Wondering How to Connect Your CD Player to Your Speakers?

If so, you've come to the right place! CD players are a staple component in any audio system. A dedicated CD player or changer can make your CDs sound amazing compared to digital files. But if you're new to the home stereo stage, it can be stressful to try and connect your CD player to your audio system for the first time.

But never fear! Connecting a CD player to speakers is very simple. Let me show you.

Let's first get familiar with the connections on your CD player.

The majority of basic CD players will only have analog audio, but a few CD players will have analog as well as optical and coaxial digital audio. Many audiophiles say that optical digital audio is the best.

I don’t personally feel that way, as I think it depends on the genre of music and your personal preference. Analog audio tends to provide a warmer sound as opposed to a digital sound. Many people prefer this and dub it a more "natural," smoother sound.

If you are curious, get a machine that is furnished with both connections. Then you can test both out with different music to decide which connection you prefer.

The next thing you will need to understand is how it connects to your speaker or speakers.

Typically, you will connect the CD player to a receiver like this one. Ideally, you will connect it to a jack labeled "CD In." You can connect it to just about any jack as long as you set the machine to the correct input. If you have an analog cable, simply line up the white plug with the white CD input jack and the red plug with the red CD input jack.

If you are using optical or coaxial digital audio, you will likely need to assign the connection to the CD input. Some receivers require you to enter the setup menus while others have an analog/digital button for quickly switching. It is best to refer to the owner's manual for this step. 

You will now need to connect your speakers if you haven’t already.

Receivers like this will typically require standard speaker wire. It generally doesn’t matter how thick the cable is. Just match the plus and minus on each end.

Some speaker wire is labeled for easily matching the ends. Make sure that each speaker is connected to the proper hookup. If you only have 2 speakers, connect them to the right and left channel of the Front A speakers.

If you don’t have an amplifier and stereo speakers, you can connect your CD player to a portable speaker or a smaller bookshelf speaker. Any speaker that has an auxiliary jack, also known as a 3.5mm jack, can be connected to a CD player. Just get a cord that is analog on one end and 3.5mm on the other. You can easily find these on Amazon on eBay. Just look up something like "3.5mm stereo to RCA jack cable" or "stereo 3.5mm to dual RCA audio cable," and it'll pop up.

Some TV speakers can be used with a CD player.

If you don't have a receiver or speaker, you may be use your TV's speakers using its RCA input. Just match the red and white cable to the audio INPUT and set the television to the correct input.

If you don’t hear anything, the TV may require a video signal. If this is the case, you will need to hook up a video device such as a DVD player. This could be pretty interesting if you want to watch a movie while listening to some music. Imagine watching the terminator while listening to Christmas music!

And that's it!

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