home theatre setup

[pratikvdoshi]

Hi All, I am planning to buy a basic 5.1 ch home theatre system to be used for outputting audio from my tv, set top box, movies played through the laptop connected to tv, etc. I have a basic full hd led tv: www dot hisense.co.za/tvs/D36/50/0 I am planning to buy a home theatre system in box. The TV has 2 HDMI ports (dont think it has ARC HDMI port), 1 USB and 1 co-axial port. Home theatre system (HTS) that I have looked has one HDMI out port and probably one TOSlink port (another HTS has one coaxial port). www dot samsung.com/ae/consumer/home-audio-video/home-entertainment-system/home-entertainment-system/HT-F450K/ZN www dot lg.com/ae/audio/lg-DH6330P I have downloaded 1080P x265 with DTS 6 channel audio movies. I am unable to play them directly from my TV USB port because my TV doesnt support x265. But I can play them on my laptop which when connected to my TV through HDMI plays the movie on TV. So, I use this HDMI port only when I connect my laptop to the TV otherwise it is free. Also, I have a cable set top box presently connecting to my TV through HDMI. This remains connected all the time to the TV, I want to buy HTS and connect it such that audio from all sources go to the HTS - Set top box, laptop playing movies on TV, movies (which are playable such as x264 MP4, etc.) I play directly from USB, etc. Also, i want to make sure it plays on all 5 channels and sub woofer i.e. 5.1 in true HD audio (wherever it is available for e.g. x265 movies with DTS 6 channel audio). So, in summary, I want to know what would be the ideal setup: 1. Set top box connected to the HTS via HDMI. Laptop connected to TV via HDMI. HTS connected to TV via coaxial or should it be connected via HDMI? 2. Set top box, laptop and HTS connected to TV via HDMI (alternating between the 2 HDMI ports i.e. if want to watch TV, plug set top box and HTS to TV HDMI. If want to watch downloaded movies, plug laptop and HTS to TV HDMI) Other questions: 1. Will the sound output to HTS connected via HDMI to TV, if TV HDMI port does not ARC? 2. Will connecting HTS to TV via co-axial give the same quality and 5.1 tru HD sound as compared to being connected via HDMI? 3. If I connect, say laptop and HTS to the 2 ports of TV, how would the sound from laptop be heard on TV since both (laptop and HTS) are on 2 different HDMI ports of the TV and generally on TV remote, we can select only one source i.e. HDMI1 or HDMI2 (I know this question would be felt as dumb but I am sorry I have no clue how it will work and am curious to know) 4. Last question - if HDMI ARC is required on TV for HTS to output sound to HTS via HDMI (which the TV does not have) and HTS does not have co-axial port, what other option should I look out in HTS that will help me output sound in true HD quality to 5.1 speakers? Those of you who are impatient by this kiddish questions, please do not respond. Awaiting earliest response from those who care for people like us who are new to HTS but want to explore it out Regards, Pratik

 

[ssddx]

please use paragraphs and lists to organize information when asking a question. it is very hard to quickly and easily read through a giant wall of test like you have written and some people will just skip over your question because of it. also your comment on kiddish behavior is not really appropriate and might chase a few users away.

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as for your questions:

if your tv does not support hdmi (ARC) then you will want to make sure if it supports 5.1 out of optical or coax connections and also make sure the home theater system you want to buy accepts 5.1 over these inputs as well. it should be noted that in many cases cheap home theater in a box (HTIB) units do not support 5.1 input. if any one of the above is true, the best you will get is stereo sound only from all sources except the included dvd/br player in the HTIB set

for this reason i highly suggest using either a set with a true and seperate audio video receiver (AVR) or buying the AVR seperate from a set of speakers. typically for us based buyers i suggest the energy take classic 5.1 or monoprice 10565 but these are often not available to foreign customers. at a bare minimum if the above is not available i would suggest a unit capable of hdmi input (or optical and coax). also, you will want to check that even hdmi input on a HTIB supports 5.1 as i have heard of even hdmi sometimes being limited to stereo on cheap sets (why i prever AVR's). now, there are some decent HTIB sets with 5.1 input capabilities and hdmi (though if you want 5.1 out of your tv it still needs to have 5.1 output capability or ARC)

generally for an AVR based system i would suggest routing all sources to the receiver first with one single hdmi out to the television and avoid using the tv's built in tuner/apps (unless you had arc) since sound would only be likely stereo as a result (unless it supported 5.1 on outputs). they do make external tuners you can use or devices which can take the place of smarttv apps if you had them (or just use your pc for this).

hdmi is the only digital cable which offers 100% uncompressed audio quality for 5.1 and your other options of optical or coax (if both devices on each end supports it ONLY) have compressed 5.1 only. while not a huge deal, hdmi does have the advantage for digital audio.

 

[pratikvdoshi]

Hi All,

I just set up Onkyo TX-SR313 (AVR) with Jamo A102HCS6 5.1ch home theater.

Onkyo has front USB (for audio files)

Connections as follows:

Satellite/Cable STB -> Onkyo (HDMI In)
Laptop -> Onkyo (HDMI In)
Onkyo (HDMI Out) -> TV
TV -> Onkyo (Co-Axial) - My TV doesnt have HDMI ARC. Just connected this coaxial in case I want to plug usb to tv directly (I do know I wont get true 5.1 if I plug usb to TV but just in case required).
DVD Player (old) -> Onkyo (RCA)

My STB video plays perfectly on the TV and audio on the Jamo 5.1

Same is the case when I play movies on my laptop.

However, If I change the source on onkyo remote to USB (the USB on the AVR) or any source (BD/DVD) other than the ones that are connected through HDMI (STB and laptop), the display on the TV goes to 480p and also, it is fluctuating and bad display. The display is bad but the audio from the USB files is perfect.

So, something related to connections but unable to figure out! I hope I would not need to send the receiver for replacement/repair!

I tried removing the coaxial and the RCA from the Onkyo to check if those are causing it but to no effect!

I have recorded the video (link below) of the display to help understand what exactly is happening.

https/youtu.be/9tybqfqDIy0

All the help would be appreciated.

 

[americanaudiophile]

You can try connecting the composite video out of the receiver and see if that works. Non HDMI sources may be limited to 480p. You can also see if there is any upconversion in the receiver you can turn off.