Help with old equipment

[Wolf Chief]

I'm trying to setup an old 5.1 sony dream system receiver / dvd player to carry all of my surround sound needs for all of my equipment. I have a wii (component) and a hd-dvr (component) and will be eventually running blu-ray player as well. I am in the process of mounting my lcd to the wall and really only wanted to run one component down through the wall to the av shelf to avoid a mess of wires. My problem is the sony receiver only has one component / audio input (yeah I know it's old and lame). I have a component switcher but could not get any audio to run through the receiver / dvd player when i.e. the wii was active on the switcher. I have tried just about all the combination of inputs to outputs on the receiver and switcher that I could think of for this to work. Am I screwed and just have to bite the bullet and get a decent receiver to do the job or is there any way you guys can think this might work with the equipment I have?

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

I just want to confirm something. When you say "component," are you referring to component video connections?

 

[Wolf Chief]

Thanks! And yeah sorry I should have been a little clearer but yeah component cables.

 

[Adam]

Gotcha, thanks. Which Sony system do you have?

Ideally, you'd have a system that could take advantage of the surround sound audio from DVD, digital TV, and blu-ray. To do that, you'll need either multi-channel analog inputs or a digital audio input. Does your system have either of those?

If you don't want to buy any new equipment, I don't think that you can accomplish everything that you want. Namely, only having one set of cables running to the TV while still getting audio and video from all of your sources on that receiver. You can get audio/video switchers, but that's different than a component video switch (very similar, but with additional jacks that are switched).

If it were me, I'd do this (and this is just an idea for you) - get a new receiver that can handle HDMI and video conversion from component video to HDMI, and run a single HDMI cable to the TV. With that, you can run component video from your sources to the receiver, run HDMI from sources to the receiver, and run a single HDMI cable from the receiver to the TV. That would require a new receiver, though, so just a comment.

 

[Wolf Chief]

Yeah I was pretty sure that was gonna be your suggestion lol. I was really just trying to find an excuse to use old equipment when the case presented itself. My "real" setup is in my basement where I have a 106" screen and 7.1 surround so I was trying not to invest in the good equipment twice but it looks like that's the way it's gotta be. Thanks again!

Just an after thought, if I did run all my wires that are already connected to the tv itself (wii, dvr and blu-ray), then do you think I could just force out all the audio form the tv into the receiver / dvd player since it only has one audio input?

 

[Adam]

My "real" setup is in my basement where I have a 106" screen and 7.1 surround...

Need any new friends?

Just an after thought, if I did run all my wires that are already connected to the tv itself (wii, dvr and blu-ray), then do you think I could just force out all the audio form the tv into the receiver / dvd player since it only has one audio input?

That was my thought, too, but I didn't ask too much about it because the extra wires went against what you wanted. However, if your TV has the appropriate audio inputs, and it has an appropriate audio output (either analog or digital, whichever your Sony accepts), then yep - that's a way to go.

 

[Wolf Chief]

Need any new friends?

Sure but I dont think your gonna wanna leave arizona to come to ann arbor mich this time of year! Were getting a few inches of snow tomorrow and a high of 20 something so if anything I'm coming there lol! Thanks again for the help and now that I'm a member I'll check this site out more often!