Surrond Sound Help (Blu Ray)

[ItalianBoy228]

So I just recently purchased a Sony BDP-S300 Blu Ray Player (I'd post a link but I don't have 5 posts yet) and I was looking for some help as to what I should go with for the surround sound. It should be noted that the BDP only has one HDMI connection and I'm using that to run to the TV so I wouldn't be able to connect the surround sound through HDMI. I'm also using the other HDMI on my TV for my Xbox360 so I'm out of HDMI space on there as well. I'm also curious as to how you guys would reccomend I run the surround sound back to the blu ray. I would have to assume the digital optical cable would probably be the best setup, but since I've never used one of those I'm not sure. Since I have the Blu Ray I also will not need a surround sound with a DVD player. I wouldn't mind a component one that does radio and CD's though, but it's not necessary. I'm looking to spend anywhere between $200-$400. Also, the subwoofer should be a good one, but no bigger than 10 inches wide. I'm kind of leaning towards the Blu Ray HT-SS2000 Matching Component Home Theater System (again can't post the link) which obviously looks the same as the blu ray and is also Sony, but I would like to see if anyone has a better idea. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Note: I will most definitely need help running everything back to the receiver.

 

[Exit]

It sounds like you are shopping for a HoneTheater In a Box (HTIB) for $200-$400. At that price range you probably won’t find a receiver with HDMI processing or even HDMI pass through. HDMI is required to pass the latest audio formats to the receiver and the receiver has to have HDMI processing. So the best audio (Dolby 5.1, 6.1, 7.1) you can do probably is digital optical (toslink) cable connections from your Blu-Ray player and X-Box 360 to your receiver optical inputs. That is the way I am connecting. You can buy a HDMI switcher with remote and the necessary cables at monoprice.com. I paid about $43 for my 4-position HDMI switch with two spare positions for the future. You may want to get HDMI cables and switch for the latest formats (HDMI 1.3 I think) just in case you upgrade your receiver in the future to a receiver that processes HDMI 1.3.

As far as the subwoofer, restricting to 10” wide may be hard to find. Maybe you can find a really tightly packaged 8” subwoofer. Velodyne probably has the smallest subwoofer packages but they are a lot more than your $200 to $400 price range. I don’t know if there is such a thing as a 6.5” subwoofer and if there is it likely would be no better than a bass module with no real low end capability. You would probably be better off using your main speakers for bass.

As far as other ideas, you can use the forum “search” button and search on HTIB. In those forums there is an Onkyo system and others recommended but I do not know the prices. Also most HTIB probably have subwoofers larger than you 10” requirement.

 

[techguy]

I just purchased Onkyo HT-SR800 for 350 dollars. Pretty cool for 350.

I am very happy with the sound and dont really think I need more in a small rented apartment.

Buy a PS3 with a HTiB... best you can do at that price of 300-500 is Optical connections for audio... NO HDMI audio is available at this price.

 

[ItalianBoy228]

You're probably the 3rd if not 4th person to reccomend the Onkyo HT-SR800 already so I'm starting to think I may go that route. What I think I'm gathering as far as the HDMI pass through is that I could take and run the HDMI cable from the Blu Ray through the receiver and then another HDMI cable back to the TV thus solving my problem of having no open HDMI slots left on my TV, correct? That Onkyo appears to have 2 HDMI inputs as well as an output. Technically I could run the Blu Ray HDMI and the Xbox360 HDMI cables back to the receiver and then another HDMI out back to the TV and take care of the problem no? Worst case scenario if I ever need another HDMI cable to run through the receiver I could always switch the Xbox over to a digital optical cable.

Note: That Onkyo does have HDMI V1.3 Pass Through.

 

[Seth=L]

The home theater in a box that the OP mentioned does do multichannel LPCM over HDMI. It also features 3 HDMI inputs and 1 output. Of course the SQ won't be any different if you used Coaxial or Toslink because the speakers are of lower quality and would not be able to translate the HD audio.

 

[ItalianBoy228]

So I wound up going with the Onkyo HT-SR800. I do have a couple questions though. I think I have this figured out, but if anyone would know it would be you guys.

So I plan on running everything through the receiver and I was wondering if the way I have this worked out in my head would work. Although the system has HDMI pass through, it's only for the video. The audio needs it own cables. Problem solved as I happen to have 2 digital optical cables that I can use. So here is my plan, please tell me if it works ...

So my plan is to run the HDMI and digital optical cables from the Blu Ray to the receiver and the HDMI and digital optical cables from the Xbox360 to the receiver. I also plan on running the component cables from the Wii to the receiver and the component cables from the Comcast Digital cable to the receiver. If I then run an HDMI out and a component cable back out of the receiver to the TV would that cover everything with the surround sound? Also, would I still be able to run any of those with just the regular TV sound instead of everything in surround sound, and would the receiver still have to be powered on at all times for this? I would assume it would have to be powered on to run the pass through to the TV for everything but the actual TV, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Seth=L]

If your TV has 2 HDMI inputs you don't need to even run the HDMI through the receiver. This saves you money on cables and reduces the chance of HDMI handshaking issues. Also, if your Comcast Digital cable is your only component video source it also does not need to be ran through the receiver, it can be directly connected to the TV. You can use the digital audio output of the comcast, blu-ray, and 360 as you described with the receiver. IMO, running all the video through your receiver is a waste of time and money and would have a higher risk of error in some way or another.

The only reason I could understand using HDMI on the receiver was if it was to get audio, but that receiver does not support audio over HDMI. Also, if you TV only has 1 HDMI input you should use the switching for HDMI, the component video switching is not needed as it's only one source.

 

[ItalianBoy228]

If your TV has 2 HDMI inputs you don't need to even run the HDMI through the receiver. This saves you money on cables and reduces the chance of HDMI handshaking issues. Also, if your Comcast Digital cable is your only component video source it also does not need to be ran through the receiver, it can be directly connected to the TV. You can use the digital audio output of the comcast, blu-ray, and 360 as you described with the receiver. IMO, running all the video through your receiver is a waste of time and money and would have a higher risk of error in some way or another.

The only reason I could understand using HDMI on the receiver was if it was to get audio, but that receiver does not support audio over HDMI. Also, if you TV only has 1 HDMI input you should use the switching for HDMI, the component video switching is not needed as it's only one source.

I see what you're saying about the HDMI for the 360 and blu-ray, however the comcast I could not use the digital optical on. The receiver only has 2 digital optical slots which would already be in use. I have the extra component cable just laying around though so I could technically use component to the receiver from the comcast and component back out to the tv. I'd really rather not use just regular AV cables for the TV.