an optical out but I don't know if it can do pass through either and since I have a receiver that has hdmi I never bothered trying.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Wow, BassBomb, just stop

I sent a PM earlier in reply to your question, itzhobbes:

"What sources are you using with it?

Internal tuner?
Hooked up to a cable box?
DVD player?
Something else?

The vast majority of computer speakers only allow for analog audio connections. Looks like that tv lacks analog audio output, so you may have very limited options.

What's your budget for this?"

I want to say a few things before you get ahead of yourself.

Your z-640s have analog inputs only. There is no way to hook up to your TV with those without buying something expensive to put between the TV and the speakers.

The z-2300s do not have a digital input.

I believe the only surround sound sets that could do a connection to your TV (and PS3) and get surround sound are the z-5500s and the crappier z-5450s.

itzhobbes, it's often the case that the digital audio output on your TV will only send audio out from the internal tuner.

My first reaction is that one of the cheapest ways to get this going is to get the z-5500 set (and possibly an adapter or two depending on all the sources you want to hook up).

If you have the budget for it, a medium range HTIB setup from Onkyo or another decent option will allow you to connect your sources easily and effectively.

 

[itzhobbes]

Hey guys, I want to first start off by saying thank you for all your input. As for what inputs, I'll be connecting my PS3 and the HD Cable Box via HDMI cables to the TV. That's it. Surround sound isn't really important to me. I was just thinking something other then the TV's speaker would be better. With that being said, any other suggestions?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: itzhobbes
Hey guys, I want to first start off by saying thank you for all your input. As for what inputs, I'll be connecting my PS3 and the HD Cable Box via HDMI cables to the TV. That's it. Surround sound isn't really important to me. I was just thinking something other then the TV's speaker would be better. With that being said, any other suggestions?

If the PS3 and the HD Cable Box can both output stereo analog audio while doing HDMI video output, then you can hook up pretty much anything you want.

I don't remember if the PS3 allows this or not. I would certainly hope so.

If you are not going to be using the TV's tuner, you don't have to worry about connecting to the TV's optical output.

If you want the cheapest way to do this, you can use the z-640's game adapter to do "stereo surround" with your existing z-640 set. You can continue to use those speakers for everything if they are adequate for you.

This would require physically connecting / disconnecting cables when you want to watch one source or another.

When you said you wanted to have speakers play more than one source at once, which sources did you mean?

You may be able to run the analog audio output of the PS3 and the Cable box to a simple stereo audio selector and then run that output to the line-in on your computer (assuming it has one open).

We can make suggestions on products that would work for what you're proposing, but assuming you can get analog audio output working from both of these sources, anything from $10 computer speakers on up should be able to work. If you have a budget in mind, we can give you some good bang for the buck options.

 

[BassBomb]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

I don't remember if the PS3 allows this or not. I would certainly hope so.

It does, if you have the breakout cable hooked along with the HDMI

 

[itzhobbes]

I'm sorry for the confusion that I have caused. When I said I wanted the speakers to play more then once source, I didn't mean for it to play it at once. I want the speaker to play either the sound coming from the PS3 when its in use or the TV when I'm watching shows or sport's games. The TV has 3 HDMI ports so I'll connect the PS3 to one and the HD Cable box to another one.

I'm completely new to this so I apologize in advance for any mistakes on my part. I just want some speakers(PC I guess) with the max budget being $150 that I can hook up to my TV so when the PS3 is in use it plays the sounds from that or when the TV is in use it will play the sounds from that. Thank you!

Edit: The Z2300 comes with a "game adaptor" which can be used to hook up to your PS3. Now the PS3 has optical out and it seems the TV also has optical out. If I were to get the Z2300, could I use this game adaptor to hook up to the TV's digital audio out as it seems that port is an optical port?

Also to my limited understanding, I thought if I hook up my PS3 and Cable Box via HDMI cables to the TV, then whatever is being played on the TV should be outputted through the Digital Audio Out port? Is that the correct assumption or the wrong one?

