Looking to revive my mom's old 5.1 setup (lost cables)

[TheRealOC]

Morning all,

Recently, I found my Mom's old Panasonic TX-32PS1L Color TV, and with it, the speakers for its matching home theatre surround system. The system itself isn't really anything special from a technical standpoint; It's an early 2000s home theatre in a box setup from Panasonic, but it has a sentimental value for me, and I'd like to get it going again if I can.

The system was called the SC-HT500 "DVD Home Theater Sound System" and came with:

SB-PC700 centre speaker
SB-FS700 Left Front Speaker
SB-FS700 Right Front Speaker
SB-FS803A Left surround speaker
SB-FS803A Right surround speaker
SB-WA330 Active Subwoofer

According to the manual, the five main speakers would connect (via the five lengths of RFA2163-J speaker cables) to the subwoofer. The subwoofer would in turn connect to the SC-HT500 DVD player, via the K1HA25HA0001 System Cable. Unfortunately the speaker cables, and the system cable to connect the subwoofer to the DVD player, have all been lost to time.

Pictures of my system: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/5/folders/15-KQ2Rn_q57mYrApJ8jHmJZS6rV5DtF8

I could be wrong on this (I've never hooked up any surround sound system, so I don't know anything about how regular 12/24/16/18 gauge speaker cable is supposed to look), but I've never seen anyone hook these speakers up to a 3rd party AVR (video example of the subwoofer being hooked up to its speakers), so I'm assuming this is a custom surround system where the cables/connectors are proprietary and you've only supposed to use them with this specific subwoofer module. I was able to find the K1HA25HA0001 system cable on Amazon, but had no luck finding the RFA2163-J speaker cables for sale anywhere.

Since I didn't have any luck finding the original speaker cables in standalone sales, I've been looking into repurchasing the whole system on eBay just to get the cabling. Haven't had any luck so far though. Just wondering if anyone can tell from the pictures whether the speaker cables are actually proprietary? And whether it might be possible find compatible replacement cables without having to repurchase the whole system?

Any advice appreciated, many thanks

 

[Eppie]

That looks like standard speaker wire. Most people use 14 gauge or better but that probably came with 16 gauge. If the black and red tabs are on hinges and toggle to lock the wires down, then they should be normal speaker connections for passive speakers and the amplification is all in the subwoofer module. I'll try and get a look at the manual and your photos later.

Edit: Yes, the speakers are passive so just regular stranded copper speaker wire is all you need. The only proprietary cables are the ones that connect the components.

 

[TLS Guy]

Morning all,

Recently, I found my Mom's old Panasonic TX-32PS1L Color TV, and with it, the speakers for its matching home theatre surround system. The system itself isn't really anything special from a technical standpoint; It's an early 2000s home theatre in a box setup from Panasonic, but it has a sentimental value for me, and I'd like to get it going again if I can.

The system was called the SC-HT500 "DVD Home Theater Sound System" and came with:

SB-PC700 centre speaker
SB-FS700 Left Front Speaker
SB-FS700 Right Front Speaker
SB-FS803A Left surround speaker
SB-FS803A Right surround speaker
SB-WA330 Active Subwoofer

According to the manual, the five main speakers would connect (via the five lengths of RFA2163-J speaker cables) to the subwoofer. The subwoofer would in turn connect to the SC-HT500 DVD player, via the K1HA25HA0001 System Cable. Unfortunately the speaker cables, and the system cable to connect the subwoofer to the DVD player, have all been lost to time.

Pictures of my system: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/5/folders/15-KQ2Rn_q57mYrApJ8jHmJZS6rV5DtF8

I could be wrong on this (I've never hooked up any surround sound system, so I don't know anything about how regular 12/24/16/18 gauge speaker cable is supposed to look), but I've never seen anyone hook these speakers up to a 3rd party AVR (video example of the subwoofer being hooked up to its speakers), so I'm assuming this is a custom surround system where the cables/connectors are proprietary and you've only supposed to use them with this specific subwoofer module. I was able to find the K1HA25HA0001 system cable on Amazon, but had no luck finding the RFA2163-J speaker cables for sale anywhere.

Since I didn't have any luck finding the original speaker cables in standalone sales, I've been looking into repurchasing the whole system on eBay just to get the cabling. Haven't had any luck so far though. Just wondering if anyone can tell from the pictures whether the speaker cables are actually proprietary? And whether it might be possible find compatible replacement cables without having to repurchase the whole system?

Any advice appreciated, many thanks

View attachment 58994

I assume you are in the UK. You will not be able to make that TV work for other then VCR viewing. The manuals show the old UHF antenna. We are now passed the analog sunset and the UK have now switched to over air digital transmission.

I think you have the speakers figured out. The interconnect cables are SCART. They were a contrivance of the French and just awful. Thank goodness we never had them in the US. They are obsolete, but I see Argos still have them for sale. SCART is an analog interconnect and not digital.

So the only way you will get that TV to work is via an old analog VCR with SCART output. That is assuming you can find VCR tapes you want to watch.

The antenna hookups look like Belling Lee connectors, but they will not be much use to you, now the analog sunset has passed.

So you could use that unit as a curio, assuming it still works and that is a big if. It is not a unit of any use for regular viewing now. Times they are a changing and always will.

 

[TheRealOC]

That looks like standard speaker wire. Most people use 14 gauge or better but that probably came with 16 gauge. If the black and red tabs are on hinges and toggle to lock the wires down, then they should be normal speaker connections for passive speakers and the amplification is all in the subwoofer module. I'll try and get a look at the manual and your photos later.

Edit: Yes, the speakers are passive so just regular stranded copper speaker wire is all you need. The only proprietary cables are the ones that connect the components.

Thanks @Eppie

apologies for being so clueless but you would be able to give me a link or a sku for the correct replacement cables?

 

[Eppie]

Thanks @Eppie

apologies for being so clueless but you would be able to give me a link or a sku for the correct replacement cables?

View attachment 58995

You don't need any SKU for speaker wire. Just measure how much you need and buy 16 gauge stranded copper wire, or lamp cord, from the local hardware store, or order speaker wire off of the web (which will likely be 14 gauge which is thicker). The manual calls for 22m total but it really depends on where you want the speakers placed. You only need to strip off 1/4" or so of insulation off of the ends to make a connection. Just don't push the wire in so far that the clamping mechanism engages the insulation instead of the bare wire.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Literally, go to Amazon, and search for speaker wire.
For example: https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasics-16-Gauge-Speaker-Wire-1-3/dp/B006LW0W5Y/ref=sr_1_3

With an older system like this that came with super cheap wire, you can use almost any old two conductor wire and it will work, but standard 16 gauge speaker wire, or similar, will be just fine.

16 gauge, 14 gauge, 18 gauge, 12 gauge... This refers to how thick the wiring is. 18 gauge is thin, 16 gauge is thicker, 14 gauge is thicker still... So, as the number goes down, the thickness of the cable goes up. Thicker cables are generally better, but can be more difficult to work with and you don't need more thickness in the cables than the distance requires. Still, with cheaper gear, you don't need to spend as much on thicker cabling.

Typically, you would buy enough speaker wire to reach all the speakers in the room, then cut it to length and strip the ends of the wire to go into your speakers. There are videos on how to do this all over YouTube.