Sony HT-CT150 and CT350 - Page 61

You have to use the Sony remote.

I have a Panny 55ST30 and the CT350 soundbar. You are correct that the bar will block the TV's IR and the 3D emitter when you're seated. Since I'm not the handy sort that could make my own brackets, I bought the universal soundbar bracket (available thru Amazon) and mounted the bar above the panel. Works good. The top edges of the bracket stick up a bit but they're not visible when you're seated.

I took a couple pics that are posted here in another thread.

After a few days with it I have mixed feelings about the CT150. I do like how it sounds. But...
Has anyone else noticed a loss of picture quality when using CEC? The picture on my UN60D6400 Samsung pretty much goes to pot with lots of jitter and/or pixelization when there's movement on the screen. Actually I think the stutter was still there, at a lesser rate, when I turned off Anynet+ but around the same time I moved the HDMI input to different port on the TV and have not seen much problem at all. (There is still a bit of stutter from time to time but I've always had an occasional stutter on certain programs/channels.) Now that I think about it, there's a slight possibility that I was not using the same setup/picture settings on the ARC-enabled HDMI input and that could have contributed to the stutter/jitter. But if others have had problems using the CT150 HDMI switch I'd like to hear from you.

I have also not been able to find a programmable remote that will turn the CT150 on/off. Most of the things I've read in searches indicate no one else has found a programmable remote that works but I'm not sure about the Harmony remotes. There were a couple of threads about them where it was unclear if the on/off function worked or if it was just the volume/mute (which I was able to program into my Tivo remote).

FWIW, all my content is coming from a TivoHD.

Les

hello everyone, i just wanted to stop in and say thanks. i was looking at the ht-ct150 and while doing my research i came across this site which had a lot of good info. i wanted to join the forum to say thanks and give my review.

i am very pleased with my soundbar. i live in a small apartment, which doesn't allow me to have a full audio setup. i am very happy with the sound and the HDMI switching on this unit. i ordered mine last week for $190 shipped from compsource (can't post a url) . my logitech harmony 300 remote picked up all the buttons (so far) without the need to learn any special feature. i have been playing Skyrim on my 360 and this soundbar made a ton of difference. i dont even turn my volume past 20. it is plenty loud enough for me and my neighbors. i haven't had the chance to watch a blu-ray movie yet and test out the audio functions like DTS, etc. but i am sure it wil sound great.

try the harmony remotes and you will never go back!

I dug out my old Harmony remote and it does work with the CT150. But, I'd still prefer to use the Tivo peanut remote. This Harmony 520 doesn't have a good feel to the buttons but I might try one of the newer ones.

Thanks,
Les

*edit* after reading elsewhere, i am not sure if turning that off will disable the HDMI functions. i will check tonight...

sorry if it has been posted here already, i did a search and didnt find exactly what i wanted without going through 60 pages one by one. but, i was concerned if my harmony remote would work and on some site (could have been this one) they recommended turning off the HDMI CTRL. this is the Bravia sync and can interfere with the "watch tv" or "all on/off" function according to the post.



just a suggestion....

i was worried that turning off HDMI CTL would disable the HDMI ports for some reason but that is not the case. as i found in another location on the web, they recommend that you turn HDMI CTL OFF unless you use Bravia sync for your other sony components. supposedly, this can interfere with the "all off/on" or "watch tv" function from a universal remote. my harmony 300 remote never had any issues though.

has anyone else experienced this to be true?

Giving my 15 year old current setup away and trying to find the right setup on a budget.

Here is what I have

Panasonic tc-p50s30
Comcast HDTV box
Xbox 360
Blu ray player

This sound bar intrigues me for a few reasons. First if I am understanding correctly I would not need to purchase a seperate receiver. Is that correct? Second I live in an apartment that is going to be awkward to setup a 5.1 or 7.1 sound system. Take those two reasons and add it to my concern for a budget and this seems to be a perfect fit.

Does my rationale seem logical? Before I go ahead an purchase this I want to make sure this will do what I want it too. Most importantly that I will be able to get by without a seperate a/v receiver thereby saving some dough.

you are correct that you will not need a separate a/v receiver. the subwoofer is the receiver and it is where you input (and TV output via HDMI) all of your connections. i have been very happy with mine and if you are price shopping, you should check out compsource where i just got mine for $190 shipped.

If you are referring to the 150 you will like it a lot. Works perfectly in my living room and love the fact I can use it as a switcher for my cable, blu-ray and roku. Use the money you save to get the ST series plasma (I know they make a 55 not sure if there is a 50), not the S30. there is a HUGE difference in the PQ, even if you never use 3d, the panel technology in the two displays is totally different.

Went ahead and pulled the trigger on the one from compsource.

And I'm still torn on the st. Its 804 on amazon right now. I got the s30 for 599 on amazon. I def am not interested in the 3d. Still I understand there are some major upgrades in the display in moving up to the st series. But I'm on a tight budget and not sure if I can really shell out the extra 200 bucks.

I'm sure once you get it tweaked the way you like it, it will look great. That's all that matters.

so is it completely impossible to program a DirecTV remote to control the ctr350? I bought an open box from BB and it did not include a remote.

If the DirecTV remote is programmable you might be able to control the CT350 volume but it's unlikely you'll be able to control the other CT350 features. You could get the Harmony 330 pretty cheaply (about $30) and it will control all the features of the soundbar.

Les

yep you are right, I called DirecTV and I can only program the remote to control the volume and power. I ended up swinging by Radio Shack and grabbing a Harmony 600 for $30. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

This is my first post on avsforum.

I'm thinking about purchasing a Sony HT-CT150 or HT-CT550 (favorite) to set up a bedroom home theater.

