Suggestions: Home Theatre Architecture

[luvdodo]

Friends,

I am a bit on the weaker side of technology and love to see some suggestions to get my setup going -

Here's what I have -

• A Panasonic Plasma 1080i TV with 2 HDMI and component inputs
• A Oppo OPDV971H 720p/1080i Up DVD player with following features -
  
  [*]DVI Output
  [*]Digital Optical audio output
  [*]Coaxial audio output
  [*]Component video Output​
• A Laptop with -
  
  [*]Blue-ray/DVD player
  [*]HDMI Output
  [*]S-video output
  [*]Headphone audio output​
• A Yahama HTR-5960 AV Receiver with -
  
  
  [*]Four Optical Digital inputs
  [*]Two coxial digital inputs
  [*]One Optical output
  [*]There is no HDMI , specs here
  
  [*]The sound system I have is a 5.1 Infinity Modulus II set.
  
  ​

Questions -

1) What the best connection logic out here ?

2) Is there any way to get the stero mp3 songs or netflix streamed movies to play in 5.1 mode? I have seen this at a friends place where he has a bose system and the system manipulates the stereo sound to a pretty decent 5.1 effect, atleast the bass is awesome. Clues/tips?

3) Is there any useof the Oppo digital player? Will the laptop with HDMI do the same of better job if I play DVDs? Wondering if I should get rid of the Oppo.

Thanks so so very much !

 

[luvdodo]

First Try...

Here's what I have thought of so far.....

AV Receiver's outputs go to the Infinity Speakers
DVD digital optical o/p goes into receiver's digital i/p (for audio)
DVD component video o/p goes into TV (for video)

For the laptop output, its wierd. I can take the HDMI output ot the TV. But I need the sound thoough the receiver.

Any suggestions?

 

[Exit]

With no HDMI on the receiver, you can't process HDMI sound. There are two places I can think of to look for a connection. The best case is if there is a digital optical (toslink) connection on either the laptop or the TV. You can then run a digital optical connection from either source and process it as surround sound in your receiver. A less desireable option is connection via stereo connection. If there are no connection options for the laptop, then there are sometimes RCA connectors on the TV for stereo output which you can run to the receiver. If there are still no connections options, your laptop or TV may have headphhone output jacks. You can pick up a headphone to RCA plug adapter for about $3 and run the cables to the receiver for stereo sound. Thats about all the places I can think of to make connections. Good hunting!

 

[jcPanny]

HT system

The Oppo DVD player is great and should do a much better job of upscalling and provide digital audio. Look for a coax or optical digital audio output from the laptop, my Dell has one. If the laptop is limited to analog audio output then I wouldn't bother using it in the HT.

They it doesn't have the latest features, your receiver is pretty good. I would consider upgrading the speakers before spending any more on a new receiver or other electronics.

 

[luvdodo]

No digital

Hi,

thanks for your responses. I looked at the I/O list on my laptop. This is all that's there -

USB 2.0 (4)
Integrated 10/100 LAN (RJ45) and 56K Modem (RJ11)
IEEE1394a
8-in-1 Memory Card Reader
VGA video output & S-Video
HDMI high definition video output
1 ExpressCard 54mm Slot
Integrated dual digital mics
Dual headphone jacks
Microphone jack

Bad luck right? Do we get a PCMCIA card output?