Home Theater help

[lordofdavipers]

First off, my apology if this is the wrong area for this thread.

Ok. I want to kinda upgrade to a better audio quality for my home theater system in my room.
Let me explain the setup I've got in mind:

I have a(n):
+Samsung HP-T4254 Plasma HDTV (3 HDMI ports & 1 optical port)
+PS3 80GB (w/ HDMI & optical port); and
+Xbox 360 Halo 3 ed. (w/ HDMI & optical port).

I got rid of the a/v cable for the PS3 and composite cable for the 360 and replaced them with clear, crisp HDMI cables. One problem…I’ve wanted to get some kind of surround sound for my room so that I can get great sound to go w/ the video. I’m up to par on HDMI cables and types of HDTV’s. I know HDMI cables carry audio and video but the problem is that I don’t know what kind of audio system to get and how to connect them.

I’ve heard of Bose 321 and other brands by them and they seem creditable but not at their expensive prices. I want something under 500 bux, if possible.


I’d want the surround sound to do (or be able to do) a few things:
+be able to use the ps3, 360, or a dvd/hdvd player (when I get a new one) w/out having to plug/unplug stuff.
+speakers be movable around the room (I don’t prefer wireless since it’s not as good as wired optical, so I’ve heard....correct me if I'm wrong)
+be able to use the surround sound when I’m gaming or watching hi-def movies BUT be able to simply turn off SS and just use the TV’s audio for casual tv watching.
+if possible, have the surround sound be able to add more or remove speakers.

I'm not up to par on differences and types of surround sound (like 5.1, 6.something and the new 7.1). I've heard of lossless SS but not sure of what it is, either. Basically, any tips, suggestions Are greatly greatly appreciated.

Andrew

 

[Haoleb]

with a budget of 500, your only real option is a "home theater in a box" there are some that may be able to do all of what your looking for, although i am not sure which ones exactly. if you could up the budget.. maybe to 1500 you can get a pretty nice system that would definetly be worth the extra cash

 

[Phil Taylor]

Onkyo makes some nice systems with a few under $500. Onkyo offers the most bang per buck IMHO.

 

[lordofdavipers]

I purchased a $400 Panasonic SC-PT950 Home Theater (in a box) system.

It's got great audio quality but I cannot get my TV, PS3, or 360 to work with it (audio wise). Any suggestions on how to fix this problem or if I should keep this or return it?

 

[Adam]

Andrew,

How do you have your stuff connected? From the owner's manual, it looks like your best bet is to run the HDMI from the PS3 and Xbox to the TV, and then run the optical output from the TV to the optical input on the Panasonic.

One issue with most HTIB receivers is that they have very limited connections for input and output compared to stand-alone receivers, even receivers in the $150-$200 range. However, you might be able to make this system work the way that you want.

Adam

P.S. Cool screen name!

 

[lordofdavipers]

Adam, sorry for not mentioning how it's all connected.

I have Only HDMI cables plugged in. All three devices are plugged into HDMI ports on the tv, respectively. I figured I didn't need the [fiber] optical cable seeing as the HDMI carries audio and video. Did I mis-interpret something?

PS Thanks

 

[Adam]

Andrew, the only thing that you missed is that HDMI is one-way. So, the HDMI jack on your new receiver is an output only - not an input. The way that you have it connected doesn't allow for any audio signals to get passed back to the receiver, so it doesn't have anything to play.

The optical connection will allow for surround sound. If you don't have an optical cable but do have a stereo audio cable with RCA connectors, and the TV has audio outputs with the RCA connectors (should be colored coded red and white), then you could connect the TV to the receiver using those. It's just something to use if you don't have an optical cable right now.

 

[lordofdavipers]

I plugged in the RCA cable into the ports nearest the A/V rcvr. HDMI and I still get no sound from the tv, ps3, or 360.

Also, when I put a dvd (xmen) into the A/V rcvr. the 1080p wasn't too pretty looking even with all settings tweaked on the TV and A/V rcvr.

 

[Adam]

I'm downloading the user manual for the TV now so that I can help make sure that you have the correct jacks connected.

It's possible that the TV isn't able to translate the digital signal from the HDMI connections into an analog signal (which is what goes out the RCA jacks). I might have misled you on that. Let me check the manual here real quick...I'll post again when I find it.

 

[lordofdavipers]

Sure. Also re-read my last post as it mentions the quality of HDMI from the A/V rcvr.

 

[Adam]

Okay, from what I see, the TV has one set of analog RCA audio outputs. Those are located on the back panel, are labeled "Audio Out", and are just underneath the optical audio output. Those are the jacks to use on the TV.

The receiver appears to have one set of analog RCA audio inputs. They are located on the back panel, are labeled "Aux", and are next to the video output jacks. Those are the jacks to use on the receiver.

Now, I'm going to look into if the TV can output an analog signal if you're using HDMI inputs. BRB (gotta feed the dog first ).

