Denon AVR-S720w + Polk RTI A9's Surround Setup?

[Brewns]

Bought the following about 2 months ago:

Denon AVR-S720w
https://usa.denon.com/us/product/hometheater/receivers/avrs720w

2x Polk RTI A9's
https://www.polkaudio.com/products/rtia9

I connected the above to my Samsung UN55F7100AFXZC Television
http://www.samsung.com/ca/consumer/tv-av/tv/led/UN55F7100AFXZC/

I've got to start by saying this is my first true audio setup and I got too good of a deal to pass up on the RTI A9s and the Denon Receiver to weigh out my options.

At one point I had the Dolby Surround option working before I packed my gear up and moved into my new home. It was working pretty well and I recall getting better output and Dolby Surround but for the life of me I can't optimize my setup now. How can I have my system configured as 2.0 or however it needs to be configured in my receiver settings to get Dolby Surround to work?

Ideally if someone could help me configure this for my optimal setup, its mainly going to be used to watch movies, stream TV shows and use Plex via Chromecast.

Right now I'm configured in bi-amp on the speakers; using the Front R, Front L, Surround R, Surround L on my Denon receiver. My biggest issue is that the Samsung TV won't allow me to put my HDMI ARC to the TV and display video as it just says that it's not HDCP 2.2 Compliant (and not backwards compatible). Audio seems to work but the video just brings up a black screen with the receiver's message that it's not compliant.

What I ended up having to do is connect my rear TV HDMI 2 (ARC) input to the HDMI ARC output of my receiver, my STB to my HDMI 1 (STB) input as well as the Chromecast on my tv's HDMI 3 input.

Sound works on all three when I am in MCH Stereo TV, but it does not sound at all like I know these should and have in the past..

Anything helps! Thanks

 

[everettT]

Ditch the ARC connections and turn it off if available. Did you run audyessey the first time you set up the system? Did you check your sources audio output settings? Sometimes devices can reset their settings after an extended power disruption. I'm sure that it's just a couple of settings..

 

[Brewns]

I can't disable ARC in my settings, that's my only HDMI out. I did run Audyssey, I just did a factory reset and did it again. Not quite sure how to configure the Denon Receiver with those two speakers though. My STB is set to Surround Sound, showing a dolby icon on MCH Stereo now but at one point I did in fact have it on Dolby Surround with this 2.0 setup and it worked with non-muffled voices. I can get it to sound great minus the voices, they sound muffled on the Dolby Surround Sound Mode. You can tell that the audio quality however goes way up.

 

[everettT]

Your STBs have different output formats. A cable service provider may limit output to pcm, stereo or Dolby Digital. Chromecast may have more options. Using the tv as a source for return audio may limit you to DD 2.0. Also are your main speakers set to large since your not using a sub?

 

[Brewns]

Right. I believe my only other option to have my receiver do the return audio would be to get something similar to an HD Fury Linker.. https://www.hdfury.com/product/linker-4k60-444-600mhz-scaler/

I've got the receiver speakers set to large yes, sounds better on the STB since I've changed to Surround Sound in the audio settings, and its showing the Dolby Surround icon, however the Plex Media does not provide me with the active decoder icon for Dolby. I know there must be a setting within the receiver itself I am missing..

 

[everettT]

Right. I believe my only other option to have my receiver do the return audio would be to get something similar to an HD Fury Linker.. https://www.hdfury.com/product/linker-4k60-444-600mhz-scaler/

I've got the receiver speakers set to large yes, sounds better on the STB since I've changed to Surround Sound in the audio settings, and its showing the Dolby Surround icon, however the Plex Media does not provide me with the active decoder icon for Dolby. I know there must be a setting within the receiver itself I am missing..

Is plex doing the decoding on a PC, then passing to your display or another STB?

 

[Brewns]

Is plex doing the decoding on a PC, then passing to your display or another STB?

From my PC and mobile phone. I can change the quality of the audio through Plex settings but even the Dolby Sound files don't display the Dolby Surround Icons on the receiver when playing from Plex.

 

[everettT]

From my PC and mobile phone. I can change the quality of the audio through Plex settings but even the Dolby Sound files don't display the Dolby Surround Icons on the receiver when playing from Plex.

im still confused where the decoding is happening. Is plex decoding or your avr?