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Home Audio Setup

post #1 of 13
2/27/13 at 3:15am
Thread Starter 
Hello, I just purchased a Panasonic P55ST50 Plasma TV and Klipsch SB 3 Sound bar. After spending a good chunk of change for these two items I would like to setup all my devices correctly. The TV has 3hdmi inputs and an Optical. The sound bar only has RCA cable outputs and an Optical (NO HDMI). I also have a HDMI cable box and HDMI PS3 to connect. Would someone please be able to tell me if connecting the PS3 and Cable box to the TV via HDMI and then the Sound bar to the TV via Optical is the best way to connect this? or how should I setup to get optimum sound? I'm confused because the cable box and PS3 also have optical as well.

Thank you so much
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post #2 of 13
2/27/13 at 3:44am
If the soundbar has only 1 optical port then you dont have any choice, do you?
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post #3 of 13
2/27/13 at 4:43am
Thread Starter 
I heard of something called an optical splitter. Would that help? Would current setup sound bad?

Thanks
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post #4 of 13
2/27/13 at 5:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steven Weeks View Post

I heard of something called an optical splitter. Would that help? Would current setup sound bad?

Thanks

You can get something like this:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10423&cs_id=1042302&p_id=2946&seq=1&format=2

Ideally, I would want to get a soundbar with HDMI input(s). If that wasn't possible, I would get the switch above. You can first hear how it sounds outputting the TV only via optical. If that's good enough, just go with that.
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post #5 of 13
2/27/13 at 9:54am
Thread Starter 
Ok thanks. If I did get a sound bar with hdmi wouldn't it need to be turned to that hdmi channel in order to hear from it? Sorry just confused with different ports and functions.

Thanks
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post #6 of 13
2/27/13 at 10:02am
How much did you pay for the soundbar?
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post #7 of 13
2/27/13 at 10:30am
Have you thought about something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-RX-V471BL-5-1-Channel-Receiver-VERSION/dp/B004QR56R0/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1361987846&sr=1-6&keywords=yamaha+rx+v373

http://www.amazon.com/Energy-Classic-Theater-System-Black/dp/B001202C44/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1361989403&sr=1-1&keywords=energy+take+classic+5.1

This would put you at about $650 and will utterly destroy that soundbar.
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post #8 of 13
2/27/13 at 10:36am
Thread Starter 
If this helps the klipsch sb 3 has a built in Dolby digital decoder. What is that?
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post #9 of 13
2/27/13 at 10:37am
Thread Starter 
$800
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post #10 of 13
2/27/13 at 10:39am
Thread Starter 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0092QGSHM/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1361990322&sr=8-1&pi=SL75
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post #11 of 13
2/27/13 at 10:41am
That doesnt help. It means that it will decode Dolby Digital. Means nothing really in terms of a soundbar. You are not going to get 5.1 surround sound. And you will also not get lossless sound (Dolby True HD and Dolby DTS Master Audio). You will get all of that with the setup that I suggested. What are your thoughts on that?
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post #12 of 13
2/27/13 at 11:02am
I found that same speaker deal for $250 instead of $399.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10906&cs_id=1090601&p_id=9774&seq=1&format=3#specification
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post #13 of 13
2/27/13 at 3:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steven Weeks View Post

Ok thanks. If I did get a sound bar with hdmi wouldn't it need to be turned to that hdmi channel in order to hear from it? Sorry just confused with different ports and functions.

Thanks

I'm not following. If you got a soundbar with HDMI inputs, you could connect the sources to the soundbar via HDMI and then output the soundbar to the TV via HDMI. That is my preferred method of connection.

I would recommend trying some different connections out. Try connecting the TV to the soundbar via optical. Then, try out your different sources and see how they sound. Next, try connecting your various sources to the soundbar via optical individually (while keeping the HDMI connections to the TV for video). See how that sounds relative to the optical connected from the TV to the soundbar. This is assuming that your sources have an optical connection. If this method sounds better, you can buy the switch that I posted above.

Of course, you can always get another soundbar with HDMI inputs and scrap what I just wrote.
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