Help with surround sound system.

[newglockster]

There is a surround-sound system installed at my house, but I have never used it because I am not at all familiar with how to connect it to my tv or dvd player or whatever.

I don't know if cords need to be connected to all the outlets, or only some are necessary, or what. If someone could take tell what sort of adapters this outlet needs and maybe how to connect to a tv or dvd player, I would greatly appreciate it!

[Yugo]

the 4 on each bottom are speaker banana plug connections.
the two on top on the left COULD be composite video to the TV or subwoofer or ???
the two on the right COULD be satelite or cable or subwoofer

[Creampuff]

I am assuming those are the plugs behind the TV. What about the images of the plugs on the wall where the surrounds are coming out of?

Top four plugs of course are RCA, bottom 8 banana plugs ? But not enough info given to know where are your mains, sub, and surrounds going.

[Yugo]

do you have speakers in the walls or ceiling? Or do you have blank covers somewhere on the wall or ceiling? When it comes to surround sound it usually has nothing to do with your tv and its connections.

The subwoofer connection is usually on the opposite wall of the plugs you show.

[Yugo]

I am assuming those are the plugs behind the TV. What about the images of the plugs on the wall where the surrounds are coming out of?

Top four plugs of course are RCA, bottom 8 banana plugs ? But not enough info given to know where are your mains, sub, and surrounds going.

I dont think thats behind his TV.

[Ubermcoupe]

The main channels (bottom two, left & right sides) are binding posts for banana plugs.
These are especially useful if you need to unplug your receiver quickly/regularly for cleaning and what not.

You need to pick up a set of banana plugs for the wires that lead from your receiver to the binding plugs.


You can pick those up just about anywhere, although depending on how much of an audiophile you are depends on the type of connectors you ultimately choose. I just grabbed a couple packs from frys.

I believe the top two, left side are for the woofer, and the top two right side is a coaxial plug, probably for cable.

I ideally they should be labeled to the corresponding speaker location. Once you figure it out i’d recommend using a brother P-touch label maker to label them.

Hope that helps.

[Creampuff]

I dont think thats behind his TV.

oh, so those are the output outlets and not input? if that is the case, it would help to see the input outlets too.

[newglockster]

The speakers are installed in the walls around the room. I am not sure if these are output or input speakers, although I was assuming input.

Also, I could not find any other plugs or outlets anywhere in the house that seemed related to the system.

[Yugo]

oh, so those are the output outlets and not input? if that is the case, it would help to see the input outlets too.

NO they are inputs (kinda) top are inputs OR maybe outputs and the banana speaker posts are well INPUTS-the speakers.

You dont need banana "PLUGS" you can just unscrew that "POST" and there is a hole in the middle of the "STEM of the "POST" that the 16-14guage wire will fit through.

You will need a TONE GENERATOR to test what wire (post) goes to which speaker.

[Creampuff]

ah, so these are for in-wall installation. How many speakers do you have total in the walls?

[Yugo]

The speakers are installed in the walls around the room. I am not sure if these are output or input speakers, although I was assuming input.

Also, I could not find any other plugs or outlets anywhere in the house that seemed related to the system.

In that case like I said above, need a tone generator https://www.google.com/search?q=how+...a&channel=fflb
to figure out which is which OR process of elimination with your amp/receiver.

the other ones will have to be traced with a continuity tester. Maybe they are cable and/or composite video and/or another form of connection that can utilize a RCA plug.

[newglockster]

Maybe 6 or so speakers.

Ok, I might be in over my head. It seems that I would need a surround sound receiver as well? I naively thought that I could just plug in my tv to the outlets and have awesome sounds reverberating through my house!

[Yugo]

ah, so these are for in-wall installation. How many speakers do you have total in the walls?

looks like fronts and rears and the center channel was not in the wall but free standing.

[Yugo]

Maybe 6 or so speakers.

Ok, I might be in over my head. It seems that I would need a surround sound receiver as well? I naively thought that I could just plug in my tv to the outlets and have awesome sounds reverberating through my house! :D

aaahhhh, NO.

[Creampuff]

Maybe 6 or so speakers.

Ok, I might be in over my head. It seems that I would need a surround sound receiver as well? I naively thought that I could just plug in my tv to the outlets and have awesome sounds reverberating through my house!

As Yugo stated , nope! You need a surround sound receiver. TV's won't have an active powered signal coming out of their output, so it won't power the in-wall receivers. Do an exact count of the speakers in the wall, and are they all the same size speakers?

I usually wouldn't feed an active powered signal via a RCA plug, so I would be surprised if the RCA went to a speaker expecting a speaker level signal.