Audio System Help - Speakers, Tablet, TV, 5.1Surround Sound (Friends)

Communities Audio Hardware & Music
1

Here is the deal, my friend wants to use an ASUS TF700t, Creative Inspire T6300 Speakers, and his TV together. I told him it might be possible to use the tablet as a media center of sorts for the speakers, but he has a surround sound system that he wants to be able to play audio from his TV. I suggested plugging the tablet into the TV and hook the speakers up to the tablet but I am not sure that is exactly what he wants. He also need an adapter for 5.1 hookups (T6300).

I have found a good adapter - Amazon.com

which should work for the speakers to a single aux connection/ normal 3.5mm plug, but now I need to get the TV’s audio to the tablet somehow. Is this possible?

2

You should be able to run the audio signal from the tablet, to an AV receiver Via HDMI. You would need a receiver with analogue outputs for each channel (potentially expensive), and an adapter from male RCA to female 3.5mm.

**Keep in mind each 3.5mm line carries two channels, and each RCA plug in to a TV or receiver is one channel, so one 3.5mm jack goes to TWO RCA inputs:

-left/right channel
-centre/subwoofer
-rear left/right

Hooking up to a TV should also work, but things can be a bit complicated. He should be able to hook up the tablet to the TV with HDMI, but TV's generally won't have analogue 5.1 outputs, so he may be stuck with 2 channel. I would need the model of the TV to give a better answer here. For that, the RCA adapter should work which will give him '5 channel stereo', not surround. There may be a better solution though depending on the connectivity options of the TV.

I should also say, that I have not dealt with android on tablets. With Windows, you can easily send the audio signal (as 5.1 surround) to another device via HDMI, but there is a slight possibility that this feature might be overlooked to a degree on his tablet.

Also he is stuck without surround sound due to his speaker set up having only analogue inputs (HDMI is the home theatre standard and is digital). That adapter you linked looks like it will feed the stereo left/right channels to each of the 5 speakers though (not sure if it will feed a signal to the sub, or if the signal will sound good if it does). Analogue 5.1 outputs are fairly rare on home theatre equipment as far as I know, since all in one speaker systems (speakers with built in amplification) don't really exist in that world.

3

Oh yes:

Getting TV audio to the tablet. I don't think you will need to do this, since you could use an AV receiver, or the tv as the 'junction box' for what sounds to play to the speakers.

If you need to however, the only way I can see this possible is using the analogue audio out jacks of the TV, and combining both of those channels into a single male 3.5mm jack and using the microphone in. That should work, but I have to give the caviat that the signal could be too strong and overload the mic input on the tablet. I simply don't know the specifications, so I have to err on the side of caution and mention that.

4

This is not going to help for the simple fact an AV receiver is not something he would be interested in. He wants speakers that hook up to his tv that are less than 50 bucks that are good. He wont buy it I can guarantee you that. I mean he is a fucking baddy that way. He refused to buy my tablet for 100 (tf700t + dock) so I sold it to him for 50 but he is cheap as fuck because he is an idiot in truth when it comes to technology.

So what are my options than? I need atleast 2.1 audio for a TV. He wants good bass.

5

Any ".1" system is simply out of the question without a proper digital decoder. He will get 2 channel, or 2 channel played over 5 speakers (maybe including the sub).

Depends on his TV model, but the TV won't have a dedicated subwoofer channel. The spliter you linked may or may not redirect a signal to the sub. However if it does, it will be playing the same frequency range of the other speakers. The speakers will be playing bass they aren't design for, and the sub would be playing mids and highs it isn't designed for. There would be no cross over point either, so it will sound like crap. Speakers playing the frequencies they weren't designed for won't hurt them, but it will tax the built in amp, and also sound like shit.

The only way he can preserve the bass channel or surround, is to have a proper digital decoder of some sort (i.e. AV receiver). Also an entry level receiver wouldn't even help him since they will usually only have left/right outputs and one for the sub only. You would probably need an $800 model for full analogue outs. Other than that, he can chop the connectors off of each speaker's wire, and use the traditional bare wire outputs on the receiver lol.

Also he won't get 'good' bass with a speaker system like that anyway. The have a good rating for computer speakers, but computer speakers fall waaayyyyy short of home theatre standards. And when I say home theatre standards, I am not meaning spending thousands on a setup. They just know what features and performance to look for, and an idea of what price ranges should have what specs.

His speaker system only goes down to 50hz, which I assume is specific for subwoofer's limitation. Now I can't find a frequency response curve for it, but either way 50hz falls short for a sub. 30hz is good, and 20-25hz is recommended for a home theatre sub for getting the full experience from action movies.

Anyway, You get what you pay for and I think your friend needs some perspective to understand what he will get for what price range:

I recently did some shopping for a 5.1 system for my computer, and there is just no high end units for PC out there. I used to have a Logitec 7.1 system, that even years later is decently reviewed, but I was unhappy with those from day 1. They just seemed under powered. I decided on an av receiver, and unpowered speakers for $500ish. That is about the price you would expect a top end 5.1 system for PC to be, but still falls relatively low in performance to traditional audio system standards.

Anyway I got the Monopirce 10565 speakers: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=109&cp_id=10906&cs_id=1090601&p_id=10565&seq=1&format=2 and a Yamaha entry level receiver: http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/av-receivers-amps/rx/rx-v377_black_u/

The Monoprice speakers are noticeably better than the Logitec ones, but the subwoofer is on a whole nother level. Not just deeper bass, but much cleaner/tighter bass. The receiver adds value too by having software to configure the surrounds to be able to be placed in front of you and still give you a surround sound experience.

What your friend is trying to do is a 'doable/good enough for now" solution, but speakers last for years and years. If he is looking for a good setup, he should consider making the investment. I mean my $500 solution will last at least 10 years, so that is $50 or less a year. And when I say 10 years, that is probably when I decide to do something better. He will probably end up spending $50 or more on all the adapters he would need anyway.