RCA to exposed wire?
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New member Username: CrazylegsPost Number: 2 Registered: Oct-04 | I have a question, if anyone has the time to help me out. I recently got home theater speakers for cheap off of Ebay. Well, as it turns out, they are specifically designed to plug into the back of a DVD output. Meaning, all of the connectors for the speakers are the RCA (red and white) type connectors. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I was hoping to get everything hooked up through a receiver. So how would I go about getting the RCA plugs into the exposed wire clamps that are on the back of receivers? I was thinking of cutting off the RCA plugs, but I am not an electrician, and was worried about not being able to do anything with the wires in the cord. How will I know which wires are +/-, and how will I know which is left and which is right channel? Sorry if this doesn't make sense, but I'm new to this. Thanks in advance for any help! |
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Bronze Member Username: Os2dudeMarietta , GA USA Post Number: 18 Registered: Jul-04 | From what I understand, the center pin of the RCA is positive (RED?) and the outer ring is negative (BLACK?). I've never stripped a pre-made RCA cable, but you should find 2 wires inside. You may need an ohm meter to tell which is red (Unless they were nice and color coded the wires for you.) It may even be a wire inside another layer. (Like a shielded COAX, if you've seen one.) In that case, the inner wire is RED and the outer wrapper is BLACK. If you don't have a meter, then any kind of conductivity method could be used. A flash light bulb and batter, for instance. Connect a wire from bulb to battery, and use the other as your test lead. Connect the other bulb wire to one of the speaker wires and touch the bulb to the center pin. If the bulb lights, that's your red. |
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New member Username: CrazylegsPost Number: 3 Registered: Oct-04 | Thank you very much for the suggestion! I guess I'll just have to suck up and cut the cord to find out. My only hesitation would be that I might want to resell the speakers if I can't get the receiver working. I guess I could always just replace that one wire, which wouldn't cost too much. And do you, by chance, know if the white or red is left/right? Meaning, if the wires inside are what I hope they are, when I go to connect them to the receiver, how will I know which is left and which is right channel? Cheers!! |
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Bronze Member Username: Os2dudeMarietta , GA USA Post Number: 19 Registered: Jul-04 | Each RCA will have two wires. The back of your receiver should have 4 spring clips, 2 (red + & black -) clips each for Left (white) and Right (red) speaker. Do the speakers have RCA on them, or is the lead wired straight into it? (I.E. you can't remove the wire.) If it is 'built-in', I wouldn't cut it. Try going to a Radio-Shack or similair and get an RCA extention cord. (You may need two if the cord is not double ended.) Then you can cut the extention cord and leave the speakers as they are. |
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New member Username: CrazylegsPost Number: 4 Registered: Oct-04 | That's brilliant! It's such a simple solution, and it escaped me. Better to cut up a $4 extension cord than ruin the speakers, eh? I will definitely give that a shot. I guess I would need a male to male connector than, correct? Again, many, many thanks! |
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Bronze Member Username: Os2dudeMarietta , GA USA Post Number: 20 Registered: Jul-04 | I would assume your speakers have male RCA plugs. (A pin with a thin circle around it). Just tell the salesperson you need to connect two male RCA plugs. I don't recall if you ask for a cord that connects two males (then it would be a male-to-male) or for what is on the end of the cord (then it would be female-to-female). _ _ ==[- _====_ -]== ^ Cut here |
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New member Username: CrazylegsPost Number: 5 Registered: Oct-04 | Oh... right. Duh! If I'm cutting the cord anyway, I just cut at the male end and connect to my speaker cords using the female end. Man, sometimes the obvious just flies over my head. Cheers for putting up with me! |
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Kruz Unregistered guest | well ya for every rca u have 2 wires(just like normal gauge speaker wires) 1 to ground and 1 to send the signal |
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Scotty2Hotty Unregistered guest | https://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/forum/home-theater/104829.html You must not have seen this thread.  |
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