I needed to find out how to connect a decent sound system to my new Digital TV.

I recently bought a Wharfedale  L37TA6A 37" Digital TV and wanted to connect some beefy speakers to it as the supplied ones in the TV are only 8watt and really tinny.

After looking long and hard to find out how to link some sort of home theatre system to the TV I ended up with a very simple solution.

The wharfedale L37TA6A has many connection types except audio output sockets. The only audio output available is a 3.5mm headphone socket. I'm no sound expert so I tried connecting some powerful 2.1 PC speakers to the headphone socket and hey presto I got 2.1 sound with volume and bass to die for!!!

I think all I have done is amplify an already amplified signal from the headphone socket but it works, for how long, we'll wait and see.

Doesn't seem to do any harm to the sound output. The sound is crystal clear and lots of it. The bass rattles the ornaments on the shelves too!

How to wire up powered speakers to the Digital TV using the HeadPhones socket!

This uses the 3.5mm headphone socket on the TV. A PC speaker sound systems use a 3.5mm connector so it seemed reasonable to assume that if I plug a PC speaker system into the headphone socket of my TV I should get some sound out of it.

After plugging in the wire it worked, but only with a powered set of speakers. The better the powered speakers the better the sound output seemed to be.

After doing some testing with some old powered PC speakers that I knew worked, I bought some more 2.1 speakers with a big sub woofer and the two satellite speakers. I paid less than £40 for this speaker system which push out 40watts/80 watts which is way load enough for me. There are other PC speaker systems which can push out 200W+ if you want to rock the whole street!

The speaker system works great and is superb for movie and music DVD's. The digital music channels sound great as well. All this for less than £40 quid which is better than paying out for a home theatre system and day of the week!

If your TV does not have a headphone socket it may have some other form of audio output. Maybe Left and Right sockets of some sort.

Wharfedale L37TA6A Specification

I bought this TV in April 2009 and I am very impressed with it. All with the exception of the sound output. The sound on almost any TV is pretty feeble to my liking so I always want to boost it somehow or other. The picture is crystal clear, the colour is vibrant and the brightness and contrast is more than adequate for all situations. There are also many settings so I can change everything to my liking rather than simply accepting the factory settings.

Television Picture Quality:

• High Definition Ready;
• Integrated digital (freeview);
• 37in (94cm) widescreen TV with 94cm visible screen size;
• Resolution 1366 x 768 pixels;
• Brightness 500cd/m2;
• Contrast ratio 1000:1;
• Viewing angle 85/85 degrees;

Connectivity:

• 1 x HDMI socket;
• 2 x SCART sockets;
• 1 x PC input socket;
• 1 x Component video socket;
• 1 x Headphone socket;
• 1 x S-video;

Sound Quality:

• Nicam sound;
• 2 x 6w RMS power output;

Freeview Features:

• Digital text;
• Digital video broadcasting (DVB) subtitles available;
• Now and next electronic programme guide;
• 7 day electronic programme guide;
• Top up TV compatible;

Additional Features:

• Teletext;
• Fastext;
• UHF and VHF tuner;
• Auto search tuner;
• Auto search sorting;
• Auto search labelling;
• Sleep timer;
• Child lock;
• PAL / NTSC compatible;
• Remote control requires 2 x AA batteries (supplied);
• 230v AC mains operation;
• Complete with tabletop stand;

Physical Properties:

• Size of TV (H)64.4, (W)94.6, (D)12.3cm;
• Size with stand (H)70.3, (W)94.6, (D)31cm;
• Weight of TV 21.7kg;
• Weight of TV with stand 25kg;
• Suitable for wall mounting (brackets not supplied);

PC Speaker Systems

Computer speaker systems come in various shapes and sizes. They are mostly powered systems and often referred to as either:

• 2.0 Speaker systems - simple 2 x speaker system for left and right.
• 2.1 speaker systems - 2 x satellite speakers plus 1 x subwoofer
• 5.1 / 6.1 / 7.1 Surround sound speaker systems - 5, 6 or 7 satellite speakers with 1 x sub woofer etc etc...

This is the system I now use with my digital TV for much improved sound than the TV's built in speakers for less than £40!

Logitech Z-4 - Black 2.1 PC multimedia speakers:

• 2 satellite speakers with subwoofer
• Nominal Output Power (Total) 40 Watt
• Audio System Max Output Power 80 Watt
• Response Bandwidth 35 - 20000 Hz
• Audio Amplifier Integrated
• Connectivity Technology Wired
• 2 x right/left channel speaker - 8.5 Watt + 1 x subwoofer - 23 Watt
• Colour Black
• Remote control - cable
• Headphones socket
• Sound in socket

If you want some of these then try here at Ebuyer...