Hi All,

Right, here we go.

I have a Sony Midi HiFi which works fine. I have a Sony widescreen telly which works fine. I have a JVC combo VCR/DVD which works fine.

The VCR/DVD play through the telly for audio. The HiFi plays through a pair of speakers.

Now, we want to replace the HiFi speakers (as they are ugly, old and don't sound too good).

OK, I could just go out and buy a pair of speakers.....

But, I've got DVD now

So, is there a solution where I can go and buy a set of speakers which I can hook up to the HiFi (as per normal) but also do some jiggery-pokery (tech term) so that I get the full benefit from my DVDs ?

I.e. I want one set of speakers that works for both my HiFi and for my DVD.

The DVD player has a pair of normal analogue outs (L and R). It also has another one that looks the same but is labelled "Digital Audio Coax" and another that looks like a square peg labelled "Digital Audio Optical".

So, I want to be able to turn my HiFi on and listen to radio, CDs etc. without having the DVD/Telly on. I also want to be able to watch the DVD playing without having the HiFi switched on. And all through the same set of speakers.

Doable ? Prefer not to spend mega bucks. Oh, and don't want any rear speakers as we can't do the wiring due to room layout, floor type and fireplace.

Cheers

Ian

 

As far as the speakers go, check the output (ohmms and wattage) of your stereo before going to buy a pair. I'm a great fan of Ruark speakers, but it's best to listen to them and if poss borrow some from the shop first (I've done this before buying hifi).

You should find an Aux L/R phono in on your stereo. It might be best to take audio from video to stereo. Your TV goes into the vid and your DVD can go through it.

When you want to listen to the TV/Video/DVD, put the stereo on Aux.

 

You can only get stereo output so you will never get the full benefit of DVD.

If you want to do it properly then you need to get a dedicated surround amplifier and a lot more speakers !

The digital co-ax out is for Dolby Digital which means you would have a pair of speakers up front, a centre one by the TV, a pair of rears and a sub-woofer.

Unless you want to go that far, just wire the phono output of the DVD to a spare input on your HiFi and upgrade the speakers.

Sharing speakers between amplifiers is not a good idea - if you accidentally turn both on together it can be byb bye speakers.

 

If you want the full benefit from your DVDs, you need rear speakers, a centre channel and (ideally) a subwoofer. To drive them, and to decode the surround sound signal from your DVD player, you'll need a dedicated AV amplifier. It sounds from your post as though you don't want to do this.

Never, ever, be tempted to connect two amplifiers to one pair of speakers. You WILL blow something up - maybe not immediately, but both amplifiers (whether switched on or not) will be under considerable stresses that they were never designed for. The setup will sound horrible, too.

Replacing the speakers on your hi-fi can be easily done, though. Check the impedance of the existing units (usually 4 or 8 ohms), and make sure that the new ones are the same or higher. (If the new speakers are lower impedance than the old ones, your amplifier has to work much harder and could overheat).

You don't mention whether you play the TV sound through the hi-fi; that's the best thing you could do to improve the sound not only from your DVDs, but from all other TV sources too. If your TV doesn't have a separate audio output (2 phono sockets), then get a hi-fi shop to make you up a special SCART lead that has an audio output instead.

Enjoy!
Andy.

 

Thanks All.

Yes, I really don't want to get into buying a receiver and multiple speakers, mainly because of the cost and very difficult to wire up the rears.

So, a phono L-R connection from back of DVD (or from TV) to an AUX input on the HiFI sounds like a plan. Just get some new speakers and that'll be job done.

Cheers

Ian