New to home theater - help!

C

cpipala

Audiophyte
Hi all,

So recently I set up my own "home theater" using the following devices:

TV - Samsung 55" LED 3D Smart TV, 120 htz


A/V Receiver - Pioneer VSX 523-K

5.1 Speaker Set - Definitive Technologies ProCinema 600


My current set up is with two front, center, two rear and sub connected to the receiver. I have only one HDMI going from receiver to the TV but also connected to the receiver are HDMIs from the blue-ray player and the Verizon Fios box.

Here are my (noob) questions:

1 - With this setup, when should I expect the sound to be considered "surround". The speakers are loud and clear when watching Tv, connecting music, etc... but I really haven't heard much action coming out of those rear speakers yet. You hear a bit of background noise but no true surround effects. I popped in a DVD to see if that made it any different any maybe I heard a bit more? I currently have the receiver set to "Auto Surround" mode. I have tried them all though. Are only certain DVDs or shows fit for surround?


2 - The receiver came with a microphone fro calibration but I don't exactly know how to use it. The manual shows how to but it has options being shown on the screen, however when I push the appropriate buttons on the remote, it has no effect on the TV screen. How do I get the AV Receiver to show its menu on the TV screen?


3 - There is an "optical" cable input on the receiver and TV. What is the purpose of this? Do I need it? I am already getting audio and video through the HDMI. Would this have anything to do with the surround sound? The ability to see the receiver menu on the TV?


Any other suggestions on how to optimize my set up? Thanks in advance for the input!
 
Adam

Adam

Audioholic Jedi
Welcome to the forum! Congrats on the new system, and I'll take a shot at answering your questions:

1 - Some shows have a lot of surround effects, and some have very little (or none). So, don't be shocked if you don't hear a lot going on in the rear speakers. You'll want to make sure that your blu-ray player is set up to output bitstream audio, and that the Verizon Fios box (that's for TV, right?) is set up to output surround sound. If you have any questions about how to do that, just let us know the model numbers.

2 - As lame as this is...the onscreen display (OSD) on that model will only work over the composite video connection (the yellow RCA "MONITOR OUT" jack). Luckily, your TV has an input for that.

3 - The optical audio output on the TV is for sending digital audio to a receiver. However, if you are already getting all of your audio from HDMI, then you don't need to use it.
 
C

cpipala

Audiophyte
Thank you for your help! It looks like I will have to find a "Monitor Out" cable in order to do the auto calibration. Do you think this is even worth it? (I might have to buy a longer cable that I would find already in my house).

Secondly, this particular speaker system had two ways of setting it up. I went with the traditional way where all wires from speakers went directly into the AV receiver. However, it did allow for the option to wire the front left and right speakers first into the subwoofer and then out to the receiver. Do you think there is any benefit in this?
 
F

fmw

Audioholic Ninja
Thank you for your help! It looks like I will have to find a "Monitor Out" cable in order to do the auto calibration. Do you think this is even worth it? (I might have to buy a longer cable that I would find already in my house).
Yes, definitely worth it. MCACC calibrates the system to your room. It will also stop that flashing display.

Secondly, this particular speaker system had two ways of setting it up. I went with the traditional way where all wires from speakers went directly into the AV receiver. However, it did allow for the option to wire the front left and right speakers first into the subwoofer and then out to the receiver. Do you think there is any benefit in this?
The best way is the way you did it. There should be an RCA cable that runs from your subwoofer output to the LFE input of the subwoofer. There shouldn't be anything else connected to the subwoofer. That allows the receiver to manage the bass content.
 
C

cpipala

Audiophyte
Great.. One more question

Is it possible to get the surround speakers to work during regular TV watching via the Verizon Fios cable box? I only really hear sound coming from the front left, right and center speakers.

I was reading that using an optical cable might be the solution to this... I am connect via HDMI to the AV receiver. Is the optical cable needed for this?
 
Adam

Adam

Audioholic Jedi
Hi. HDMI can carry surround sound just fine, so you don't need to hook up the optical cable. Either the programs that you are watching don't have audio for the rear channels, or it's an issue with your settings.

I did a quick search (I don't have a Fios box), and found something at another forum that might help. I'm quoting someone else's post from that forum.

Hi Kenny,

It's possible the 1.9 update reset the audio setting of your box. Check the following by bringing up the menu on your remote

Menu -->Settings --> Audio format -->

Surround
Stereo
Mono

For 5.1 support, you should see an "OK" next to surround.

Even if it does show and OK, toggle it to stereo and back to surround then save/exit.

-Pete
 
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