Need Help With Reciever

[TH1]

I bought a Panasonic home theater system and it came with 6 speakers and a HDMI compatible DVD player and I hooked it up to my 52 inch Panasonic rear projection LCD tv and it is working really good the picture and sound is working good but as I was browsing through the forums and lots of other sites and other stuff alot of people say that you need to have a home theater reciever because it works much better and is more preferred like with that the sound comes out of the right speakers not all of them and everybody says you must have a home theater reciever but I was wondering if it is really needed to have a true home theater system or is it just something that is optional to get. So I was wondering if I need to get one or not and if it is really worth the money

 

[Gary935]

Receiver Help

I'm not quite I understood correctly your question, but I think that if you are happy with the picture and sound of your Panasonic HTIB then that is all that matters.

These forums are great for many of us, myself included. But in the end, it's you that makes the final decision. If what you have serves your needs and you are happy with the performance then that is what matters.

With that said, a good receiver will have more input, outputs then a typical HTIB solution. You will usually get higher quality DAC in a receiver as well as better digital processing. Also, most HTIB have a high THD of 10% where a receiver may have anywhere from .03% to .07%. You will notice this when you are close to the speakers and hear a hiss/noise coming through them.

Hope this helps somewhat.

 

[TH1]

Thanks it did help and I dont think I will need a reciever also this is the HTIB that I bought http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10072799&catid=20311#

On the description it says that it is a DVD palyer and reciever in a single unit so that would mean I would not need a recieverr at all? Also I was wondering how do I get the 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 Surround Sound like what do I have to do to get it? Also I dont know that much about home theater systems so I was wondering what you think about this one I got

 

[jcPanny]

HTIB system

Yes, your "Home Theater In a Box" system has a "receiver" with a built in DVD player. In that price range, many people buy a HTIB because it is less expensive and easer to use than seperate component. The downside is that is difficult to upgrade becsue the receiver and DVD are built in, etc.

If you wanted a bookshelf speaker system with seperate components you could probably get something line this.
Entry level receiver: $1-200
Oppo DVD Player: $150
Athena or BIC speakers: $300 for 5.0
Sub ???: $100

 

[Gary935]

Panasonic HTIB

I looked up the unit you brought and it looks to be a very good HTIB. I really hope you enjoy your purchase.

With regards to Dolby Digital and DTS, these are activated once you put a movie in that uses one of these formats. On some movies you can pick either Dolby Digital or DTS from the audio menu.

Most movies will come in Dolby Digital. DTS is a good version but it is not as prevalent as Dolby Digital. I prefer DTS, but it's hard to come by. On the back of the DVD box it will let you know what version the movie is using.

Another benefit with this HTIB is that you can probably plug in the audio outs on your tv into this receiver and it will process that using Dolby Pro Logic II. What this will do is take a stereo output and mix it up for 5.1 sound. In other words, you will have sound coming from all your speakers.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[TH1]

For the sound coming from all the speakers thats good right? And also I have a digital cable box so I was wondering if I connect the component video cables from the digital box to the tv would I be able to get a better picture and could I just use the cables that came with the box and hook them up to the tv to get a better picture?

 

[Gary935]

Receiver Help

If your tv has two component inputs I would connect the Cable box and the receiver using the components cables directly to your TV.

If your receiver has a component input you can connect the cable box to your receiver and then the receiver to your tv with one connection. (I hope that makes sense)

With regards to the cables that came with the HTIB, what type are they? A component cable will be three cables in the color of red, blue and green. If this is the cable thast came with your unit then you are very lucky as many companies skimp out on these.

If it is a yellow cable, that is a composite cable. (you want to avoid these because this is the lowest video connection and the picture will be no where near the quality of the receivers components.) Besides the only way to get the benfits of upconversion with your receiver and your HDTV is to use the component outputs.

Hope this helps

Gary

 

[TH1]

I have the component cables but I dont understand the first one and for the second one do I connect the cable box to the reciever with the component cabbles and then what cable do I use to connect the reciever to the tv also I have an HDMI cable connected from the reciever to the HDTV

 

[Gary935]

Receiver Help

If your TV has an HDMI input, connect your receiver (which it sounds you are doing already) using the HDMI cable to your TV HDMI input. This will ensure that you get the best picture available from your receiver.

You will also need to check in the manual and see if your receiver converts all signals to HDMI. If it does, you should be able to connect your cable box into the receiver using the components cables and the receiver will send the signal through the HDMI cable.

If your reciever does not do this, you will need to connect the cable box straight into your TV's component cable input. Then your audio cable from your cable box will connect to your receiver for the sound.

 

[TH1]

I checked on my cable box and it does not have the component cable inputs it just has the normal audio and video outputs and it has 3 of them so would I still be able to connect it to the DVD player or tv with the component cables or would it not work at all also yes I have the reciver connected to the tv with the HDMI cable

 

[Gary935]

Receiver Help

If the cable box does not have a component output you will need to use another connection to your tv. Does the cable box have s-video output?

The other thing you could check is to see if your cable company has High Definition cable boxes. If they do, they will usually swap out your box with a new box that will have component outputs for your HDTV. This is probably worth trying.