 

[Adam]

I don't see any mention that the TV can't output an analog audio signal when it gets an HDMI digital audio input. Doesn't mean that it can, but I just haven't seen yet that it can't.

I'll need to defer to someone else here in regards to the 1080p picture quality. I don't have a 1080p display or upconverting DVD player, so I'd be at a loss.

 

[lordofdavipers]

EDIT 2: All 3 devices work now thru the RGA cable but perhaps do you think I should go get 1 optical cable and plug it from the tv to the rcvr. and see if that gives me true surround sound on the games and tv (and movies)?

But if you don't mind still checking up with someone about the quality of HDMI not being good that'd be much appreciated.

The small rear speakers don't seem to put out any sound (is that because of the RGA cable and not using optical?)

 

[Adam]

EDIT 2: All 3 devices work now thru the RGA cable but perhaps do you think I should go get 1 optical cable and plug it from the tv to the rcvr. and see if that gives me true surround sound on the games and tv (and movies)?

But if you don't mind still checking up with someone about the quality of HDMI not being good that'd be much appreciated.

The small rear speakers don't seem to put out any sound (is that because of the RGA cable and not using optical?)

First, I'm very happy that you're getting sound now!

Yes, I think that you should get an optical cable. It will provide the means for much better surround sound. The left/right RCA connections that you are using now will allow for either two-channel stereo or matrixed surround (such as Dolby Pro-Logic). The RCA connections are incapable of sending true 5.1 surround sound. The rear speakers won't put out any sound unless there is some sort of surround sound. They should put out sound when you are playing a DVD in the Panasonic unit (provided that you have surround sound on). X-Men has some good surround sound. You can turn on the Dolby Pro-Logic decoder in the Panasonic to get surround sound from the TV, too.

I just noticed something - the Samsung has a native resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. So, a better output choice on the Panasonic may be 720p. 1080p is more than the Samsung can display. I say give that a shot, or even try 480p from the Panasonic. The Samsung will automatically scale the incoming image to its native resolution, but it might have some trouble trying to reduce the resolution from 1080p. Just a thought.

 

[lordofdavipers]

You've been an awesome lifesaver and I thank you for that.

I will go out and get a decent optical cable perhaps tomorrow. For now I set the surround sound to "on" on the player and im getting i guess you'd call it imitation SS. haha.
I'll try to scale down the video resolution size. And when I tried that before all of the sizes looked exactly the same with the same quality so IDK what's up with that. I'll still move it to the other resolution like you stated.

Thanks again for ALL of your help.

 

[Adam]

You're very welcome! I hope that you get the video issues worked out. I hope that someone here with more experience chimes in. I'd say check back tomorrow, at least, because not everyone is checking posts here on a Saturday night.

Regarding optical cables, "decent" doesn't mean "expensive." You probably already know that, but I wanted to throw it out there because some people get sucked into buying $40 optical cables. As one frame of reference, check out this list of cables at monoprice.com. You might be able to find similar deals at local stores, like Target.

 

[lordofdavipers]

Awesome. I'll checkout htat site and/or get a cable later on.

I put the DVD into my PS3 and 360 and get 100% crisp HDMI haha so I've found a great work around.

1 other thing, I hear this high pitch buzzzzzz during some parts of movies and at title screens. Any idea what that is?

 

[Adam]

A couple of questions:
1. Is the buzz coming from the new surround sound system, from the TV, or from something else?
2. Is the buzz something that started after you hooked up the surround sound system, or was it there before?

I've experienced a high-pitched buzz on a computer monitor sometimes, and it seems to have been when there was a lot of white being displayed. I don't know what causes that. So, if it's your TV doing it, maybe it's something similar.

 

[lordofdavipers]

A couple of questions:
1. Is the buzz coming from the new surround sound system, from the TV, or from something else?
2. Is the buzz something that started after you hooked up the surround sound system, or was it there before?

I've experienced a high-pitched buzz on a computer monitor sometimes, and it seems to have been when there was a lot of white being displayed. I don't know what causes that. So, if it's your TV doing it, maybe it's something similar.

The high pitch is thru most of the speakers in the SS. And it hasn't happened before today.

 

[Adam]

The high pitch is thru most of the speakers in the SS. And it hasn't happened before today.

Alrighty. Some follow-up questions, then:
1. Is it through the wired speakers, too, or just the wireless speakers?
2. Is it when you play a DVD on the Panasonic system, when you are feeding an audio signal from the TV to the Panasonic system, or both?

The primary possibilities that come to mind are that it could be the Panasonic main unit, the TV audio output, or the wireless connection. Hence, the questions.

If it happens through the wired speakers and only when you are feeding an audio signal from the TV to the Panasonic system, then I'd try hooking up the Panasonic to the left/right audio output on either the PS3 or Xbox (instead of to the TV) to see if the same thing happens.