I have the following devices:
(1) LG 42LW5700 HDTV (it has 4 HDMI ports and ARC is supported in HDMI1)
(2) Cable Box
(3) LG BD-670 Blu Ray player
(4) Roku 2 XS
(5) Apple TV 2
(6) 2008 MacBook Pro (used as a media server and connected to the HDTV through a Monoprice DVI & S/PDIF Digital Coax/Optical Toslink Audio to HDMI Converter)
(7) 2011 MacBook Pro (direct HDMI connection)

I know both the CT150 and the CT550 have the same input ports (including 2 digital/optical input ports -one for the TV and one for the Cable box).

I plan on setting it up as follows:
* Connect items (2) (3) and (4) to the CT150/550
* Connect the CT150/550 to the HDMI1 port on (1), which supports ARC.
* Connect items (5) (6) and (7) to ports HDMI2, HDMI3 and HDMI4 on (1).

So here are the questions:
- Do I have to connect the optical cable from the HDTV to the CT150/550 to get surround sound from items (5) (6) and (7)?
- The second optical port on the CT150/550 is left empty... can I use it to connect an AirPort Express through an optical cable? Does the optical port work independently or is it linked to the CATV HDMI port on the CT150/550?

I will appreciate any advise

Thanks!

Percy

Hi Percy, welcome to the forum.

Since your TV supports ARC, you do not need to connect optical from TV to soundbar. Most likely you will get 2.0 stereo from the connected components as most HDTVs only output 5.1 from their internal tuner(s). I don't know for sure that the LG does this though as I've never had one.

Of the two optical ports on the CT, the one marked SAT/CTV is independent and has a corresponding button on the remote. You should be able to use that for anything that has optical out.

Hi Possumgirl,
I have just ordered the CT550W.
I will let you know my impressions.
Thanks for the advise!
Percy

Hey guys, I have searched but no luck so far.

Does PQ suffer at all when using these as a switch? I cant imagine that being the case but was just curious before I picked up a ct550

Thanks!

Sorry for the newb question but I want to confirm what I think I have read. My initial idea for hooking up my ct150 was to simply run the optical audio out from my tv to the sound bar and call it good; However it looks as if that will only provide stereo rather than utilizing the digital audio the ct150 is capable of, am I correct that hooking my cable box, xbox, and ps3 to the sound bar and than HDMI out to the tv is the only way to get "surround sound" from my sound bar?

Connecting your components to the soundbar is the only way to send 5.1 audio to the CT150. That doesn't mean sending stereo out from the TV is going to sound "bad", but you should get somewhat more immersive sound from 5.1 input.

I never saw ANY issues with PQ when going through my CT350.

No. You are fine. There is no such thing, it's not technically possible to get bad PQ (because of the switch). Either you have picture or not.

Thanks guys now to hold out for a sale or splurge! Lol

So I just picked this thing up the other day and naturally it is a huge improvement over my normal TV, but I do need some assistance on the following items, but first this is how I'm connecting my stuff at this time:

Sharp Aquas 46" -- HDMI --> HT 150
PS3 -- HDMI --> HT 150
360 -- HDMI --> HT 150
DVR -- HDMI --> HT 150

So pretty straight forward, but I want to confirm or get further clarification on the following issues:

1. I noticed that my picture is noticeably darker on my PS3, do we know of any PS3 settings that I can fiddle with to improve this? I'd rather not manipulate the TV brightness every time I go from and to the PS3 if I can help it. My PS3 was previously connected directly to the TV via Component cables.

2. If I cannot resolve this issue and decide to connect the PS3 directly to the TV via HDMI to have isolated control over its brightness and then use component for audio by going to the HT 150, would I be losing sound quality by doing this?

3. Are there any settings I should fiddle with on the 360 and PS3 as far as Audio is concerned? Do I want to set my 360 to 5.1 or Stereo? What settings should I be using for PS3 if I go through HDMI? Same question for going through Component

4. I read that this device has a DMPort thingy and I'm interested in connected my IPhone to it to play music through the Rhapsody app. Is this possible, and if yes, I assume I'll need a cradle of some type? Any recommendations?

5. If anyone has connected Iphone to HT 150 via cradle, can it be confirmed that I would be able to use a music app such as Rhapsody to play through the HT 150 or will that not work?

That's about it I think, any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

Hi, I purchased the Sony HT-CT 350 about a year ago and have only used it sparingly, I was wondering if anyone here would like to buy an almost brand new condition Sony HT-CT 350, give me a price and I'll let you know if I am willing or not. considering the superb quality of this sound bar this is a steal. I have the remote and everything. Let me know guys! thanks.

OK I am having a sound issue. Basically I am unable to get the sound to play through my ht-ct150 when I am using viera connect (netflix) on my panasonic tc-60pst30. Sounds only works if I set viera link to output through the TV speakers.

When the sound did not work initially I though maybe I could just hook up an optical cable from the panny out to the sony in. But still no sound

Sound works fine through ht-ct150 when i am watching my fios service. For that I have HDMI running from fios set to box out to ct150 input. Then from ct150 output another hdmi to panasonic input. Sound works fine in this setup when vieralink is set to play through home theater.

I also have an xbox and once again the sound works fine through the home thater. HDMI connect xbox out to sony in then sony out to panasonic in. No issues with veiralink set to home theater.

Can't figure out what I am dong wrong here

Do you have ARC enabled on the CT150? You need to have CTL-HDMI turned on and then there is a menu item underneath that for ARC on/off. Also make sure you have the HDMI cable from the CT150 going into HDMI1 on the Panny. It sounds like you already have Viera Link turned on on the TV side.

I have an ST30 and until recently was using a CT350 soundbar. No problem at all with audio from NF or the other streaming services.

Yeah I got it to work by messing with the ctrl hdmi and arc settings. Not exactly sure how I did it or what I even set it to but....its working lol