Crutchfield: The Podcast Ep. 54

Eric

I'll give you the answer right now. You ready?

JR

I'm ready. It depends. Gosh, darn it again every single episode Hello and welcome to Crutchfield the podcast I am JR training manager here at Crutchfield joined in studio by my co-host Eric Howdy, Eric.

What I say, I'm training manager, right? That's usually how I introduce myself. How do you like what's your title?

What do you do? Hey, you're asking me my title. Yeah, you're gonna make me.

Thank you.

Eric

Yeah, what do you do the spot? I Talk to the people. I'm a people person.

Oh, wait. No, I probably shouldn't say that I'm envisioning this actually being part of the show. I know well, you can decide whether or not we're leaving that in Um, I am the I am a corporate development Coordinator or CDC you are Crutchfield's CDC.

Yeah. Yeah, that's right Corporate development coordinator. Yes, that's right What does that mean that I think it it not not a lot which is perfect.

I This is the perfect job for you yeah, it really is because it basically gives me the the ability to kind of talk to different departments and different roles and advise on things and help contribute to training and you know It just it it gives me a lot of rope to go out there and a long leash so to speak to go out and and have lots of conversations all with the idea of Helping us move forward in the you know, most efficient and best way possible You have one of those jobs where people are like what what exactly does he do?

JR

I see him in meetings But what's what's he doing?

Eric

He's always out here.

JR

Just talking to people Yeah, if whereas in this in the the actual reality of it is if they knew what you did, yeah, they would be Jealous of your job. Yeah, it is a pretty cool job for sure. Yeah, don't tell my boss I said that though part of your job is to be on this podcast with me and I appreciate that Yeah, no, that's one of the things I get to do Absolutely, should we tell the people what we're talking about this?

Eric

I would hope so I wasn't prepared to answer those questions So this is episode two in our series.

JR

It's a four episode series called how to get your TV to sound awesome Yeah, and there's so many different ways to do that in our previous episode We talked about sound bars the one of the most popular ways to get your TV to sound awesome We've got some upcoming episodes where we're going to talk about home theater full-on surround sound systems as well as Headphones for those that might want some private listening or to help those that might be losing their hearing things like that in today's episode We're gonna talk about a way of making your TV sound awesome.

That might not be Like the most popular it's not what everybody wants But there is definitely a segment of you out there that are music first with your sound system, right? Right, maybe you have a record player. Maybe a CD player.

Maybe some really old-school technology that audio, right? You're into music and you when you when you have a music sound system Typically, that means you have a left speaker and a right speaker. Yeah, that's how music's typically recorded, right?

The whole thing is called to channel right or stereo stereo. Yeah, it's not called surround sound And if you're a music first person You you don't want a center channel and surround speakers and ceiling mounted at most speakers I think that's not what you're going for, right? And a sound bar won't quite do what you want either because now you're trying to compress stereo down into one thing near your TV So that's I'm do a better job than others, but that's probably not not the your first choice No you want a left channel speaker a right channel speaker your audio source is connected to that and Wouldn't it be cool if a system like that could also be?

The thing that makes your TV sound awesome because you probably still watch some TV, right? Even though you're more of a music lover You still watch TV shows heck you might watch music documentaries and shouldn't those sound great, too. Yes, they should JR. Yes, they should So yeah today's episode we're gonna talk about how to get a stereo system a left and right two channel audio system Connected to your TV to make your TV sound awesome in addition to all of your music So there's several ways to do this and you might be wondering well How can I get a simple pair of speakers connected to a TV?

And if you don't have a system like that already and you're thinking this sounds like the type of system I want you might need to consider which speakers to get How are you going to power those speakers? Do you need a separate component like a receiver or an integrated amp? or can you just do it with just a pair of speakers and Clearly you've got questions.

I think we've got the answers. Yeah, so let's get into it. I'll give you the answer right now You ready?

I'm ready. It depends gosh darn it again Every single episode. All right First we're gonna deal with powered speakers because this has become a very popular style of speaker in which case you get a Left channel speaker a right channel speaker and all of the amplification needed to power them built into the speakers Eliminating the need for a dedicated component to power and control your speakers Typically that's done with a stereo receiver or an integrated amp, right? It's a black box big volume knobs speaker selectors source selectors It's where you plug in your record player and your CD player and whatever else, right?

