[Maybe this belongs in Audio Chat?]

With the impending switchover to ATSC-only OTA TV signals, I'm interested in cobbling together a really cheap surround sound setup -- without investing in an AVR, if at all possible.

I was hoping to find an OTA (Over-the-Air) Digital TV Converter STB (Set Top Box) which would also decode the 5.1 digital sound into 6 analog outputs (which I could then feed into an old surround sound system -- which I already own), but...

NONE of the $40 Government Coupon ATSC Converters output anything better than 2 channel audio -- just a simple digital audio bypass would evidently disqualify them from the program, and...

Even without using a $40 Coupon, there appear to be only a handful of ATSC Converters available which pass-thru the digital audio signal, and I haven't yet found an STB which decodes the 5.1 digital audio to multi-channel analog outputs.

I did find a cheap, old Samsung HDTV STB which will pass-thru the 5.1 digital audio signal, but that still leaves me with the decoding issue.

Does it make any sense to slap a 5.1 decoder card into an old PC I already own -- just to process the audio, or...

Maybe I should consider buying an ATSC/QAM Digital TV Tuner Card and a 5.1 Audio Decoder Card for my old PC, instead of using a separate STB?

I feel like I just may need some slapping around here (to bring me to my senses), so please don't hesitate to reply with any criticisms and/or suggestions, OK?

Thanks, regardless --

do you have directv? cable? just straight OTA?

Having grown up a product of the lineage of the inventors of country music in the hills of East Tennessee, I'm especially capable of answering this.

Go to a Best Buy or whatever Hi-Fi dealer is around and look at their clearance tables for a good Yamaha or equivalent 5.1/7.1 receiver. Just make sure that it has optical or phono-plug S/PDIF inputs.

Whatever ATSC tuner you get, make sure that it has the ability to output the Dolby Digital stream; most likely through an optical or phono-plug S/PDIF output.

Connect the two together.

Find some good cheap speakers. I have found that the Sony line (yellow cones) are amazingly flat and actually work quite well, You don't need powered ones (except for the powered subwoofer), just get passive speakers and a powered subwoofer.

These work well for the front pair:
http://www.us-appliance.com/ssb3000.html?productid=ssb3000&channelid=NEXTA
These for the center and rears:
http://www.nextag.com/SONY-SS-B1000-Bookshelf-543706123/prices-html?nxtg=4b030a1c0524-44FF70C230DC9AB6

They used to sell them at Radio Shack but Radio Shack doesn't seem to sell anything cheap anymore. You can find them online.

Sony has a matching subwoofer.
http://www.us-appliance.com/saw2500.html

Connect the speakers to the amp - which is connected to the ATSC receiver - and have fun.
Do - however - take a second to make sure all the speakers are in phase. Take a AA battery and touch each speaker wire pair (the amp end) to the battery. Watch the speaker cone. If it pushes outward when connected to the battery, then the wire touching the + nipple is the positive and goes to the red connector. If it sucks it in, swap the battery ends and make it push it out, then the + nipple is the positive and goes to red.

Do this with ALL FIVE speakers.

Hillbilly enough?


I have no connection to ANY of the above.
-John

Since you can find ATSC converters that provide SPDIF outputs, what I understand you need is a converter box that takes that optical or coax SPDIF and outputs it as analog multichannel (RCA connections).

Unfortunately, such devices are no longer very common - I read somewhere around here (maybe in the receivers forum) that such devices were "fairly available" about 10 or 15 years ago, before optical/coax SPDIF inputs became standard equipment on all receivers. But now, they market has disappeared, and no-one makes them anymore.

So...you might be stuck upgrading your current receiver - it might end up being cheaper to get an open box low-end Yamaha or Sony for $100 or so at Best Buy than to struggle to find the exact SPDIF->MCH analog device you want.

AFAIK,

shinksma

do you have directv? cable? just straight OTA?

Thanks for replying, Dave and John --

I will have only OTA for a while, but hope to at least add Unscrambled Cable (clearQAM) soon.

I already own a powered 5.1 Speaker System, so my main concern is decoding 5.1 Surround Sound Signals -- hopefully withOUT having to buy an AVR.

Since you can find ATSC converters that provide SPDIF outputs, what I understand you need is a converter box that takes that optical or coax SPDIF and outputs it as analog multichannel (RCA connections).

Unfortunately, such devices are no longer very common - I read somewhere around here (maybe in the receivers forum) that such devices were "fairly available" about 10 or 15 years ago, before optical/coax SPDIF inputs became standard equipment on all receivers. But now, they market has disappeared, and no-one makes them anymore.

So...you might be stuck upgrading your current receiver - it might end up being cheaper to get an open box low-end Yamaha or Sony for $100 or so at Best Buy than to struggle to find the exact SPDIF->MCH analog device you want.

AFAIK,

shinksma

Exactly right, shinksma --

My thought is that with the chance of Terrestrial TV catching on soon, a market just may evolve for a low-end Digital OTA STB which converts both video and audio to analog feeds.

[But then I still have an 8 Track Tape Player, so what do I know?]

I had to go to eBay and buy an unwanted 1st generation HD-DVD player to find a DVD player with 6 analog outputs for demos.

I had to go to eBay and buy an unwanted 1st generation HD-DVD player to find a DVD player with 6 analog outputs for demos.

A DVD Player probably lacks the digital inputs, right?

But maybe an old DVD Recorder could work for me --