 

[BassBomb]

The game adaptor is stereo like I said.

Basically just have the standard breakout PS3 connector hooked up (set the audio in the PS3 to output via that, and have the video remain on HDMI)

Then you hook the red/white rca's into the game adaptor


To hook your cable box (when you want to watch tv), have a set of RCA's going from the cable box to the gaming adaptor

 

[itzhobbes]

Alright, I reread over the whole thread multiple times to finally understand what everyone was saying. Sorry, I'm not really good with audio stuff but thank you all for your help. So it seems I am limited in my options.

My initial thought was that after connecting both PS3 and the cable box to the TV, I would be able to connect the speakers to the TV to output the sound. But what I'm now understanding is that since I'm choosing PC speakers, that unless it has a digital input, it will not be able to play the sounds. Is that correct?

Also, I just realized that I have the Logitech z-680 set(not the z640 like I had stated) which has an optical port in it. Does this mean that I can connect the TV via optical cable to the speaker's control dock which has the optical port to play sounds?

Sorry for all the confusion. But if I am able to connect the TV vai Digital Audio Output to the Control dock for the Z-680, I might just do that and get some plain old speaker for my computer.

 

[BassBomb]

Originally posted by: itzhobbes
Alright, I reread over the whole thread multiple times to finally understand what everyone was saying. Sorry, I'm not really good with audio stuff but thank you all for your help. So it seems I am limited in my options.

My initial thought was that after connecting both PS3 and the cable box to the TV, I would be able to connect the speakers to the TV to output the sound. But what I'm now understanding is that since I'm choosing PC speakers, that unless it has a digital input, it will not be able to play the sounds. Is that correct?

Also, I just realized that I have the Logitech z-680 set(not the z640 like I had stated) which has an optical port in it. Does this mean that I can connect the TV via optical cable to the speaker's control dock which has the optical port to play sounds?

Sorry for all the confusion. But if I am able to connect the TV vai Digital Audio Output to the Control dock for the Z-680, I might just do that and get some plain old speaker for my computer.

Yes you can hook up your tv's optical out directly to your z-680, assuming that the audio is then passed through (from PS3/cablebox) to the tv.

I would test it out before I go buy another set of speakers, since there is no harm in doing that!

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Yes, just use the 680 set.

If your TV passes digital audio out of the optical output from sources other than the internal tuner, then you should be in great shape.
(You'll have to check your manual or do some testing).

If your TV does not pass digital audio from HDMI to the optical output, then you can connect the sources directly to the z-680 control pod.
Does the HD Cable box have a digital coaxial output?
If so, you can have the Computer on Analog, the PS3 on optical, and the Cable Box on digital coaxial. Everything should work just fine.

If the PS3 and HD Cable both only have optical output (and the TV doesn't route digital audio from all inputs to its optical output), then you can either physically connect the optical cable to the PS3 or HD Cable box when you use each one (since there's only one optical connection on the z-680s).... or you can get a cheap adapter that changes optical to digital coaxial and then you can leave everything connected as is.

I don't know if that made sense or not. Having the 680s makes this a lot easier since it can accept digital signals.

 

[itzhobbes]

Bassbomb and YOyoYOhowsDAjello, I want to thank you for all your assistance. My final question is whether there is any difference in optical cables that I can purchase? I know Sony sell's their own optical cable for the PS3 which seems considerably cheaper then the one''s that Bestbuy is offering. Will this optical cable work in connecting my TV to the Z680? Or are there special cables I requrie? Any suggestions on which optical cable might be worth it? Thanks again.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Monoprice has good cables for cheap.
http://www.monoprice.com/produ...p?c_id=102&cp_id=10229

The non-premium versions will work just fine. You want one that's Toslink on both ends (Not one of the Toslink to Mini Plug ones for example).