How to Connect TV to Receiver Without HDMI — Improve Your Experience Beyond Your TV Speakers

Using an HDMI cable is the easiest way to connect your TV to a receiver, provided both have an HDMI jack. But what if your TV or both lack an HDMI jack?

Luckily, there are alternative ways to connect your TV to a receiver. Our team made this guide on how to connect TV to receiver without HDMI.

How to Connect TV to Receiver Without HDMI

It may seem a little bit overwhelming when your device does not have HDMI, HDMI Arc or optical cable, but it isn’t impossible. In fact, it’s pretty much as easy as connecting using an HDMI Cable.

There are three ways to get this done: you can use an HDMI converter, RCA cables, or a Composite Video Cable (CVC). With all these, you are just a few minutes away from transferring sound from your TV to your sound system.

Use an HDMI Converter

An HDMI converter can connect your TV to a receiver, as it comes with an HDMI port and multiple YPBPR cables.

Samsung Smart TV HDMI ARC Connection

Using the correct HDMI converter will enable you to convert your digital signal to analog, provided you have the right connection cables with you.

Use a Composite Video Cable

A composite video cable is another type of RCA cable type that’s commonly used. Before the advent of HDMI cables, composite video cables were used for connecting both audio and video from one device to another.

This type of cable has a yellow, white, and red connector. For videos, you only need the yellow connector. For audio connection, that’s where the red and white connectors come in.

Use RCA Cables

This method of connecting TV to a receiver without an HDMI would work, provided that the TV and receiver have RCA outputs and input. This is another quick and easy method of getting off TV sound into a sound system.

This RCA cable transmits audio only, making it a perfect alternative to an HDMI cable in terms of connecting your TV to the receiver. Generally, RCA cables come in white and red connectors. 

inspect cable connectors

The white-colored cable is for the left channel, while the red-colored is for the right channel[1]. With that said, you should ensure that you plug these cables into the appropriate TV output jacks to avoid disrupting the signals.

This means that you should plug the white-colored cable to the white output and the red to the red output. At the other end, plug the white and red into their respective RCA inputs on the receiver’s back.

Steps to Connect TV to Receiver Without HDMI

Once you have the required cables and your converter, the process of connecting your TV to a receiver should be seamless. Here, our experts will explain how to connect TV to receiver without HDMI. This will avoid your from experiencing bad or damaged HDMI cable and finding ways to repair it

Turn on Both Receiver and TV

First of all, make sure that both your receiver and TV are turned on.

Plug Cables Using Your Chosen Method

Plug the cables into their appropriate inputs on the receiver, whether you are using an HDMI converter and/or RCA cables. Remember, plugging them into the wrong inputs will disrupt the signal and damage both your TV and the receiver.

The inputs are generally labeled as “Audio, Component, or Composite.” Our experts advise that you use the colors as a guide if the inputs aren’t labeled.

Yamaha RX-V685 Receiver with remote

Change Your TV’s Audio Settings

This is usually done before the setup, but you can still do it after connecting the cables to the receiver and TV.

pressing navigation button on Insignia TV Remote

The process of changing your TV’s audio settings depends on the TV type, as all TVs come with their configurations. Generally, you will find the audio settings in the sound section of the TV’s menu.

Check your TV’s menu settings to see if the audio is set to “audio out.” This is to make sure that sound is coming out of the receiver. If it isn’t, change it from “audio-in or internal speaker” to “audio out or external speaker.”

After your setup is complete, it’s time to test your connections. Turn up the volume to see if you can hear the sound. If you can hear everything clearly from the video playing, it means that your setup is successful and you are good to go.

(Want to know the difference between an amplifier or receiver? Read our receiver vs amplifier comparison and guide here)

Conclusion

Don’t be alarmed if you discover that your TV has no HDMI port. Or that you aren’t able to find an HDMI cable to connect your TV and receiver, as there are several methods on how to connect your TV to a receiver without an HDMI cable. 

Sony STR-DN1080 7.2 ch Surround Sound Home Theater AV Receiver displayed beside a tv

You can choose which one of the methods on how to connect TV to receiver without HDMI suits you best, in terms of budget and availability of materials. 

Using any of the methods our team of experts has explained in this guide, you’ll be able to connect your TV to a receiver conveniently. The audio quality will just be the same as using an HDMI cable.

Writer

Picture of Willie Greer
Willie Greer
Willie Greer is the founder of The Product Analyst. A cinephile, he has made it a personal quest to achieve the awesomest home theater possible. He now shares what he has learned through the years on the site, and has enlisted the help of tech-savvy colleagues in providing more insight about today’s most sought-after gadgets.