And you don't need that anymore You can just use a set of powered speakers and there's some really nice Sounding powered speakers when powered speakers first became a thing. They were like computer speakers. Yeah, that's what I would think of Like the little ones that would come with your gateway computer.

Yeah, like the cow print. Oh, yeah, exactly Though powered speakers have grown a lot since then. Well, not just physically but that too Well, yeah there they can be very much but you can get them all the way up into floor-standing Powered speakers.

Most of them are still bookshelf sized

Eric

Yeah

JR

and some of them are still small enough to just be thought of as computer speakers and there's a there's a whole wide range of

Eric

Powered speakers to choose from yeah, and and I think you know kind of give you a little bit of the history here It a good amplifier used to take up a lot of space and these days with the development of smaller amplifiers That are more efficient, you know, that's how sound bars work as well, right?

they've got a decent amplifier in them, but they the amp doesn't take up a lot of range or a lot of space and you know now we can use those in our What would be looking like a traditional pair of bookshelf speakers or or like you mentioned before floor-standing speakers so that amplifiers built into these and

JR

So these are becoming popular not not even thinking of them yet as a TV solution sound solution but just as a simplified two-channel system, right like you can legitimately get a Turntable and a pair of speakers.

They probably come with the cables to connect them You might need some additional maybe and that's it. Like that's your entire sound system, right? And the so you can obviously play your vinyl the speakers probably have a way to connect to your network or maybe they have Bluetooth So there's other ways to get you know More convenient digital version of music into those same powered speakers and you've got a pretty baller Two-channel audio system without it being complex Without having an ugly black box of amplification

Eric

yeah, they'll have something like Bluetooth at least and usually have something like airplay and Yeah, and and all kinds of form factors

JR

So so if you want to do that and have them be your TV sound solution the thing to look for is a set of powered speakers that have an HDMI connection with ARC or audio return channel We talked a lot about audio return channel and that HDMI connection in the last episode with sound bars And you know what? We're just leveraging the exact same technology Except except instead of a sound bar.

We're using a pair of speakers So on the back of one of them will be an HDMI connection You connect that to the HDMI ARC connection on your TV and you're done Like that's all you need to do to get the TV into the speakers And then you have some separate connections for your audio gear, right? But the HDMI with ARC is what you need to make it sound great for your TV. There are other ways to get your Stereo speakers connected to your TV Most of them have optical or coaxial digital connections.

Most TVs have an optical digital output Yeah, nowhere near as good as HDMI go HDMI if you can Many of these stereo speakers have RCA inputs for analog audio sources like record players Most have Bluetooth most many have Wi-Fi and airplay. They even a lot of them have USB input So if you have a USB memory stick with a bunch of songs on it, you know, you can just stick that in This is pretty normal for stereo powered speakers And so you just want to make sure to get a pair that has the inputs that make it possible for you to connect Yeah, everything you want to connect the TV audio gear

Eric

I think I'll just add you know, we mentioned that HDMI is the best way and keep in mind You know, not only is it the the best bandwidth or the most information for audio, but also gives you that ability To use that CEC feature of HDMI so that you know your volume it is controlled seamlessly So just kind of the the way you're going to use it, you know I always think about control when thinking about adding audio Or better audio to a TV no different here.

That's why HDMI is definitely the preferred way There's ways to work the other other connections. Of course, there is but certainly Using CEC via HDMI is the the most seamless

JR

Yeah, so for just the TV, right you can use just the TV remote You don't need the remote that probably comes with your new powered speakers when you're watching TV You'll use the remote to control it when you're playing your other audio sources, but for the TV super seamless It's pretty awesome as I mentioned earlier most of these powered speakers are Bookshelf or maybe made to go on a stand on the left and right side of your TV There's a few floor standing options My point here is you've got a lot of form factors to choose from you should be able to get the right size and the right aesthetic to look good in your room and And and most of them even have a subwoofer output So if you're going with some smaller speakers You can throw a subwoofer off in the corner where it's kind of out of sight out of mind and just let it Support the low end of whether it's your music or your TV, but that's an option with most powered speakers Having a subwoofer output. So really you really can build a pretty awesome two-channel maybe even a 2.1 channel To system to do your music and your TV Do you want to talk about setup because I think that you know if we're talking stereo I just mentioned that you you probably are gonna put these speakers on the left and the right side of your TV But if you're a music first person, you might not do that Right.

