TV Headphone jack to amplifier

[Razor O Rourke]

I want to link my TV to the stereo amp on my Hi Fi. I only have a headphone socket on the TV and was thinking of getting a cable with a single headphone jack and twin RCA cables. Any problems doing this?

[jmorgan]

Scart socket? Often overlooked but getting rarer. And then it depends if it is fully wired. What Tv so others may have an idea?

[Razor O Rourke]

The TV is a 32" Toshiba. The amp is quite elderly and does not have a scart socket, though I am not keen on them anyway as they dislodge if you breath to heavily.

[miniman]

Your proposed approach will work, however line out would normally be at a fixed "volume" whereas in your setup the volume control on the TV will affect the signal to the amp, potentially at high volumes introducing excessive signal which will break up once amplified.

[gizlaroc]

You buy a scart to phono.
And decent ones won't come out.

[jmorgan]

Razor O Rourke said:

The TV is a 32" Toshiba. The amp is quite elderly and does not have a scart socket, though I am not keen on them anyway as they dislodge if you breath to heavily.

Scart on the Tv. that is. I made a few up for people, or buy them ready made. Got my bits from maplins. The intention was feeding wifi head phones where couples had different hearing abilities. Plug it in the headphone socket and it usually disconnects the Tv speaker.

[dobly]

Surely your TV has some sort of audio out, unless it is from the 1970's..

Look round the back and there will be something - post a picture and someone will advise you what to do to connect a-b.

[Razor O Rourke]

The rear panel has a scart, two HDMI and a VGA. On the side panel are the headphone socket, Side AV and YPbPr. There are a couple of USB sockets too.

The amp is a 1980s model, so none of the modern sockets.

[alock]

I have a few month old Panasonic TV and have been through the same. It's designed for a digitally connected system but I already have a nice old amp and pair of speakers.

Scart only outputs audio from the tuner. It does not output sound from HDMI connected blueray player or from streaming apps like Iplayer or Netflix. The output is designed for recording and they don't want you recording those.

The only options left were the headphone jack or buy new amp with digital inputs. The Panasonic TV allows you to turn off internal speakers and switch the remote volume control to change the headphone output instead so thought I'd try this first. I've run with a £5 headphone to twin phono lead for months now without problems. I leave the amp on all the time with the volume set at about 50%. TV remote then controls volume.

[benz0]

alock said:

I have a few month old Panasonic TV and have been through the same. It's designed for a digitally connected system but I already have a nice old amp and pair of speakers.

Scart only outputs audio from the tuner. It does not output sound from HDMI connected blueray player or from streaming apps like Iplayer or Netflix. The output is designed for recording and they don't want you recording those.

The only options left were the headphone jack or buy new amp with digital inputs. The Panasonic TV allows you to turn off internal speakers and switch the remote volume control to change the headphone output instead so thought I'd try this first. I've run with a £5 headphone to twin phono lead for months now without problems. I leave the amp on all the time with the volume set at about 50%. TV remote then controls volume.

Does it not have an optical out? you can buy a SPDIF to RCA converter quite cheaply.

[gregs656]

I do this. Works well for me as neither of the amps have remote controls so if I bought a DAC and went optical-DAC-amp for example I would have to physically adjust the volume on the amp.

Using the headphone out I can set the volume on the amp and use the TV remote to adjust what it receives.

[megaphone]

Razor O Rourke said:

The rear panel has a scart, two HDMI and a VGA. On the side panel are the headphone socket, Side AV and YPbPr. There are a couple of USB sockets too.

The amp is a 1980s model, so none of the modern sockets.

As advised above. Use the SCART out on the TV and run a cable to an input on the amp. You'll need a SCART adaptor (set to out) and a phono-phono cable. Some links below, or buy from Maplins.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SCART-Adaptor-AV-Block-T...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5m-Twin-Phono-to-2-x-Pho...


Edited to add. As mentioned above. Using this method, the output volume of the SCART is very likely fixed, it will not go up and down with the TV volume, you'll need to control via the amp. You'll need to use the headphone out if you want the level to be controlled by the TV remote. Remember using the headphone jack usually defeats the TV speakers.

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 30th November 12:10

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 30th November 12:12

[alock]

megaphone said:

As mentioned above. Using this method, the output volume of the SCART is very likely fixed, it will not go up and down with the TV volume, you'll need to control via the amp.

And many TVs won't output via scart for some sources. This feature was designed for connecting a VCR and recording the signal. Our new TV doesn't output anything via scart from the Freeview HD channels, the HDMI blueray or the built in apps such as Netflix. This is to prevent you recording them.

[alock]

benz0 said:

Does it not have an optical out? you can buy a SPDIF to RCA converter quite cheaply.

It does, but the options become:

1. £5 lead and get volume control via TV remote. I had the lead anyway so tried it and haven't found a reason to change.

2. £20+ external DAC and having to use a second remote for volume (or buy an all-for-one remote).

3. Buy a new amplifier/soundbar at several hundred pounds.

[Razor O Rourke]

alock said:

And many TVs won't output via scart for some sources. This feature was designed for connecting a VCR and recording the signal. Our new TV doesn't output anything via scart from the Freeview HD channels, the HDMI blueray or the built in apps such as Netflix. This is to prevent you recording them.

Mine is the same, no joy with the SCART connection. I'm awaiting delivery of a three metre phono lead to run from amp to headphome socket.