Hi there,

I have just invested in some home entertainment.

I bought a 40'' Samsung LED 3D TV, with 4x HDMI, Optical out, Wifi, Scart, RCA etc.

Also bought a Panasonic HD 3D Blueray home cinema system (5.1) With optical in, HDMI etc.

I also have Virgin HD+ which has Scart, HDMI and Optical out.

Basically heres the crack.

Currently, I have the Virgin box connected to TV via HDMI cable

The DVD/Home cinema connected to TV via HDMI

The Virgin's optical supply connected to the home cinema.

Currently, I only get audio from the home cinema via Virgin, which tbh is virtually always in stereo (uses two front speakers and sub) I know you can replicate 5.1 (not true surround) but make all 5 speakers work with everything.

I also want to be able to have the audio through the surround with normal TV, on demand etc (which is built into tv)

The 5.1 works with DVDs and SOME programs on tv (many less films than I thought)

Basically can anyone suggest a better way of connecting?

I didnt know whether to bin the optical cable, or use it to connect the TV to the home cinema??

Any ideas Il be grateful, its a fairly expensive setup, so I want the most from it! :)

Nick

Right, just literally plugged the optical cable into TV instead of Virgin box, I now get the audio the TV would produce through the home cinema, IE DTV, Virgin etc....but its still 2.1...any ideas of how to get all 5 going?

hi, there are a few ways. but honestly sounds a bit cheap and dunno if meets all requirements but a standard audio jack via the aux port is what i have always found best and simplest into the headphone port on the TV (i have had a fair few different home entertainment set up ) so your getting all the sound all the time. unless there's anything i missed in your description that you wouldn't get from having it set up like this ?

through a stereo that is ^

I understand your idea mate, and have done this on other setups (32'' In my room lol) however I wanted to do this one proper, as then I still benefit genuine 5.1 surround sound for films etc :) as apposed to 2 channel on a jack plug/RCA

ahh ok mate fair play

Thanks though :)

not a lot of telly is actually in 5.1, its expensive and time consuming to do a 5.1 mix so not a lot bother with it (even the .1 in the 2.1 is just a mix of the stereo feed with a low pass filter)

That's it, unless its broadcasted in 6 channel, you are only ever going to get the amp stereo to surround decoding.

Optical is the only way to connect it for the 5.1, take it the dvd is using the same? Or have I been out of the Home cinema game for so long that they are sending digital 7.1 through the hdmi's now?

What amp/speakers did you go for? I need to find a surround amp that won't ruin a pair of B&W's lovely sound in stereo mode when I want to listen to music. Haven't looked into in ages.

Yeah turns out its setup right just is rarely broadcast in 5.1. It's just a cheap Panasonic 3d blueray setup which was £200 on offer so nothing fancy.

If I was doing it properly I'd get a separate amp & decent speakers etc

Furry muff, if you look at second hand amp/speakers you can get what used to be a couple of grands worth of stereo equipment for a few hundred quid. And amps hardly go wrong, a mates still got my 10 year old sony 5.1 going strong. Bit late now obviously but for anyone else/future reference.

The B&W 603s cost me £100 for example.

Me again.

Decided I wanted a chilling room at home.

Only a cheapo setup.

Have a 32" toshiba LED tv, and just bought a blueray home cinema.

I wanna use the home cinema for audio from tv too. But all it has is HDMI and phono in.

Tv only has hdmi & a digital audio out (coax)

Hmm! Can I use the HDMI for just tv audio?

I think I'll struggle when using Xbox etc, but I don't wanna use headphone socket on tv for stereo using home cinema via phono?

Me again.

Decided I wanted a chilling room at home.

Only a cheapo setup.

Have a 32" toshiba LED tv, and just bought a blueray home cinema.

I wanna use the home cinema for audio from tv too. But all it has is HDMI and phono in.

Tv only has hdmi & a digital audio out (coax)

Hmm! Can I use the HDMI for just tv audio?

I think I'll struggle when using Xbox etc, but I don't wanna use headphone socket on tv for stereo using home cinema via phono?

I'm probably mis-reading your question, but feel free to clarify

Does the home cinema have HDMI in and out? if so, you could connect all your other kit to that via HDMI (Which carries (iirc) 5.1 surround audio, where supported) then connect the TV to the home cinema via HDMI - the sound then comes out of the home cinema and also the TV (just turn the volume off on the TV) if it's just freeview built into the TV then I don't think you can use anything other than the headphone / RCA out on the TV

you really want a HDMI AV reciever, this will take your HDMI input sources ( be it xbox, tv, virgin box etc, and will contain an amplifier for powering your speakers. The audio from your sources should be 5.1 DTS. If you use phono, you'll only ever get a 2 channel audio and the 5.1 setup will be somewhat pointless.

onkyo do a really good one for 250 quid which includes a spotify client and is DLNA certified

Should of asked meeeeeee :p

Broadcasters for TV only use Stereo (unless its a film of some sort) - The bluray player/kit will only take the sounds from the source and replay it through the speakers. I get many customers coming back having not listened to me when selling.

If you had gotten an AMP (AVR) with the correct settings can "FORCE" out surround sound to the rear speakers, which is ok...

While watching tv 2.1 is really more then enough, when you switch to watch bluray movies enjoy that as thats for the experience of surround sound.

I don't get it though, some HD channels broadcast in 5.1, even the Simpsons says available in 5.1 on sky HD but still only get 2.1

Then the optical should come out directly from the Sky HD box to be able to do 5.1 (and not go through the TV)

Then the optical should come out directly from the Sky HD box to be able to do 5.1 (and not go through the TV)

This.

Had a nightmare trying to set up a mates TV, home cinema system, PS3 and WDTV, originally connected everything via HDMI to the TV and then had one optical to the amp.

I can't entirely remember but I think older PS3 games worked fine sending the sound through HDMI, but Gran Turismo was just silent.

In the end it transpired that the TV wouldn't pass-through certain audio formats to the home cinema system, even if the source was outputting them and the amp could receive them. Ended up buying a few more optical leads and running everything straight to the amp

I think that's right..

Edited 19 March, 201214 yr by AMD_Man