More receiver questions

[RCL2884]

Sorry in advance for the Newbie questions... I did search some, but didn't really find the answers I am looking for.

I have a Samsung 50 inch plasma display that does not do 1080p, only 720p or 1080i. I have an el-cheapo surround sound system that I want to upgrade, and I am shopping for a new receiver. I am mostly interested in improved sound...

Can there be any advantage to passing the video through the receiver, rather directly to the TV? either for a conventional DVD player, or for a blue-ray player? Presumably the TV upconverts the DVD signal to 1080i already, but would a high quality receiver do any better? Do the AVR's that promise video upconversion provide any value to me, with only a 1080i TV?

Money is not a huge concern, but I do not want to spend for features that are of no value. I am trying to decide whether I need mulitple HDMI inputs and video upconversion, or whether I would do best to focus on good sound, not needing the latest features.

I currently have only three inputs:

Broadcast TV
DVD (will upgrade to Blue Ray at some point)
PC (streaming video, netflix, etc)

Right now the broadcast TV and PC play through the TV speakers, but I assume that I can run these through the AVR for improved audio? Am I thinking about this right?

Thanks, and sorry, in advance, if I am confused.
Rick

 

[allargon]

Welcome to Audioholics, unless you have a really good set of TV speakers or a really bad set of white van or cube speakers, separate speakers will give you better, fuller and louder sound.

You're not ready for an AVR yet based on what you mentioned. You need to look at speakers, first. You should purchase a set of speakers, then look at a receiver not the other way around.

 

[rnatalli]

You're not ready for an AVR yet based on what you mentioned. You need to look at speakers, first. You should purchase a set of speakers, then look at a receiver not the other way around.

+1 You should always choose speakers first and plan to spend 70% of your budget on them. Since there is no "best" speaker, you have to get out and audition. Here's a short list:

B&M: PSB, Monitor Audio, B&W, Paradigm
ID: Axiom, Av123, Ascend, Aperion

 

[RCL2884]

Thanks for the replies... I did understand that speakers were the first step. I have ordered a set of 5.1 speakers (Energy Take Classic). Sorry I should have mentioned that. Now I want a receiver to drive the speakers.

My question really pertains to whether I should worry about video processing at all, or just focus on a receiver that will give the best audio. an example of a receiver that "upconverts" the video would be the Yamaha RX-V663. Does the video conversion make any difference at all, with a TV that can only do 1080i?

 

[Pyrrho]

It is often a good idea to use the receiver as switching for HDMI so you can conveniently get the audio to the receiver (via HDMI). Also, some audio formats cannot be sent to the receiver any other way (though one can often get something else to decode them and convert them to analog to be sent to the receiver via multichannel analog).

As for video upconversion, whether this takes place in the source, receiver, or TV is unimportant. What is important is how well it is done, and some upconverters are better than others. To make matters more troublesome, it turns out that some upconverters are better with some types of sources than others, so it may be that with one source you would be better off using its upconverter, while with another source it might be better to use the upconverter in the TV.

If you are currently satisfied with the upconversion in your TV, then there is no need to get a receiver with upconversion. Of course, you may want a receiver that can convert between different types of inputs, so you can just run one cable (HDMI) to the TV from the receiver, and have all of your video be sent that way.

Since you are planning on getting a Blu-Ray player in the near future, I recommend buying nothing less than the Yamaha RX-V663, because lessor models do not support all of the audio formats on Blu-Ray.

I recommend that you connect the digital audio output of your TV to the receiver for listening to TV broadcasts. If your TV outputs DD properly, you can have DD 5.1 sound that way (with some broadcasts). And everything else that I want to hear through the receiver I would hook up (at least their audio) directly to the receiver, as most TVs will not pass all formats that are input into them out their outputs.

 

[RCL2884]

Thanks, that is helpful. So it sounds like I should be focused on receivers that can handle all the latest audio, and not worry too much about video conversion.

On the back of my TV, for audio out, I see a digital audio optical connection and two analog (RCA plug) audio outputs. Presumably the optical plug is what I use to get TV audio to the receiver?

I do not see an audio "in" mini or stereo plug on the back of the Yamaha 663. To get my PC to play through the receiver, do I need to connect it to the TV and then pass this to the receiver, or is there a simpler way to play audio off my PC through the speakers? Or perhaps I need the ipod dock to do this?

 

[Pyrrho]

Thanks, that is helpful. So it sounds like I should be focused on receivers that can handle all the latest audio, and not worry too much about video conversion.

If your current conversion is good enough, then yes. But if it is not, then getting a receiver with good conversion would be something to consider.

On the back of my TV, for audio out, I see a digital audio optical connection and two analog (RCA plug) audio outputs. Presumably the optical plug is what I use to get TV audio to the receiver?

Yes, use the optical. The two analog RCA connectors are analog, and will not pass Dolby Digital 5.1. Your TV will downmix any Dolby Digital 5.1 signal to two channels for the stereo analog output.

Assuming that your TV has not been stupidly made (some are, unfortunately), the digital output will pass a Dolby Digital 5.1 signal, provided that the particular station is broadcasting Dolby Digital 5.1. If the station is broadcasting Dolby Digital 2.0 (or any other form of DD), then it should output that instead.

I do not see an audio "in" mini or stereo plug on the back of the Yamaha 663. To get my PC to play through the receiver, do I need to connect it to the TV and then pass this to the receiver, or is there a simpler way to play audio off my PC through the speakers? Or perhaps I need the ipod dock to do this?

Assuming that that is the only audio output on your computer, and assuming you do not want to replace the soundcard or add an external USB or firewire audio processor for your computer, you should buy an adapter wire with a mini stereo plug on one end and stereo (i.e., two) RCA connectors on the other end to connect your computer to your receiver. That will be very inexpensive, unless you buy something grossly overpriced. If you had a digital output on the computer, it would be better to use that, for reasons similar to why you want to use a digital connection with your TV to the receiver, and also because the analog audio of some computers isn't that great.