The most essential features you would always want to consider when purchasing a new television are the screen size, picture and sound quality, durability, and connectivity.
Samsung seems to have known what today’s smart home lovers want, and are currently head and shoulders above the completion, producing high-end smart televisions that are performance-oriented. As the centerpiece in your smart home, a Samsung smart TV is dedicated to giving homeowners access to a world of content beyond just streaming!
With a quality Samsung TV at your disposal, you can play your favorite games, schedule recordings while at the same time connecting to more smart devices across your entire home.
However, despite having commendable sound quality, most homeowners would always want to enhance the sound output of their Samsung smart TVs. And as a smart TV user, I can also confirm that the thin-sounding TV audio usually falls short of complementing the big screen picture in front of me. So, what needs to be done to boost your TV’s internal speakers?
The best way to enhance your TV’s sound quality is to connect it to an external sound system such as home theater, stereo receiver, or a soundbar among other options. So, if you are currently struggling to connect your Samsung smart TV to your home theater system, we have got you covered.
We want to discuss all the ways through which you connect your Samsung smart TV to your home theater for enhanced sound quality.
There are many options available for you and we are going to discuss nearly all of them.
This site is reader-supported and we earn commissions if you purchase products from retailers after clicking on a link from our site. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Method 1: RCA Connection
This is arguably the easiest and the most straightforward method to use to improve your TV listening experience. You will only need to connect your Samsung smart TV’s analog stereo outputs, usually referred to as RCA outputs, to your external audio system such as home theater.
Below are the steps to follow:
- Using the analog stereo cables at your disposal, connect the mini-stereo plug (3.5mm) to your TV’s audio output.
- Subsequently, connect the same RCA plugs to your home theater system’s audio in ports.
- After this, turn on your home theater and follow the instructions that will follow.
- Next, select the input on your home theater system for you to hear the sound.
If you did everything right up to this point, then you should have successfully connected your Samsung smart TV to your home theater.
However, it is imperative to note that most newer television sets including Samsung models, do not always come equipped with the 3.5mm or RCA analog connections. So, if this is the case with your TV, don’t worry, just proceed and implement the next method we are just to provide you with.
Method 2: Digital Optical Connection
Home theater systems are popular for many reasons and one of these reasons is arguably the abundance of connections for transmitting audio and video signals to your television.
One type of connection ideal for audio is the digital optical. For those who may not know, a digital optical connection is just a physical connection that involves the use of fiber optics (light) to transfer audio data from a compatible device to a compatible playback device through the use of specially designed connectors and cable.
To effectively and successfully execute this connection, follow the below procedures:
- Grab your digital optical cable, connect the digital audio output out from your TV to the digital audio in on the home theater system. After that, turn on your home theater system.
- Take your home theater unit’s remote and use it to set the HTS to the input you connected the optical cable to. It is important to note that a significant number of home theater system remotes feature a button that allows you to switch between different input. If this is the case, you should press the button before you proceed further.
- At this point, you should hear the sound coming out of the speakers of your home theater.
- However, if you are not hearing any sound coming from your home theater system speakers, take your remote and check your TV’s audio output settings and look for an option known as PCM. It will help resolve the problem. On most occasions, this type of problem usually occurs with home theater systems equipped with optical audio input functionality, but no built-in Digital Dolby or DTS 2.0 PLUS decoding capability.
- It is also imperative to note that depending on your home theater system’s settings, not all the speakers will output the sound when receiving a two-channel signal. However, most home theater systems do have a feature that transforms a two-channel stereo system into multiple channels or multi-speaker signals hence stimulating sound. This implies that if your home theater is receiving a 2-channel signal from your Samsung television, you’ll need to activate this feature. You can go through your user manual and learn how to go about it.
Method 3: The ARC – HDMI Connection
This is another great way to connect your Samsung television with your external sound enhancers. However, for you execute your connection using this procedure, your Samsung TV must have an HDMI connection input labeled MDMI-ARC. But what is HDMI-ARC?
A good number of Samsung smart televisions support this particular feature known as Audio Return Channel. This feature is designed to limit the number of connected cables between your television and an external sound system such as a home theater.
With HDMI-ARC, the audio signal will be able to travel both ways to and from your home theater’s speakers, and this usually enhances both the latency of the signal and sound quality. This implies that you won’t need second audio or optical cable connected to your external speakers.
To successfully connect your Samsung TV with an ARC-enabled home theater, you must first ensure you are using an HDMI 1.4 cable or higher. Also, you may need to adjust the settings of your home theater system to activate the HDMI-ARC controls. To make sure that the HDMI-ARC settings on your Samsung television are correct, you should activate HDMI-CEC settings. Important to note is that in Samsung TVs, the HDMI-CEC protocol is referred to as Anynet+.
To turn this feature on in your Samsung TV, follow the below procedure:
- Press the HOME button found on your Samsung TV remote control and then choose settings.
- On the settings screen, select GENERAL MENU. Next, select the EXTERNAL DEVICE MANAGER.
- After this, a menu will be displayed showing you the Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC). Select it and press the enter button on your remote to either turn this feature on/off.
Connecting your TV to the home theater system using HDMI-ARC:
- First, you need to establish whether your TV has the HDMI-ARC port. In Samsung TVs, this port is usually labeled ARC on the back of the TV.
- Now turn off your TV as well as the home theater system.
- Next, connect the HDMI cable to both the HDMI-ARC/output of your home theater, and the HDMI port of your TV. After you have done this, now proceed by turning both appliances on.
Method 4: Connect your Samsung TV to your home theater using Bluetooth
Most Samsung TV models can connect lots of different devices through Bluetooth functionality.
With the smart Samsung share feature from your TV, you can effortlessly make the connection. And this means that if your home theater system is Bluetooth enabled, then this may be the best route to follow.
One major advantage of this method is that it does not involve the use of cables since it is completely wireless. However, to proceed with this method, you need to ensure that your home theater is also equipped with the same Bluetooth features as your TV.
Follow the procedures described below to execute this process:
- Take your TV’s remote control and press the HOME button. Next, select settings. On the displayed screen, select the sound menu and then choose the sound output option.
- After this, select the speaker list that you would want your TV to connect to. In this case, select your HTS. You must make sure that your Bluetooth device is active and is in the pairing mode.
- Choose the pair and connect option, and wait for your home theater system to respond accordingly.
- If you are having problems, make sure your home theater system is connected to a power source and that it is not currently paired with any other device. Also, bring it closer to your TV, preferably a meter or two from your television. You may also power cycle the HTS and the TV.
- When both the TV and home theater systems are done pairing, proceed by selecting OK.
- At this point, if everything was done right, you should have successfully connected the two electronic devices.
There is no doubt that Samsung smart televisions are among the best out there on the market. And while they boast great audio output, most of us would always want to make it even better, by perhaps connecting their Samsung smart TV to an external sound system such as a home theater.
Thanks to the advent of technology, you now have a lot of options when it comes to connecting your TV to an HTS. We have provided you with four simple, practical and straightforward methods to follow.
See also – how to connect Google Home to your Samsung TV