While I was down at my mate's place over the weekend, I tried to help him setup a surround speaker/subwoofer set he'd bought.

It's designed for something with 5.1 output, the subwoofer has 6 RCA inputs on the back, and then all the speakers connect to spring terminals on the back of the subwoofer.

When we tried to connect it to the DVD player, we discovered that we couldn't.. Sony, in their infinite wisdom [/sarcasm] have designed this DVD player with no standard audio output connections.

It doesn't have stereo out via RCAs, it doesn't have optical or coax out, all it has is proprietry sockets for 5 speakers, and 2 subwoofers.

Totally useless. I figured I could replace the proprietry sockets (they look a bit like RJ11s, with a keyed bit, and each only has 2 pins), with some RCA sockets.

I opened up the DVD player, hoping to find a daughterboard attached to the back of the case, with a ribbon cabling attaching it to the moherboard of the player, but I wasn't that lucky.

The proprietry sockets are in a block thing, which is hardwired to the board, I could desolder it, and replace it with RCAs still, it would just mean pulling the whole thing apart.

I'd also have to find some RCA sockets in a block similar to the stupid proprietry one.

I gave up for the time being, and put the case back on. Perhaps Sony make adapters (albeit sold at some ridiculous price), or something, to allow you use non Sony speakers.

Even if I did replace the sockets with RCAs, that doesn't deal with the line levels properly, and it's going to have the voltage/current to drive speakers, not another amp coming out.

I called up Sony to find out about adapters, or the plugs as spare parts, and the guy makes out like he has no idea what I'm talking about.

When I pressed him a bit, he admitted that he did know the connectors I was talking about, and that you can't get plugs or adapters for them, but you can get speaker cables terminated with those plugs (same difference idiot).

I asked him if they were available, trying to find out a price, but he said he'd have to check the model number. I couldn't remember what it was, I said I thought it was the "SCD-200", but that wasn't right, nothing came up with that model.

I actually think it might have been the SBC-200, but I'll have to find out from my mate, and I'll try again.

Update: I asked my mate, and he told me the model number is actually "HCD-SB200", I was somewhat close :-)