Grab them from the garage and put them to work.
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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.)
1. Which speakers work?
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.
2. Which TVs work?
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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. There are a lot of variables, but generally speaking, it comes down to three cases.
If you're lucky enough to have a TV that has an analog audio output, you're in the best possible shape. You can send the sound straight out over a 3.5mm jack or RCA, and as long as the speaker is getting enough power, you have sound.
If the TV has an optical output instead, that usually means you can't connect the speaker directly to the TV, but a basic digital-to-analog audio converter will turn the signal into something your speakers can use. It's worth a check to see if your speakers or amp might have an optical input of their own, which would let you skip the converter altogether.
If HDMI ARC is the only audio output you've got, there are still options, but they typically cost more. We'll get to those below.
3. Powering PC speakers
If your active speakers are USB-powered PC speakers, there's one more thing to sort out: power. While you're looking at the back of the TV, you'll probably notice a few spare USB ports, so it's tempting to think you've just solved the whole thing: Plug a pair of old PC speakers in, and you're done! It's a nice idea, but reality is a little messier.
The first thing to keep in mind is that the USB cable on most PC speakers only carries power. The sound still has to arrive over the separate 3.5mm or RCA cable. If you plug a PC speaker into a TV's USB port, it will probably be completely ignored, because TVs generally don't recognize USB devices that need their own drivers.
4. Will your TV's USB port actually run them?
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A standard USB 2.0 port supplies 5V at 500mA, which works out to 2.5W, and that's all many TV ports are built to provide. They were designed for firmware updates and flash drives, not for powering gear. That's enough for a small pair of desktop speakers at modest volume. It's not enough for anything chunky, and if the speakers ask for more than the port can give, a well-designed TV with over-current protection will trip the port or drop into standby. The symptom is speakers that cut out when you turn the volume up.
Two things to check:
Look for a port marked HDD. Some TVs have one port meant for external hard drives, and it can supply just under 1A (900mA). The label is printed next to the port or in the manual.
Observe what happens when the TV is off. Some TVs keep USB power on while in standby, so the speakers stay powered all the time. Others cut it, which is handy, because the speakers then switch on and off with the TV. It varies by model, so the easy test is to turn the TV off and see whether the speakers' light stays on.
5. The phone-charger trick
If the TV's USB port is too weak, or already taken, there's an easy way around it: You can power the speakers from a USB phone charger. Most chargers can supply far more than a TV port, so the speakers get steady power, and the only cable left running from the speaker to the TV is the audio one. The trade-off is that the speakers won't switch off with the TV, so you'll either leave them on or use the speakers' own switch.
6. Connecting the sound
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With the power sorted, all that's left is to connect whatever your speakers have on their end to the TV. Here's how to work through it:
1. Find your output. Look at the back or side of the TV for a port labeled "audio out," "line out" or "headphone." Yes, it's perfectly fine to connect your speakers to the headphone jack. If there's no analog port, look for an optical one. It's a small square port sometimes labeled "digital audio out" or "TOSLINK." If you can't locate any of these, you're in HDMI ARC territory, covered below.
2. Match the plug to your speakers. Look at what's on the end of the speakers' own cable. Most PC speakers finish in a 3.5mm plug, and some use RCA, the red and white pair (which carry the left and right channels). Hi-fi-style speakers usually have RCA sockets on the back that you plug a cable into. If the TV has one type of connector and the speakers have the other, a 3.5mm-to-RCA cable or adapter fixes it for a few dollars. For an optical output, put a small digital-to-analog converter in the middle. Then run a normal cable from the converter to your speakers.
3. Give passive speakers an amp. If your speakers have no power cord, the TV can't drive them directly, and neither can a converter. Most TVs don't have speaker outputs, so you need an amplifier that matches what the speakers are rated for, which is usually printed on the back of the speaker in watts and ohms. The chain is pretty simple: The TV's output goes into one of the amp's inputs, and the speaker wires connect to the amp's output port instead of the TV.
4. Switch the TV over. Plugging in is only half of it. Go into the TV's sound settings and change the output from internal speakers to the external option, or to line out or headphone, depending on what port you connected the speakers to. If you're on optical, pick PCM rather than Dolby Digital or DTS, because a basic converter can't decode those and you'll get silence or noise.
7. The ARC shortcut
If HDMI ARC is your only audio output, the speakers can't just be plugged in. ARC sends a digital signal, so something has to take it and turn it into analog or amplified sound. The easiest fix is a small streaming amplifier with an HDMI ARC input, like the WiiM Amp Ultra. It takes the TV's audio over ARC and powers a pair of passive speakers directly, so the connecting and the amplifying happen in one box. It's also the one route where the TV remote can usually still control the volume. It costs more than a cable or a converter, but it saves you from stacking an ARC extractor, a converter and an amp. WiiM isn't the only option, as other streaming amps with an ARC input do the same job, so check the specs on whichever you pick. One catch with the WiiM: It handles stereo PCM and Dolby Digital but not DTS, so set the TV's output to PCM if you get silence.
8. Placing the speakers
Once everything is connected, put one speaker on each side of the TV for a proper stereo effect, with the left speaker on the left and the right on the right. If you want them out of sight, tuck them slightly behind the screen and angle them a little outward. They stay hidden, and the sound still reaches the room clearly. And that's it: You've kept a pair of speakers out of the e-waste pile and given your TV a lot more oomph.