How do I connect my 2.1 speakers to my HDTV?

Question

I have a Panasonic 42inch Plasma TV. I currently connect the the tv to my cable box through an hdmi cable that allows me to view hd channels and have audio. What I am trying to do though is connect my speakers to my tv to give it a little better sound. I thought that all I needed was a Y connector that connects the 3.5mm and split it into left and right audio. But when I turned on the TV, the sound still came out from the tv instead of from the speakers. My question is whether I am able to connect 2.1 speakers onto my hdtv while still using an hdmi cable to for video?

I have tried to search all over the place as to what wires and connectors I would need but since I am new to this I do not know what to do. As stated before attaching the speakers through the traditional Red and Yellow, Left, Right audio slots did not produce any sound from the speakers. I would like to have the video come from the hdmi cables while having my sound come from my speakers. cables or adapters needed? thanks

Answer 1

You may have to enable the analog audio output in your TV's options somewhere, or the TV just may not support analog audio output with HDMI (I doubt this, it's usually only the digital audio output that gets disabled with HDMI). At worst, you could hook your speakers directly up to the cable box's audio output, but volume control would be an issue, you would likely have to do it from the speakers directly.

Answer 2

I think you are confusing audio INPUT ports with output.

Most probably, the 3.5 mm port is for PC audio INPUT, when using DVI.

Most TVs have either headphone outputs or RCA audio outputs.

A TV is really not designed to drive external speakers  directly, at least no more than 10-15 watts.  For best results you need to use an audio amplifier.