Expert: Wayne Tapia - 12/15/2009

Question
Hi Wayne,

I recently bought a Panasonic TC-L37S1 LCD TV. I want to run speakers from the TV to my older stereo receiver.  The TV has an optical digital audio outlet, but no receiver only has RCA audio jacks. I'm also hooking up an LG blu ray player.  I've hooked HDMI cables from my DVR cable box (Comcast) and from the LG player.  Is there a way to do this? Do I need some kind of digital to RCA converter, and if so, do they exist?

Thanks for any guidance, Paul  

Answer
Hi Paul,

Unfortunately, you'll need a digital to analog converter (or a DAC). I suggest looking for this at www.markertek.com. I do quite a bit of business with them, and they have a very large selection of these. Also - they are not out to kill you on pricing, unlike a lot of "audiophile" stores or high end AV outlets. They cater to peofessional engineers (such as myself) and are quite honest in their pricing.

As an example, here's a relatively inexpensive converter :
http://www.markertek.com/Audio-Equipment/Audio-Signal-Conversion/Gefen-Inc/GTV-D...

I hope this helps!