Sony HT-CT150 and CT350 - Page 59

Everytime I turn the CT150 off then back on, it defaults to the TV setting. This is very annoying that everytime I have to change it to SAT to hear sound.

Is there a way to keep it on the same setting that it was on before I turned the unit off?

This has come up quite a few times before. Although the manual doesn't say it defaults to TV, it apparently does when Control for HDMI (CEC) is not operating. My educated guess is that CEC doesn't work unless at least one component connected to the CT has CEC functionality and that your TV can communicate with that component and with the CT. Cable/Sat boxes don't have CEC. If you have a BD player or PS3 slim connected, you should be able to get things working mostly the way you want if they're CEC compatible.

I doubt this will help you, but I'll throw in my experience with my Samsung Anynet and the CT150, just in case.

When my 150 kept starting on BD [my Roku box which is always on], Possumgirl suggested I try what had worked for some people, which was *turn off* Anynet, and see what happened. I did, and now my 150 moves on to SAT/CATV when I start it up.

Good luck, hope you find a solution soon...

I'm reading this thread also wondering about the weak volume on my just purchased 150. Using a non-hd cable box to RCA in on a Panasonic, and optical or hdmi arc to the 150, the max volume sounds like it's turned halfway up. It's definitely not loud. A blu ray from a ps3 to the 150 using hdmi and
hdmi arc was reasonably loud at max, but not cranked up loud. (we were able to have normal, non-shouting conversations, my gf and I).

So, max loudness varies with the source, from what seems to be a half volume setting, to a loud but not very loud one. It's interesting that the volume goes to number 50. Why not 100 for 100%? It seems like there's a loudness governor on that prevents loudness from going above 50%.

I want to like and keep these speakers. But, they seem loudness hobbled. I read sporadic complaints like mine, yet also many positive reviews. Am I missing something? The room they're in is a small to medium size LR that's open with a small dining room. Is the trick to up the sw and center setting (and bass and treble)?

We listened to a blue ray on a ps3 with volume at 46 to get a decent loudness last night (near max at 50). This wasn't a window shaking loud, but only a full sounding loud. Games are louder. So, our experiences are similar. I'm puzzled and concerned about the volume limit.

I haven't had my 150 long, but loudness certainly isn't a problem... it can run me out of the room. I'm wondering if you've checked all the settings, I seem to remember a sound level limit somewhere on the 150.

Hopefully someone more familiar than I am will come along and provide some useful info on why we're having these differences. I can't imagine putting my sound over 30.

Took the words right out of my mouth - I have the same experience with the 150. I couldn't be happier with it as it's a perfect fit for my living room (not a small room, either). It is a curious problem.

Dave

I had read a few comments on amazon about low volume, but many more that said it was loud enough. So, the positive reviews won me over.

It's for my gf's dad so I can't check it now. But, some have said the sound improves after initial use. Others set the sw up to 5 or 6, and the center up, also bass and treble, and that this really improves the fullness. I'll give it a try.

I really do want to like these as otherwise I like all the other aspects. One thing... I think loudness really varies depending on the source device. Maybe this explains some of the reported discrepancy.

That's my suspicion too. I don't watch a lot of DVDs, so it's mainly TV through a cable rented Motorola DVR, or a personal JVC video recorder, or a Roku streaming player for me. They all have excellent sound with HDMI cables, through the 150 av receiver/soundbar.

Hi,
Please help me set up my system

I have a Panasonic Viera TH46-PZ800 plasma TV with 4 HDMI ports. After trying to set up a pure HDMI system between my TV and Sony HT-CT150 for 6 hours, I learnt that my tech support guy was wrong to tell me that my TV is ARC compliant (If someone is sure it is capable of ARC, please let me know, but I have discovered the TV was made in 2008 and ARC TVs were first available in 2009 - again, I could be wrong, so please correct me if you know different).

Before I bought my HT-CT150, I used the TV generic speakers to accomodate the following setup:
1) HDMI port 1 connected to a PC with HDMI out
2) HDMI port 2 connected to a PS3
3) HDMI port 3 connected to Bluray player

I have a button on the remote that allows for me to toggle between HDMI port feeds - I use my PC on channel HDMI 1; my PS3 on Channel HMDI 2; etc. I just press a button on the remote to switch between signals.

When I set up my HT-CT150, I used a digital optical cable from the subwoofer to the TV as well as an HDMI (to utilise the Viera link capabilities) but I left all the other devices connected to their original HDMI ports (ie, as they were before I bought my sound system).

Now I'm reading that the HT-CT150 has video-switching; I can connect all my devices to the subwoofer, via HDMI, and then connect a single HDMI cable from the subwoofer's HDMI TV out to the TV HMDI port 1.

My question is, if all the signals from my video producing equipment (bluray, PS3 etc) are being transferred to a single port (HDMI 1) on my TV, how can I alternate between them? How do I toggle between bluray and PS3, for example, if they are both connected to my TV via a single HDMI cable going to a single audio/video port in my TV.

Thanks in advance. Please help me - I'm really stumped.


EDIT: Could it be that when I use the HT-CT150 remote to switch between audio signals (i.e. TV to BD) the system would utilise the single HDMI out to transmit the video, in addition to the audio, feed from the device that I have switched to?? It just occurred to me out of the blue. Could using the remote to change the audio input affect which image feed the subwoofer (receiver) transmits to the HDMI1 port?

Uh yes, that's the whole idea. When your components are connected directly to the CT150, it becomes your HDMI switcher. Video from the selected source is sent through to the TV and audio is processed by the soundbar. Plus, you get 5.1 audio (when available) whereas connecting components to your TV and using optical out only gives you 2.0 stereo.