Eric

Yeah, so so traditional setup of like a stereo system just for you know for playing vinyl or something, right? You're gonna want to make that equal angular triangle where you know You the left speaker and the right speaker are the same distance from one another as you are from them You know, so so that's kind of ideal a typical stereo placement of speakers But yeah, that's not always the option an option when it comes to you know, adding a TV to this scenario But if you can do it that way Yeah, I have that TV right in the middle now You know that stereo imaging is going to result in all the dialogue coming from smack-dab in the middle of the TV Which is phenomenal to get full range sound, you know much better sound experience from from a pair of bookshelf or tower speakers You can end up with or even in wall speakers, you know, there's another form factor there

JR

The sound can be really good, you know, if you are a music first person you might have a Place elsewhere in your room where you're planning to put your audio gear your turntable CD player, etc And you might want your speakers there, right?

Because that's where you go to listen to the music And then your TV is over on the other wall. Mm-hmm. Is there any reason you can't do this?

I mean if you have a long enough HDMI cable those those two powered speakers could still be your TV solution It's just gonna be weird when you're watching TV to have all the TV sound coming at you from the right side or the left side Or behind you So you it'd be smart To orient your audio system in conjunction with your TV. Absolutely. That'd be a good idea Yep, you might already have a standalone two-channel system and I'm thinking here of like, you know You're your typical stereo like a home stereo where you've got Components CD player tape deck, you know stereo receiver like stuff like that.

Yeah powering a pair of Speakers and and you like it. You've been using it for years You don't want to stop and you also want your TV to sound better and wouldn't it be nice if the if that system could be The thing that makes your TV sound better because you don't want surround sound you don't need it You don't want a sound bar. You want to just use your existing stereo make your TV sound great Can that be done?

Yeah, absolutely There's a couple ways to skin this cat if if you have a newer Stereo receiver or if you're in the market for a stereo receiver Look for one that has an HDMI connection because that is now a thing on a select few Stereo receivers and if it has the HDMI with audio return channel Boom your connection to your TV is the easiest it can be we've already talked plenty about how that works It would work the same here So most TVs have an optical digital output and if you if you have a stereo receiver Even some older ones would have an optical digital input originally designed for hooking up a digital music source like a CD player There's no reason though You can't use that for your TV and that would allow you to get high quality digital audio from your TV into your existing stereo receiver Let it power those speakers.

That's where your volume control is done And so that's just an easy simple one cable solution to get your TV audio piped into your existing system If you don't have an optical digital input You're gonna want to check to see if your TV has an analog audio output and in modern TVs That typically looks like a headphone jack a little 3.5 millimeter mini jack And you would just need like a mini to RCA cable Yeah to go from there to your TV. Yeah, and that would be a simple connection as well However, those connections are fading away.

Eric

Yeah, these don't have that anymore Yeah, and there are adapters out there to come from optical and turn it into Just RCA so, you know if you have the kind of the bridge right now today all TVs are pretty much have HDMI as the audio out fewer and fewer even having the optical and very few have analog Mini jack or RCA outs. So, you know, you're definitely going to want to just take a look at your TV Understand that, you know, we're gonna have to get that that that signal out and it's either gonna be digital or analog But we got to get that signal into the receiver and there are ways to do it

JR

As long as your TV has some kind of audio output we can make this work Yeah with the right combination of either adapters or cables or gear. Yep So yeah, it can definitely be done if you're not sure how your system might integrate with your TV This is always done on a case-by-case basis, right?

It's the specific model of TV you have the specific gear you want to connect to it if you call us with that information Yeah, we can help you figure it out. Yep. Absolutely go to crutchfield.com call the number at the top. We got you There you go. One last way of doing this and some audio purists might scoff at this solution But it's a real solution. I love those audio purists though.

Yeah What if you just used a home theater receiver Hmm a home theater receiver has like all the connections you could possibly need You can make sure it's had all the connections for whatever sources for TV You've got video sources like blu-ray players and gaming consoles and such Yeah, most of them have enough audio inputs for your audio gear, right? Phono inputs are a thing on home theater receivers, right all of them, but most of them have something like that.

