We all hold on to electronic junk, either because we don't want to add to the e-waste pile or perhaps we believe we might need it someday. If you have a pair of old speakers sitting in your garage, it might be time to dust them off, because they can upgrade your TV viewing experience for practically no charge and very little hassle. (Of course, if you'd rather sell what you're not using, here's where to sell your used electronics.)
Hooking old speakers up to a TV isn't as simple as running a cable from one to the other, because most TVs don't have a dedicated speaker output. (More on that below.) What your TV can send out matters as much as the speakers you own. Your speakers also fall into either of these two groups:
Active speakers (anything with a power cord or USB power): These have the amplifier built in, so they need no extra gear. Old PC speakers are the classic example. They usually have a cable permanently attached that ends in a 3.5mm plug (or sometimes RCA), and a few models have a 3.5mm "aux in" socket instead. If you have a pair of those in a drawer, they'll work with a TV as well as they do with a computer.
Passive speakers (old hi-fi bookshelf or floor-standing models): These need an amplifier to power them, sized to what they're rated for, which is usually printed on the speaker.
This is the part that gets a little more complicated, because it depends on what your TV can actually send out, and the only way to find out is to dig around the back (or side) of the set and see which ports you're working with.
Source link







