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Using headphone out of TV to composite input of amp

post #1 of 10
3/10/12 at 12:59pm
Thread Starter 
Note: Quality of sound isn't my goal here... The primary thing is not damaging the speakers and preferably not killing the amp.

My grandmother can't hear her LG LCD with integrated speakers any longer, even at 100/100 volume. I bought a cheap little Lepai amp and a pair of Pioneer speakers to solve this. I knew there would potentially be an issue because her TV lacks an analog line-out, only having a (stereo-only) toslink out, so I'm going to have to hook it up to the headphone out... I have a similar TV in the house, so I tested it out. To get a louder volume than her built-in speakers, I need to turn the amp up to about 75% and the TV to 80/100. There's noise because it's being unnecessarily double-amped sequentially, among other things, but nothing she'll notice, and it's certainly better than her built-in speakers.

Do I need to have any safety concerns? Should I suck it up and get a toslink to composite converter? I know I'd get less noise, but is the headphone out jack's voltage (unable to test) potentially bottle-necking the output of the amp?
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post #2 of 10
3/10/12 at 1:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by galneon View Post

Note: Quality of sound isn't my goal here... The primary thing is not damaging the speakers and preferably not killing the amp.

My grandmother can't hear her LG LCD with integrated speakers any longer, even at 100/100 volume. I bought a cheap little Lepai amp and a pair of Pioneer speakers to solve this. I knew there would potentially be an issue because her TV lacks an analog line-out, only having a (stereo-only) toslink out, so I'm going to have to hook it up to the headphone out... I have a similar TV in the house, so I tested it out. To get a louder volume than her built-in speakers, I need to turn the amp up to about 75% and the TV to 80/100. There's noise because it's being unnecessarily double-amped sequentially, among other things, but nothing she'll notice, and it's certainly better than her built-in speakers.

Do I need to have any safety concerns? Should I suck it up and get a toslink to composite converter? I know I'd get less noise, but is the headphone out jack's voltage (unable to test) potentially bottle-necking the output of the amp?

If it was my family I'd go this route

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...1DG3F8WKV94VZ2
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post #3 of 10
3/10/12 at 2:06pm
Thread Starter 
That's actually digital to digital which isn't an option. I just ordered one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...pf_rd_i=507846

Should be perfect. I'm curious to hear what people think about headphone out to amp in, though. The impact on sound quality and max volume is obviously huge, but I'm curious as to the damage possible still.
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post #4 of 10
3/10/12 at 2:07pm
If it was my family, this is what I would do and have successfully done!!

Sennheiser RS120 926 MHz Wireless RF Headphones with Charging Cradle

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post #5 of 10
3/10/12 at 2:13pm
Thread Starter 
Seriously, guys? A solution that wouldn't work at all, and a solution that is completely irrelevant to my situation when I already have speakers and an amp?
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post #6 of 10
3/10/12 at 2:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by galneon View Post

A solution that wouldn't work at all, and a solution that is completely irrelevant to my situation when I already have speakers and an amp?

If the goal is to allow your grandmother to hear her TV with comfort and safety, this is the most logical. Been there. Done that. Many times.

Currently have a 100-year old man who thoroughly enjoys watching his TV now on the wireless headset without filling the room and disturbing other people with the high noise levels. No cords to trip on. No batteries to worry about. Personal adjustment of the position and volume control.

OTOH, if the goal is to use up a bunch of stuff you already have ... fill your boots.
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post #7 of 10
3/10/12 at 2:39pm
Thread Starter 
She lives alone, finds headphones uncomfortable, and my amp and speakers, which no doubt sound nicer, cost the same as your headphones. No cords to trip on, no batteries to worry about, no recharging, and a volume control that works with her cable remote. The stuff I have is new and bought specifically for her, I only waited for the equipment to arrive see if a converter box would be necessary (amp has no versatile 3.5mm TRS/optical mini-jack, so a simple cable is no option). It is, and it's on the way. I just found it funny that my first two responders were from experienced members who were either wrong or totally off-topic. Thanks, guys, I suppose like any forum there are decent subforums, like the AVR, HTPC and TV subforums which are full of knowledgeable people, and... Less decent ones.
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post #8 of 10
3/10/12 at 5:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by galneon View Post

That's actually digital to digital which isn't an option. I just ordered one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...pf_rd_i=507846

Should be perfect. I'm curious to hear what people think about headphone out to amp in, though. The impact on sound quality and max volume is obviously huge, but I'm curious as to the damage possible still.

You picked the right product for the intended use, with the slight caveat that I hope doesn't apply to your grandmother's TV. That's that some recent models of LG flat screens (at least their recent plasma models; don't know if they're doing this with their LCDs yet) output only Dolby Digital encoded signals via their digital optical outputs. If that is the case -- and I hope it's not -- your DAC won't work because it lacks a DD decoder. You'll get nothing but static. There is a similar solution from a company called GefenTV that does include a DD decoder, and it outputs analog over two-channel RCA. It's more expensive than the one you bought.

http://www.amazon.com/Gefen-GTV-DD-2...1428486&sr=1-2

Good luck resolving the issue.
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post #9 of 10
3/10/12 at 6:50pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks man, I heard conflicting things about that with this particular LG in the past, one that it's pass through (PCM, DD 2.0, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1), one that it encodes everything DD 2.0 (like my older LG LCD does), so I'm not exactly sure if it's going to work for me or not... Based on the fact that you think they seem to be going in the latter direction on newer models, sounds like it won't work out. No problem though, I have another use for the converter around here. If it doesn't work out, I'm going to route audio straight from STB to amp via composite. Problem solved mostly, but she has an HDMI DVD player and a VCR, but I don't think she even uses it anymore. Appreciated.
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post #10 of 10
3/10/12 at 8:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by galneon View Post

That's actually digital to digital which isn't an option. I just ordered one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...pf_rd_i=507846

Should be perfect. I'm curious to hear what people think about headphone out to amp in, though. The impact on sound quality and max volume is obviously huge, but I'm curious as to the damage possible still.



Enjoy your hunt.
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