[sackling]

I recently moved in to a new place and the previous owner has left his harman karden 5.1 system.

I started playing around with it a bit (i've never owned a surround system and its nice that the satellites are all pre wired)

I think though that it might be a little long in the tooth now. there is no hdmi connections only an optical in and an rca in.

I have an xbox one which my directv set top box connects through so, my xbox and tv are covered through the optical cable.

I sometimes like to connect my laptop to the tv though via hdmi and now it seems that there would be no way to use the surround system if I did that?

I don't really want to invest in a new system but curious if I am maybe able to connect more devices through the system if needed?

for now its just:

xbox one
directv
laptop

The speakers/woofer all seem good, is it more economical to get a new A/V receiver only (if I decide to upgrade)? Is that even possible or are they always sold as a kit with speakers? Haven't done much research yet.

 

[Tonepoet]

The unit doesn't use odd connections or self-powered speakers, so you can upgrade the receiver later down the line, although most standalone units cost over several hundred dollars. You might also have difficulty matching the low power output. The receiver outputs 35 watts through 6 ohms and I'm not sure what the speakers were designed to handle, although since it was sold as a set I'm inclined to believe they were designed to match. Some people like a little bit bit of head-room on their amp, so an entry level amp. with a low watt per channel rating to avoid overworking it but I'd advise caution with the volume to avoid overloading the speakers. Now is also a vaguely bad time to buy a new receiver with H.D.C.P. 2.2 put into consideration. I think you should wait on that until you have more specific features. It should also be noted that most receivers would be considerably bigger than the relatively simple unit you have now.

However if you're happy with the current setup, why should you bother? I think a more economical solution for you would simply be to add a handy-dandy switch-box. Right now I'm guessing that everything except maybe the xBox has H.D.M.I. output options.This unit from monoprice will send H.D.M.I. to the television and filter out s/pdif digital audio through both kinds of connections. Plug the xBox directly into the receiver with the optical cable and use coax for the switchbox. It even has a cheap and easy to lose bubble remote that's better than nothing if you're too lazy to move from the couch.

I'm sorry that I can't answer the question regarding how the laptop and receiver interact but I'd need to know the specific models. If I had to guess though, I'd imagine you're most probably to only be able and send 2 channels through the T.V. I hope this has been helpful enough though.