I am about to upgrade from an old TV to HDTV, will happen at Christmas. I have a fairly decent surround sound receiver and speaker system but never use it, too much hassle. The family never liked the loud boom from the sub-woofer and I got tired of speakers with wires scattered around the family room. We gave up gradually and have been used to playing old internal speakers in a standard JVC TV.

The new HDTV reportedly has a good picture but "poor" sound from the internal speakers , I am not sure HOW poor , it maybe no worse than my old JVC. I have given some thought to resurrecting my old sound system but am still not sure about the hassle of running wires and having large speakers in the room. What about simple PC speakers that come with a basic el cheapo sub-woofer, can they be hooked up to a basic sound source like a cable HD box ? I have 2 or 3 such speakers systems lying around unused. While they are certainly not "hi-fi", they are probably better than internal speakers in the TV.

Thoughts ?

Andy

I highly doubt the sound from the new TV will be worse than the sound from the old one. They are both "poor" when compared to a full sound system. It's all relative.

However, yes, you could use a computer sound system if you want. You just need to find the RCA audio outputs on your HD Cable Box. Your PC speakers will either have RCA inputs or an 1/8" input. In the latter case, you would need an RCA->1/8" coverter, available at Best Buy or Radioshack, or your favorite online audio place.

However, this setup won't be able to utilize a remote. You will need to get up to change the volume. Annoying.

If your new TV has RCA audio outputs (it should), you can try this: Plug the RCA audio outputs from the HD Cable Box into the RCA audio inputs on the TV. Now plug the RCA audio outputs from the TV into the inputs on your PC speakers. Now on your TV in the setup menu there should be an option for fixed or variable volume output. If you choose fixed, your TV speakers will still be on and the RCA audio output volume will be constant. If you choose variable, your TV speakers should turn off and the audio output from the RCAs on the TV should be adjustable with the TV remote, so you only need to make sure your PC speakers are turned up loud enough, you don't need to touch them after that.

The family never liked the loud boom from the sub-woofer

That might mean the subwoofer was calibrated too loud, or it may mean that the subwoofer was not well designed. Or it might mean that your room was acoustically untreated, and thus contributed to "one-note bass."

If you want an affordable but substantial upgrade in sound quality from your TV, without the subwoofer boom, and without many cables, I would recommend trying a pair of these (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/334433-REG/Genelec_8030APM_8030A_Active_Nearfield_Monitor.html) on the wall (one each side of the TV), plugged straight into the TV. They can actually play surprisingly loud, with extremely low distortion and wide range (the bass is amazing from the small enclosure). Because they are powered ("active"), you just need the signal cable from the TV and a power cable. If $1,500 is too much, try a pair of these (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/496951-REG/Mackie_HR624MKII_HR624mk2_140W_6_7_.html), which are not as good, but still a lot better than built-in speakers, or most "home theater in a box" solutions. Again, because they're powered, you don't need a separate receiver, and can hide the cable behind the TV.

Thanks very much for these suggestions.

Andy