Yamaha ATS-1010 and the Yamaha RX V371

Last year I purchased a Yamaha Surround RX-V371 Reciever; this is a Reciever that can play all the new formats, including Digital Dolby PLUS (Netflix streams 5.1 sound in this format.) All in all, I'm very pleased with this reciever.

All I truly needed was the addition of a powered sub-woofer to complete my 5.1 system. Soo, I asked for a powered sub-woofer for Christmas..

Bless their hearts, my wife and daughter thought they were really giveing me a greater gift than a powered sub-woofer. They gave me a Yamaha Front Surround ATS-1010 Soundbar.

Now..my Yamaha RX-V371 reciever is a 500 watt reciever. I have JBL book shelf speakers, including surround rear speakers that are rated for 100 watts per speaker.

The Yamaha ATS-1010 SoundBar has TWO front 30 watt speakers and a small 60 watt sub-woofer in the soundbar.This soundbar is a reciever in itself, claiming to provide a full 7.1 surround sound experience through their amazing "Yamaha's Excusive Air Surround Extreme" technology. Hmmmm. yeah, right.
I honestly think that the Yamaha SoundBar is NOT as good as, nor offers the functionality of my Yamaha RX-V371.

I truly didn't wish to disappoint my wife and daughter. We tried to plug the Optical Sound cord into the Optical Sound port in the back of my Yamaha RX-V371..then plugged in the new Soundbar, then tried to play audio through the soundbar.While there was audio through the Book shelf speakers, there was NO audio at all through the Sound Bar.

I've looked all through the manual for my Yamaha Reciever.. that optical Port in the back of the reciever SHOULD have worked.. it appears in the manual as an OPTICAL OUTPUT port. BUT, it didn't work at all. I MUST be doing SOMETHING wrong.BUT I can't figure what it might be.
I have EVERYTHING (blu ray, WD TV Live Media Player, the cable box) hooked up via HDMI cable to the Yamaha RX-V371 Reciever, from there, via a single HDMI to the Samsung A630 HDTV set.

The manual for the Samsung HDTV set does not indicate that the Optical Output only outputs 2.00 channels, OR 5.1 sound.

I would like to be able to use this Soundbar to please my wife.. she wanted me to have the soundbar, because THEN we wouldn't have to deal with messy speaker wire all over the living room. BUT I've no wish to give up using my Yamaha RX-V371 either.

My question is, then; how do I hook up this Soundbar to the Reciever? OR is it even possible ? Thank you for any advice.

Thank you for your reply.. well,, it's too bad that they didn't ask me before they bought the soundbar. They really wanted me to use it..they think that will eliminate the nest of tangled wires in the back of the tv set.. BUT most of those "wires" are electrical cords.. Well.. my daughter said that, instead of taking the soundbar back..she'll use it in her room. I sort of doubt that I'll be getting my powered sub-woofer any time soon. My wife was not pleased that I would not help her (in her mind) to clean up all those wires. But that isn't the point. The soundbar simply won't work with the receiver. Thanks again for your reply. Much appreciated.

Thanks for all your help, Guys..in fact..that small Yamaha Sub woofer is precisely the unit that I wanted. Now..I have a question...I have the cable box, Blu ray player, WD media tv live media streamer plugged into the Yamaha reciever via HDMI cables.. the Yamaha reciever has an OUTPUT HDMI cable to send the signals to the HDMI input on the Samsung 630 HDTV set..Now..in the Samsung manual, it says that the Optical cable Output on the back of the tv set will ONLY output 2 channels. (most probably in PCM format..but I'm not sure about that..)

My question is, since all of the decoded surround signals (DTS, Dolby Digital Plus, ect.) are coming from the Yamaha reciever, to the HDMI input port on the tv set, even though the Optical cable output will only output 2 channels..will the Soundbar be able to pick up the decoded signals anyway, then output the surround sound that has already been decoded from the reciever ? OR will that Optical output simply downmix the signals into regular 2 channel PCM, then output THAT signal to the surround bar?

If the optical cable output in the back of the tv set simply downmixes the signals, then; of course, the surround bar would be of no use to me at all. I would still be at square one.

Thanks for your advice, guys.. it is MUCH appreciated.

Thanks Possumgirl, for looking through the manual, and confirming what I saw there. yeah.. I kinda thought that would be the case. Rats. If only the optical input on the tv would "pass through" the signal from the HDMI (since the signal would be coming directly from the AVR).. we would be in great shape.

