I seriously would not recommend that type of thinking.
I don't know your credentials, but as a professional service tech, and knowing these types of sets, it's asking for trouble, and an electrical hazard as well.
Accidental destruction of the amp chip, and possibly the rest of the set, could happen, should any of those external wiring become grounded or stray someplace where it isn't proper.
Understanding electronics and its funadmentals, is important, not telling someone to go "pulling apart" a plasma TV to butcher it up.
wot, I understand your concerns about the external wiring. I've seen a few BTL amps with burnt outputs.
But this being a DIY site, many here learn well and are going to push forward and many are surprisingly capable. Some are astounding. Most will hear the warnings and proceed with caution, considering advice along the way.
Now that this has been brought up, I may add an external speaker output to the set in my bedroom. A 42" set from a yard sale for $40, no great loss if it crumbles in my hands. My wife doesn't do electronics: any additional remote, extra buttons to push, switch to a different input/output, etc can quickly be overwhelming. She'll just give up and turn it off. This would be a great upgrade for her, and I have plenty of speaker choices and a couple of places to put them nearby.
How would you suggest connecting a pair of external speakers safely? At this point I don't want the complication of any other external devices.
Assuming the internal speakers in my TV's case are 8-ohm... If I were to use a pair of 8 ohm bookshelf speakers, I can wire in a 1/4" switching jack on each side of the rear to automatically disconnect the internal speaker when the external speaker is plugged in.
Assuming I can get in and make the mod without issue, that solution would mostly be susceptible to someone sticking something inappropriate in the jack. A rear location would minimize that risk. And if the external speaker were accidentally disconnected, the TV speaker would resume working again. No buttons to push or menus to look for.
Obviously, I should use durable hardware and perhaps a jacketed speaker wire. What else could one do to make this a lasting solution?
But this being a DIY site, many here learn well and are going to push forward and many are surprisingly capable. Some are astounding. Most will hear the warnings and proceed with caution, considering advice along the way.
Now that this has been brought up, I may add an external speaker output to the set in my bedroom. A 42" set from a yard sale for $40, no great loss if it crumbles in my hands. My wife doesn't do electronics: any additional remote, extra buttons to push, switch to a different input/output, etc can quickly be overwhelming. She'll just give up and turn it off. This would be a great upgrade for her, and I have plenty of speaker choices and a couple of places to put them nearby.
How would you suggest connecting a pair of external speakers safely? At this point I don't want the complication of any other external devices.
Assuming the internal speakers in my TV's case are 8-ohm... If I were to use a pair of 8 ohm bookshelf speakers, I can wire in a 1/4" switching jack on each side of the rear to automatically disconnect the internal speaker when the external speaker is plugged in.
Assuming I can get in and make the mod without issue, that solution would mostly be susceptible to someone sticking something inappropriate in the jack. A rear location would minimize that risk. And if the external speaker were accidentally disconnected, the TV speaker would resume working again. No buttons to push or menus to look for.
Obviously, I should use durable hardware and perhaps a jacketed speaker wire. What else could one do to make this a lasting solution?
I highlighted your comment about DIY/Learning.
That said, its got no bearing on this situation - an elderly couple's TV being modified by someone else - a potentially dangerous situation.
Do you know the potential ramifications of this if something were to go wrong with the set?
And if an insurance company were to find out the set's been "tampered with"?
We're talking a liability case here, not some DIY oh boy it's neato stuff.
I've seen all sorts of disasters from people playing around without the skills or education to perform some damn modification to something.
And I don't give a crap about DIY and any "learning" adventures - this TV doesn't belong to the OP, nor would it be in their constant posession.
So with THAT stated, the owners, being non-educated in electronics or what "mods" were done, are prone to a potentially dangerous situation.
I can not stress that strongly enough.
This whole site can band together and "stick up for" DIY and it's colorful benefits, but that is a fruitless and idiotic argument in this case.
There are several hundred volts in plasma sets, they were designed with specific safetly features in mind, and to pass strict codes - electrical insulation/isolation is one of them, this set doesn't have the luxury of external speakers, and no amount of "playing around" would please Panasonic or the insurance inspecter.
As for your own set, I don't know what it is, and I don't speculate on things that I don't have information on.
All I know is it's a 42" set......
That's like telling me you have a car, (no name/make/nothing) and need tires for it.
That's pretty much what this entire site is about.
That I will agree with. And if it were *my* father in-law's I wouldn't touch it.
Coincidentally, I do. It's a Nissan.