Sprout 100 will not pair with TV

I have a Samsung UHD TV 8 Series with bluetooth. It will not recognize the Sprout 100. I’ve tried placing the sprout in various locations in the room with no success. I know the Sprout bluetooth is functioning because I can pair to it with my smartphone and computer without an issue. Furthermore, I can pair my phone to the TV and also pair the TV with my portable bluetooth speaker. So the bluetooth is functioning on both the TV and the Sprout, they just will not pair with each other. Any ideas?

Try powering both of them completely off (might have to pull the plug on the TV) and then start them up one at a time.

Thanks. I gave it a shot but no luck. At this point I’ve tried pretty much all the general troubleshooting steps I can think of. Power cycles, updating and reseting the TV, unplugging all other wireless devices in the house (including internet routers) to ensure no interference, among other things. The strange thing is the bluetooth for both devices works perfectly with all other devices I have, but they just don’t work together.

We’ve had a few people try to connect things like TVs and Playstations to the Sprout with no luck. I don’t fully understand the technical reasons for this, but certain devices aren’t compatible with each other. Different BT devices follow different protocols. Something about the way the slave/master architecture is implemented in these two devices don’t jive with each other.

If the TV offers a digital optical out, this would be a much better way to connect to the Sprout100. Better more robust connection, and way less audio compression.

Thanks Jamesh,

I currently have the TV connected via Toslink but I wanted to use that port for my Cambridge Audio ID100. Unfortunately the ID100 is not compatible with the USB digital input on the Sprout 100 so the Toslink input is the only option. I appreciate good sound when watching TV but I’m willing to have lower quality sound from TV if it means better quality sound from my digital music. Using bluetooth for the TV frees up the port I need. The TV also has no analogue output so there is not an option to use the analogue input on the Sprout either. I’m thinking a Toslink splitter may be my only option at this point.

Scott

It’s not an ideal solution, but there are many Bluetooth receivers, like Audioquest’s Beetle, that simultaneously offer improved sound quality via BT and a way to connect to your TV. No one wants to spend more money or have another device, but I wanted to add this to the conversation it case it’s a viable option for you.

You could also get a Toslink switch. They are cheap and work reasonably well. Usually come with a remote. Search Amazon.

BK
Yup, not ideal but that’s the direction I’m going. I found a bluetooth receiver that actually plugs directly into a power outlet so the only wire I have to run is an RCA to the sprout input. Minimal clutter. I’m still a little bummed that I’m using a bluetooth receiver for something with built-in bluetooth.

Stevem2,
I appreciate the suggestion. I was on the fence between a toslink switch and a bluetooth receiver. The receiver won out because, for me, TV sound quality is not more important than minimizing extra wiring and clutter. A major reason I bought the sprout is the extremely compact size so I’ve put a lot of effort in keeping a minimalist approach while ensuring my music devices have wired connections for best performance. With the toslink switch I would be running a two long toslink lines, a short power cable for the switch, and I’d have the physical switch itself which I’d want to hide. I’d also add a third remote to my setup. So I went with the simple bluetooth receiver that only required a short RCA run.