Yes, I'm doing my best to accomodate my wife and daughter..actually, I wouldn't mind not using my JBL speakers all THAT much. I DO want to utilise the AVR, simply because it decodes Dolby Digital Plus signal that Netflix uses for 5.1 surround sound, from the WD Media Streamer (and it IS true 5.1 surround.)..

if I were to use the optical cable directly from the WD Media Streamer to the soundbar..I would NOT be able to get that same 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus surround signal, because that soundbar simply doesn't decode the Dolby Digital Plus signal . Plus, even though my yamaha RX-V371 reciever is an entry level reciever,, it's a GREAT reciever, simply because it DOES decode every signal available.

BUT if all tv sets downmix the Optical cable output to 2 channel stereo only, well; then these surround soundbars (which use the Optical output on the tv sets) are a gigantic scam. UNLESS they are actually able to process a TRUE Dolby Digital surround signal out of 2 channel stereo. Which, at this point, I sorta kinda doubt.

Thanks again, Possumgirl for your advice.. I MAY inquire in the Reciever forum at AVS as to whether the Optical cable jacks on the back of the Yamaha Reciever are actually just INPUTs, OR can they OUTPUT a signal to a surround bar. It's worth asking, leaving no stone unturned.

Your advice is much appreciated. Thanks again.~ :>)

Possumgirl, you're right..I may have been a tad too harsh in my evaluation of soundbars in general..put it down to frustration.. that said; I think I've found a way to solve my problem~ I've not tried this yet..BUT I've found an HDMI Optical SWITCHER that may do the trick~!

My Yamaha reciever has 3 HDMI INPUTS, the Cablebox, Blu Ray player, and WD TV live media player are plugged into these HDMI inputs, and ONE HDMI OUT that plugs directly into the HDTV set. Soooo.. what if I take the HDMI cable that is plugged into the HDMI OUTPUT, plug THAT HDMI cable into the HDMI INPUT on the switcher, (Also plugging the OPTICAL CABLE from the Soundbar into the Optical Cable OUTPUT on the Switcher.) then plugging ANOTHER HDMI cable from the HDMI OUTPUT on the switcher DIRECTLY into the HDTV set to retain the High Def video.

If I set up the HDMI Optical Switcher this way.. I can actually get the Dolby Digital 5.1 signal passed directly from the Yamaha Reciever to the Yamaha Soundbar...thus actually using the RECIEVER WITH the SOUNDBAR..making my wife and daughter and myself happy again~! Problem Solved..that is ..if the HDMI Optical Switcher works as I hope it will.

Here's the link to the HDMI Optical Switcher that I'm going to try out..=

http://www.amazon.com/eForCity-Switch-Remote-Toslink-Coaxial/dp/B004XKZ2JC/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1358315032&sr=1-6&keywords=hdmi+optical+switch

Thanks Possumgirl, and everyone for the great advice, and real patience with me~

Yes, Possumgirl..I understand the concern about the worrisome reviews; that's why I've now ordered the Monoprice after consideration of those reviews. Thanks....

Regarding the change to "TV"..ok..I'm confused here..what change where? To my mind, I would simply be re-routing the signal ..detouring it a bit, if you will; from the HDMI out on the Yamaha Receiver, to the INPUT on the SWITCHER, then back out from the HDMI OUTPUT on the Switcher, to the HDTV set. I really wouldn't actually be CHANGING anything. I would still be able to use the Yamaha Receiver's Remote control to "Change" the source..since everything is still running through the receiver.. soo..if I wish to watch something through the WD Media player, or the cablebox, or the blu ray player.....I can switch the receiver to any source, but the SOUND would always be routed through the switcher to the soundbar.

Yes..I'd be loseing the TRUE surround of my rear speakers..BUT I'm attempting here to make my wife and daughter happy. I think my idea will work. I can't actually see a situation where the soundbar would still be receiving the PCM 2 channel signal. In every scenario that I can imagine, the soundbar CAN receive the DOLBY DIGITAL or DTS 5.1 signal, through the HDMI Optical switcher.

Now, as to whether the soundbar can actually PROCESS that Dolby Digital or DTS surround signal to EMULATE a proper surround atmosphere (in consideration of the room that it's in..) well, that's another story..in which we will have to wait and see how well the soundbar performs.

Ooooh, I see what'cha mean here.. well.. ok.. I'll probably have to test everything..in THEORY, everything should work.. but we'll see. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.