AVS › AVS Forum › Audio › Audio theory, Setup and Chat › Connecting your AV receiver & speakers to your TV and other devices
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Connecting your AV receiver & speakers to your TV and other devices

post #1 of 5
1/30/13 at 7:47am
Thread Starter 
I am a newbie to this forum and a newbie to home theater systems altogether. What is the best way to setup your AV receiver, speakers and other devices. I only have a Panasonic GT50 TV, blue ray player, directv satellite box, and Wii. I have not purchased a receiver or speakers yet but have been doing some research. I want the setup to be as easy as possible so that i dont have to turn on several remotes just to watch TV (my wife will kill me). I also will not be using the surround sound speakers at all times as i have kids that still take naps and go to bed early. Can i simply plug all my devices into the receivers HDMI in and connect 1 HDMI out to the TV? Do i need an optical cable running from the TV to the receiver? Or is it better to connect all devices to the TV and 1 optical cable to the receiver? I'm assuming i need a receiver with the capability of HDMI pass through so i can watch TV using the TV speakers if i need to. I'm aslo looking for suggestions on receivers and speakers or HTIB. budget is between $400 to $600 for everything. Speaker cable is already ran in my family room when i purchased the house. Thank you.
Reply
Reply

Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #2 of 5
1/30/13 at 7:59am
You seem to have a good handle on how things work. I'd suggest including a Harmony remote in your set up, which simplifies all the input switching. Very family friendly.

HDMI passthrough should allow you to use the TV speakers. But, CEC can be a bit squirrelly at times.

Run everything through the receiver, not the TV. TVs usually output stereo from HDMI attached devices.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 5
1/30/13 at 8:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by burghman51 View Post

I am a newbie to this forum and a newbie to home theater systems altogether. What is the best way to setup your AV receiver, speakers and other devices. I only have a Panasonic GT50 TV, blue ray player, directv satellite box, and Wii. I have not purchased a receiver or speakers yet but have been doing some research. I want the setup to be as easy as possible so that i dont have to turn on several remotes just to watch TV (my wife will kill me). I also will not be using the surround sound speakers at all times as i have kids that still take naps and go to bed early.


Can i simply plug all my devices into the receivers HDMI in and connect 1 HDMI out to the TV?

Yes.
Quote:
Do i need an optical cable running from the TV to the receiver?

No, HDMI carries both audio and video.
Quote:
Or is it better to connect all devices to the TV and 1 optical cable to the receiver?

That can cause problems with surround because not all sources can pass multichannel thorugh the TV to something hanging off of it. That's one of the benefits of HDMI to the AVR, it gets the cleanest possible shot at the sound.
Quote:
I'm assuming i need a receiver with the capability of HDMI pass through so i can watch TV using the TV speakers if i need to.

Or, just turn on the speakers on the TV!
Quote:
I'm also looking for suggestions on receivers and speakers or HTIB. budget is between $400 to $600 for everything. Speaker cable is already ran in my family room when i purchased the house. Thank you.

That isn't much of a budget! You might be better off setting up a 2.1 system and leaving the rest for later expansion.

This is the lowest cost receiver that I can possibly recommend:

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/ONKHTRC330/Onkyo-HT-RC330-5.1-CHANNEL-HOME-THEATER-RECEIVER/1.html



Here are some really good but inexpensive speakers:

http://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Primus-Two-way-Bookshelf-Satellite/dp/B0045NCB32



They would match up well with this inexpensive subwoofer:

http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-12-Inch-Powered-Subwoofer/dp/B000092TT0



Letsee: $130 + 170 + 190 = $490 plus shipping.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 5
1/30/13 at 10:06am
Thread Starter 
Arny - when i mentioned about HDMI pass through, i am concerned with always having to use the surround sound speakers. If i would like to only use the speakers from the TV and not the surround sound speakers, what is the easiest way to accomplish this?

Second - i found the following receivers and speakers within my budget and all have good reviews. What are your thoughts on these:
Yamaha YHT-497 HTIB - comes with RXV373 receiver. Or purchasse the RXV373 $189 newegg and Polk RM510 speakers which comes with subwoofer.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 5
1/30/13 at 10:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by burghman51 View Post

If i would like to only use the speakers from the TV and not the surround sound speakers, what is the easiest way to accomplish this?
HDMI standby passthrough is the recommended way if you simply want to attach your devices to the receiver. Without that feature, the receiver won't pass sound to the TV unless it is powered up. The RXV373 does not have HDMI Standby Passthrough, btw.

The other choice is running a second video and audio connection to the TV from any device you want to watch without using the sound system. You'd run HDMI to the receiver for surround sound viewing and component video with analog stereo audio direct to the TV for listening with the TV speakers. That kind of set up would add to the importance of a good remote. We set up our system that way with an option to use just the TV speakers from the cable box. But, we never use it.
Edited by BIslander - 1/30/13 at 10:32am
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Audio theory, Setup and Chat

Gear mentioned in this thread:

AVS › AVS Forum › Audio › Audio theory, Setup and Chat › Connecting your AV receiver & speakers to your TV and other devices