TV Speaker outputs

[Rolyasm]

I was looking at a new LCD and was curious about the audio outputs. Can most TV's run an external set of speakers, or are the outputs "signal only" and don't have any power to run the speakers? So if I wanted a small set of speakers for my TV, could I disable the TV speakers and run a pair from the TV, or would I need an external power amp? Thanks.
Roly

[Glen B]

The audio outputs deliver a line level signal and cannot drive speakers. You could feed the signal into a pair of self-powered speakers.

Glen

[Arneson]

I have installed TV's with remote speaker terminals.
One I remember could drive both internal and external, one was either or.
Most sets do not have them.
My personal sets have preamp outputs with the option of fixed or variable signal level, and a side headphone jack, used for wireless phones transmitter.
With 5.1 suround I fade the TV volume up and down and turn on the enhance features to fill in the room.
It seems to balance better because the main TV is in the corner.

[Rolyasm]

ok, so if I want my LCD to have a set of speakers (stereo) in my ceiling or wall, I would need some kind of amplification for them? I guess a simple stereo receiver would do the trick, or a stereo amplifier. My wife doesn't want a full 5.1, it is just mainly for news and such, but she would like some extra sound with better speakers.
Thanks


Roly

[riceaterslc]

ok, so if I want my LCD to have a set of speakers (stereo) in my ceiling or wall, I would need some kind of amplification for them?

correct. i don't know much about in wall speakers, but you may be able to find some that are powered, so you wouldn't have to buy an external amp.

[dyazdani]

I think some TVs have something like a 10W amp in the outputs so they COULD drive some sort of speaker, if you can call it that.

You're right on track with the stereo receiver though (I'd try and talk the wife into a reasonably priced, pre-owned 5.1 receiver - even if you only use 2 channels for now...:T)

[doncole99]

TV Speaker Outputs

I have installed TV's with remote speaker terminals.
One I remember could drive both internal and external, one was either or.
Most sets do not have them.

(This is my first post on this website, so let's see if I'm doing this correctly).

I'm looking to buy a new LCD TV. As I think we all know, it's not so easy to decide on a model now-a-days. One detail I am wondering about is which models/brands have speaker terminals, if any (?) Can you recall this from your experience?

I have found that the feature descriptions of many of the TVs are usually fague/inacurate, which causes me to jump around from site to site to verify the features for specific models.

I believe that most TVs don't have speaker terminals (to plug bare wires from TV to 2 speakers) although some older models do. I have an old Zenith that does have speaker terminals. It also has RCA audio outputs to an amplifier. I don't think Zenith is around anymore, unless they've changed their name (?)

I was wondering, if the power output (20 watts) is provided in the TV specification, shouldn't that mean that the TV does have speaker terminals?

Thanks,
Don

PS. I have added speaker terminals to TVs that I've had in the past. This just requires opening up the TV, disconnecting the wires at the internal speakers (or adding a switch) and connecting the wires to the newly installed terminals. However I'd prefer to know which TVs came that way, so I wouldn't have to open and modify a new $1000 or more TV.