audio cables?

[nick s]

i'm trying to source the correct audio cable for what i need, i have a Sony Home theatre system with DVd player and surround sound, which has a coaxial port for connecting to the tv, so that you can watch tv with the surround sound. but my 32" HD TV as far as i can see only has the standard red & white Rca type inputs and no coaxial. Can i get a cable with one end coaxial and the other end with the two red & white jacks? i have spent hours in town today looking and don't really know if that's even what i need? can anyone help? thanks

[Zad]

From your description, they sound like 2 totally different formats. Something akin to trying to plug a pair of headphones into a television aerial. You would need something to decode the coaxial signal to analogue audio, or alternatively get hold of an analogue output from the player. I think the coaxial might be SPDIF or similar, for feeding into a 5.1 surroundsound type box.

[nick s]

oh god, sounds confusing! so does it sound like i can't link the two then?

[deckster]

In short - no, you cannot plug a surround sound coax output into stereo RCA jacks. Your TV doesn't do surround sound - you need a separate decoder for that. Presumably the DVD player has the standard RCA outputs so you can use that to connect to the TV but it will of course only be stereo.

[Trevelyan]

I've converted the other way before, going from phono plugs to co-ax (in my case taking the output from a private satellite network decoder box into a normal VCR). I used a modulator box, similar to this:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=33050

I have absolutely no idea whether this type of box would work in reverse though, or even if I've understood your problem correctly. May be worth popping into an A/V specialist shop or seeing if someone like Maplin have a technical helpline you could ring for some more information though.

[john_p]

What is the exact model of your Sony hi-fi so we can work out what the "coaxial" port is

[Plotloss]

Nothing is broadcast using DD5.1 over freeview so using coaxial digital would be pointless.

At best its Pro Logic which is output over the RCA connectors (red and white) on the television into a suitable set of analogue inputs on the amp.

The coaxial digital input on the amp is for Satellite boxes and cable boxes.