Connections to older receiver

[GTISteve]

It's so difficult to find receivers in stock that I want, I need to know the limits of my old one.

I just purchased this 55" 6 series, along with the latest Apple TV 4k with eArc. I have a Sony 4k Ultra BluRay as well. My question is this. For my old TV, I hooked up the Apple TV to my old (2010) Pioneer VSX 1120-K receiver. How do I connect it now? I have older Polk Audio RT100i towers with powered bass, plus a Polk Audio center channel. I also have the latest Apple TV 4k with eArc connection.

I'm glad I found this receiver when I did because it's paid dividends for years, hard to believe it's 11 years old and fighting hard to stay in the living room.

 

[NINaudio]

Well in reading this spec sheet, it's HDMI 1.4 and ARC, so it won't passthrough 4K sources, and the ARC won't pass through uncompressed audio from your tv. Your best bet for 4k sources is to directly connect them through the TV and try to pass through the best audio you can through ARC to the receiver. It's less than ideal audio quality, but it will at least get you the 4K picture.

 

[GTISteve]

Well in reading this spec sheet, it's HDMI 1.4 and ARC, so it won't passthrough 4K sources, and the ARC won't pass through uncompressed audio from your tv. Your best bet for 4k sources is to directly connect them through the TV and try to pass through the best audio you can through ARC to the receiver. It's less than ideal audio quality, but it will at least get you the 4K picture.

Kinda what I figured. I'll test it out by hooking everything up to the TV, then test an both an HDMI cable to the receiver and then a TOSLINK to the receiver. In a normal supply chain, there would be a ton of new receivers to choose from, but not this year.

 

[NINaudio]

Toslink is usually going to limit you to Dolby Digital as well.

 

[alain93]

You could use a splitter.
AppleTV to splitter, to TV & audio

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

 

[GTISteve]

The Toslink works like a charm. If I had a full 7.1 setup with Atmos I'd be limited. But it still kicks butt with my 21- year-old Polk Audios. Maybe another couple of years when receivers are fully up to speed I'll go shopping again. It usually takes me that long to decide anyway

 

[lovinthehd]

My apologies above I mentioned the A6A doesn't have a full set of pre-outs, which is wrong, apparently I was looking at a V6A....

 

[GTISteve]

I see some new receivers have started to surface, limited availability. Saw a Denon AVR X1700H that seemed to fit all of my checkmarks. I've read no reviews so I don't know. The Yamaha RX V6 also seemed to get good reviews, except for the enormous amount of consumer complaints last year.

 

[lovinthehd]

Curious, have you actually tried the eARC connection from tv to your avr just to see what kind of audio you can get from it (on a regular input). Seems to me I've read even older avrs can get the audio in some cases.

 

[GTISteve]

I did try it on the HDMI input, nothing. I imagine I'd get something on the regular HDMI TV, but not what I want. It would be nice to go back to using one remote though. Most of the sub $1000 receivers today are overkill for my needs as far as connections go. But I just want to make sure I get a good amp, and HDMI 2.1 connections that actually work properly. My two Polk towers with powered subs plus a center channel are fine, and I doubt I'll ever add rear speakers. I guess that's a 3.1 setup?

It's been so long since I looked at any of this stuff I get confused as to hooking it up. eARC to TV from receiver or from Apple TV? LOL. I spent a couple of hours yesterday reading up on HDMI cables. LOL

 

[GTISteve]

Good old Amazon. I purchased my Pioneer VSX 1120-K receiver in October 2010 for $448, which included the 32-pin iPod cable and bluetooth receiver. So that's the last time I really looked at receivers. Has anything changed? LOL

 

[lovinthehd]

Good old Amazon. I purchased my Pioneer VSX 1120-K receiver in October 2010 for $448, which included the 32-pin iPod cable and bluetooth receiver. So that's the last time I really looked at receivers. Has anything changed? LOL

Well for one Pioneer is now part of Onkyo.... Not tons of changes since then depending what tv tech you need.

 

[GTISteve]

Interesting. Brands don't mean nearly as much as they did years ago. The brand new Pioneer receivers look identical to my old one. One thing my current one has is sheer size, it's a beast. I guess what I'm looking for is the best smaller chases, 5.1 (or lower) receiver that has the most current HDMI ports.

 

[lovinthehd]

As to the Denon X1700, I'd still rather have XT32 instead of XT, and a full set of pre-outs....at least your Pioneer lasted a while, my 919 didn't last until just beyond warranty....

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Interesting. I have a 1019 that’s right in between. It runs hotter than the sun, but has been perfect. Mcacc notwithstanding lol. Actually I don’t mind what mcacc does so much. It’s not nearly as good as XT32 but my bedroom 5.1 sounds pretty good with it. Overall I’ve always liked it.
One thing I always found interesting was that I replaced it with an Onkyo 808. It was only rated at 10 watts more that the pioneer, but it was much heavier and was a total beast compared the pioneer. I always wondered if mcacc did some boosting of frequencies that it just couldn’t keep up with. Onkyo repaired the 808 and it’s still in use today at a friends house.
I haven’t looked. I know new onkyos use Dirac, but don’t know about Pioneer. I’ve been waiting for Dirac to come to mainstream AVR’s for a long time. I’m not in the market atm though lol.

 

[Mdorman]

I am in the same situation. I just bought a Sony a80j 77. My receiver is 20 years old. Marantz sr-18. I love this receiver, the sound for audio is fantastic but I know I am losing out on all the new audio sounds. I would love to hear what I am missing. For now I am using a toslink from the tv to the Marantz.