You just leave your TV input on HDMI1 (see note) and select your source on the CT150. If your BD player has CEC, Viera Link will select it automatically. If your PS3 is a slim, it should have CEC as well. The PC probably does not have CEC.

Note: I'm assuming you don't use your TV's antenna input or have anything else connected to the TV. If you do then you'll need to run optical from the TV to the CT150 for TV audio. ARC was not available until 2010 models.

Does anyone have recommended settings, for the HT-CT150, for the speaker levels, audo DRC, bass, treble, and the dual mono?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Thank you. I thought as much after that flash of thought struck as I was writing the article, but I wanted to make sure.

From the first word of your reply, I gather you realised I'm new to home theatre systems and the like, so I apologise for my amateurish questions. Thank you for your help.

Andre, don't ever apologize for wanting to learn! Sorry if my response started off snarky, it was not meant that way....just funning with you. Hope you've got everything up and running and working well.

I did a search and found nothing, so forgive me if this has already been asked and answered.

I have my PS3 connected to the CT150 via HDMI. When I change the audio output for blu-ray on my PS3 to bitstream, I get no sound, only with linear PCM do I get sound.

What exactly is going on? Should I enable all the LPCM modes in the PS3 and disable Dolby Digital? Right now I have Dolby Digital and those enabled, but only LPCM 2.0 enabled... Just curious why the CT150 won't accept bitstream.

Thank you all for your answers!

i have the ct-350 and i remember having a similar problem when I first bought it. The PS3 defaults to LPCM for some reason unless you have it switched to bitstream under video settings. But when you select Bitstream, only Dolby Digital is checked (when you use the automatic settings on Audio) and most Blu-Rays have DTS instead of Dolby. You will need to go to audio settings and manually check DTS 5.1 (I just leave Dolby 5.1 on as well.)
If that does not work, I am not sure what the problem might be.

Thank you for the response, I'll check those settings out. I've been fiddling a bit because the sound quality seems lacking - the bass is booming, but everything else is quite flat sounding, maybe I expect too much of the little sound bar...

First post on AVS!

With the onslaught of new games and movies being released, I'm feeling pressured to move past using my TV speakers. However, I'm torn between the 150 and the 550 :/

So without further delay, I have a bunch of questions flowing through my head at the moment that I'd like to lay out:

Does the 550 do a better job at decoding?
Is it true that the bass sounds muddier?
Will I be able to play music from my iPhone on either unit?

I prefer picking up the latest release regarding electronics as it's typically equipped with the latest and greatest features, but some of the reviews are making me take a second look at the 150.

Any and all help will be much appreciated. Thanks!

Is your PS3 set to Bitesteam? If not, change it to it. It will be like NIGHT AND DAY as far as movies go. If you don't know how to do it, let me know.

+1

Would anyone know if there's a way to disable the buttons on the top of CT-150's subwoofer? I ask because my son is now at the exploring stage and he keeps pushing those stupid buttons which means he turns it off while we're watching TV or he changes input PITA.

Thanks!

So is the C150 my best bet at that price range (200 free shipping at amazon)? Or would the Vizio VH215 + budget wireless subwoofer be better value?

hey all i just got the ct150

i really dont know much about this stuff i got it all hooked up to my panasonic dt30 had it via arc was able to control my volume and everything from my cable remote

this is what my setup looks like these 3 connected to tv and ct150 connected to tv

fios cable
ps3
and popcorn hour media player

now i believe it said you can set certain settings for each input but right now i only have it connected via arc to the tv so right now what i set is what it is for every input

how can i configure my setup that i can have different settings for each input but can still use my one tv remote to control vol for each input is this possible?

also since its using hdmi 1 thats a waste video input now is there anyway around this with still using arc.

sorry like i said im a noob to this if you need to ask me anything please do

The CT150 has three HDMI inputs. If you connect your components that way instead of connecting them to the TV, you will get 5.1 audio for sources that have it and you can set a different sound field for each input. Settings other than sound field (such as bass, treble, etc.) apply to all inputs.

The only downside to this is that HDMI1 on the TV is the only input used so you can't use different video settings for each component.

Viera Link will work either way as far as volume control and on/off for the CT150.

alright so just to confirm this would be ct150 to tv via arc then each component to ct150 but this way your saying there all using one input on the tv?

so how would i switch to one thing to another ?

By pressing the buttons on the CT150 remote. If you have a PS3 Slim I think it has CEC and Viera Link should switch to it automatically.

If you look at the manual for the CT150 I believe it explains how the connections work.

I think i changed my mind how i want my ct150 setup not sure the best way to do this for some reason im drawing blanks when it comes to this setup and configuring this product dont know if im tired or what

Well my cable input sounds fine without the bar and my ps3 input i dont really need it either..i mainly bought it for my popcorn hour since thats where i watch my movies and shows

So my question is whats the best way to set it up so its just vhooked up to my popcorn hour and i would turn the bar on manually when i want to use it

I have a question about HDMI connections on CT150. I have Sony TV with ARC on HDMI 1. Currently I have the following:

HDMI 1 (ARC) - PS3
HDMI 2 - Xbox 360
HDMI 3 - Satellite Dish

If I hook up TV out ARC HDMI port from CT150 to my Sony TV HDMI 1 with ARC with 1 cable will the sound from Xbox and satellite dish return audio to CT150? PS3 will now be connected to HDMI 4. The idea of ARC is any audio that I can hear from TV speakers will return to CT150 correct without adding another optical output from TV to CT150? My main point is I want to use TV to switch HDMI instead of utilizing CT150 switch components.

if anyone can help me out with this would be greatly appreciated..im waiting on some cables to come in then i would like to set this up

Curious about the sentence in BOLD. Why not use the CT150 for HDMI switching?