You have great external speakers that you want to connect to your TV. But, they come with a speaker wire, and you have no idea how to use it. Don’t worry! In this article, we will tell you everything you need to know on how to connect speakers to the TV with a speaker wire!
What is a Speaker Wire?
As its name states, a speaker wire is responsible for connecting speakers to some kind of source. It has a pretty low voltage, and it’s insulated in order to prevent a short circuit. In most cases, you will notice that the wire consists of two cords that are insulated in different colors. Even though they look the same, these wires are responsible for carrying out different polarities: the one for the positive while the other is for the negative. Usually, the insulated wires will have an extra layer of insulation made out of plastic.
The most common types of speaker wires you’ll find on the market are silver wires, copper wires, and copper-clad aluminum wires. There is also an oxygen-free copper wire, but it’s a bit more expensive than the other ones. Moreover, not all speaker wires have the same thickness. They can be from 12 to 18 gauge. The thinner wires are good for high impedance systems and shorter runs. On the other hand, you should opt for a thicker speaker wire in case you need something for longer runs and speaker systems of lower impedance.
Even though they look similar, a speaker wire is not the same as the basic electrical wire. As opposed to the electrical one, the speaker wire only comes in the form of a stranded cord and only carries out low voltage. In addition, the sole purpose of the speaker wire is to connect a speaker to an audio source. On the contrary, electrical wires have many different purposes.
How Can You Connect Speakers to Your TV with a Speaker Wire?
You are in your room, you took your speaker wire, put the protective gloves on, and you’re ready to get your hands dirty. Well, we have to break it to you: you can’t connect your speakers directly to the TV using only a speaker wire. That’s because TVs do not come with terminals and amplifiers that will enable you to listen to your favorite song or watch a movie on the TV through your external speakers.
You might not believe us. You probably know a friend that connected their speakers directly to a TV and you want to do the same. That’s fine! We’ll tell you a few reasons why that worked for your friend, but it’s not possible for you.
The thing is, almost every speaker that can be paired with another device with the help of a speaker wire is passive. A passive speaker does not come with an amplifier inside of it. That means it would need an additional device in order to work. If your speaker came with another type of connection option such as RCA or XLR, there is a huge chance that you will be able to use that kind of jack for connecting it directly to your television. But, that doesn’t always have to be the case. What you can do is check which features your speaker came with by reading the box you got it in.
A lot of speakers come with some kind of instructions. Thus, you should find the manual for your speakers. Read it carefully to check if your device is active or passive. In case you lost your manual, you’ll be happy to know that many manufacturers post the instructions for their gadgets online. So, you will probably be able to find what you are looking for in a few simple clicks. In case we guessed that your speakers are passive and you still want to use the speaker wire to connect them to your TV, you can move on to the next section of our article!
Connecting Your Speakers to the TV Using a Speaker Wire
As we explained earlier in this article, you will need some kind of device which will allow connection to your speakers via the speaker wire. In most cases, that device is either a stereo amplifier or an AV receiver. So, your first task will be finding one of these gadgets and placing it close to your TV. If you don’t have a receiver or an amplifier somewhere in your home, you can find great, affordable options online. We recommend you check out reviews of the products before making a purchase.
Now that you have your device that will help you achieve the connection between your speakers and the TV, you can start the process! Firstly, you should turn off all of the devices you will be working with, just to be safe. Then, you can take the speaker wire, which is already attached to your speaker, and connect it to an amplifier or an AV receiver, depending on which gadget you chose. Your next step should be connecting the receiver or the amplifier to your TV with the cable that device came with.
Lastly, you will need to turn on all of the devices. You should change the settings of your television in order to make sure that the sound goes through the speakers you’ve just installed. Some TVs will send the audio through external speakers automatically when you pair them. In other cases, you will have to go to the settings of your device. There you can change the audio source to external speakers. We recommend you to play something on your TV in order to verify whether you did a good job at connecting your speakers to the TV. That’s it!
Final Thoughts on How to Connect Speakers to the TV with a Speaker Wire
There you have it – everything you need to know to connect your speakers to the TV with a speaker wire. We also incorporated some basic info on speaker wires. That way, you can get to know the product you’ll be working with. That portion of our article can also help you determine whether your wire is thick enough or if it’s made out of the right material to sustain the connection you’re planning on making. In case it isn’t, you can go to the nearest hardware store and get a new one. They are pretty affordable.
We hope that you successfully connected your speakers to the TV, and you can now watch TV through your new external speakers! If you want more from us, we recommend you to check out other articles we prepared for you!