Eric

Yep

JR

CD players tape deck you can hook any audio gear to most home theater receivers, so There's nothing there's no rule that says you have to plug in a bunch of speakers

Eric

No, you just you would need to inform the receiver at that point that you're only using two of the speakers And you can do that within the setup and then it'll take the surround sound information It would be normally be trying to process and it'll keep it in stereo and just play it over your two speakers So you can absolutely do that. I love that solution for folks that might expand into You know surround sound down the road because I mean keep in mind you are paying for processing and those extra channels of power And you're not necessarily using all those but if down the road you might take advantage of those then it's a great solution It does give you some room to grow.

JR

Yeah, right some room to expand maybe yeah adding a center channel Adding some back speakers would be very easy at that point So if you're thinking that that is even remotely in your possibly in your future Do that like this is a pretty solid way to do it because it's got all the video Processing it makes all of the video and TV connections just work because that's what it does Yeah, and there's no and it can also do a great job of just powering a nice pair of speakers They have enough power for bookshelf floor standing in wall Whatever kind of speakers you want the sky's the limit really with a home theater receiver. Yeah, absolutely They'll you can also use them to calibrate the system to your room and I Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that even works if you're just using two speakers.

Eric

Yeah mature does yeah So there's room calibration on just about every surround sound receiver that we carry and that room calibration does affect You get the benefits even if you're just doing it in stereo from that

JR

So if you're not sure how that works you get a mic it comes with a microphone You put that Approximately where your head would be when seated in your seating position for when you're watching TV listening to music and it measures the sound Out of your two speakers or if you've gotten more speakers than that all of your speakers and it calibrates it So it sounds as good as it could possibly sound in your listening position That's the point of room calibration and home theater receivers have it.

Most stereo receivers do not that's correct so Eric, I think that's pretty much most of the ways you can get a Simple pair of speakers to be the thing that makes your TV sound awesome. Yeah powered speakers You can go with a stereo receiver You if maybe your existing system can be utilized maybe use a home theater receiver. There's plenty of options And if you need help picking them out give us a ring we can certainly help you do that Before we go though you have a system like this in your house, right?

Eric

Yeah, it's It's not your main system, right, right, right You have a home theater like a full-on like you'll be at most way too many speakers type of home theater system Yeah, so in my basement, I've got a traditional two-channel setup originally, it's set of the system kind of trying to do like a retro build of a good old stereo system and Yeah, so what happened was? Kovat it and in my house We had a situation where you know, we needed to kind of quarantine from each other So, you know this traditional two-channel system ended up I I took a TV from another area added it to it And so it's not such the the traditional audio system any longer, but I don't know. I haven't moved it back I love having that TV there and from time to time We'll use it for games or something like that and it's it's a it's pretty good sounding system So, how did you end up doing it?

JR

Like describe what method of connection? How do you get your TV to your yeah to your two-channel systems?

Eric

Yeah, so it is via that optical connection It's an integrated amplifier that does not have an HDMI input and that setup and I've got a pair of bookshelf Speed or not. I'm sorry, not even bookshelf speakers or tower speakers some yamo tower speakers and And and of course a subwoofer behind it all 2.1 channel system and you know, typically in that area I'll have background music playing often. It kind of is adjacent from my workspace So if I'm working from home, you know to have some background music is pretty nice and yeah, it's When we use it for TV, this sounds great, you know I've got those speakers just set up right at the same height as the as the TV itself so I mean I I can't even imagine watching TV in that space without Having those speakers there it is such a vast improvement over TV speakers and Yeah, it's it's nice little setup easy to use you know that it does have separate volume because it's kind of an old-school setup and I haven't gone through and Any it's just it's just optical into the receiver So I I actually run it with two remote controls kind of old-school and I yes I know there's ways around that but for that setup it serves a purpose and been really happy with it

JR

Yeah, so this is an example of taking some Existing home audio gear and integrating it with your TV And there's trade-offs, right?

Yeah, if you don't have the HDMI, you might have to have two remotes like things like that Right. The end result though is your TV sounds awesome in the basement sure does and you didn't need to install Seven nine twelve thirteen speakers. That's next week It is it is in our next episode.

We will be talking about full-on surround sound home theater We might have so much to say about that. We might even need to break it up into two episodes I don't know at most we'll fire. Oh, that was well played, sir So yeah, so that's coming up in our next episode is making your TV sound the most awesome It can sound with a full-on home theater system the next episode after that.

We're gonna get into headphones So if you have somebody in your life that might need headphones as a TV sound solution, we got your back And and so yeah, thanks for listening to episode 2 in our series of how to make a TV sound awesome We'll be back with more solutions in our next episode. See ya