Ok, so I just moved into an apartment with a built-in recessed (even the front speakers are recessed) 5.0 surround system connected to a an Onkyo TX-NR626 that also came with the apartment. There's a TV in the living room with the receiver, connected to the primary HDMI output, and a TV in the bedroom that is connected to the secondary HDMI output. All wiring/cabling is hidden in the walls. Also, there's an IR receiver/blaster connected between each of the TV's and the receiver which is hidden up on a hard to reach shelf in a closet.
I currently have a Denon AVR-S650H which is Alexa compatible but is only built for 5.1 systems, and only has one HDMI output.
I intend to use the system for cable TV, chromecast, amazon fire, and spotify streaming.
Ideally I'd like to add a center speaker, at ear height, in the living room while preserving the recessed center speaker, and add Alexa compatibly to the existing system. I'm fine with either TV speakers, a sound bar, or simple powered stereo bookshelf speakers(which I already own) in the bedroom.
If I had to give up something, then I'd be ok with losing the center recessed speaker, but I definitely want to keep the Alexa compatibility.
I'm looking for the best option, that requires purchasing the least amount of additional gear. I've come up with a few possible solutions here, but none seem ideal.
One would be to replace the TX-NR626 with my AVR-S650H, and add an HDMI splitter on the output of the receiver. My issue here though, is that I don't think there would be any audio going to the bedroom in this configuration. Am I wrong about this?
If there's no way around the above issue, then another option might be to limit my usage in the bedroom to just cable, and perhaps a second chromecast(connected directly to the back of the TV). In this scenario, I'd add an HDMI splitter between the cable box and the Denon receiver.
A third option would be to use both receivers, using the Denon, with Alexa control to change inputs, and then sending it's HDMI out (in passthrough mode I think?) to the Onkyo, to handle the sound. I could then use the Onkyo secondary HDMI output for the bedroom.
This setup seems a bit overly complex, and I'm unsure if there would be latency issues. Also, I'm unsure how the control of the system would work, but it seems like I'd likely need to keep two remotes out most of the time(in case Alexa doesn't work). I would also have to carefully configure ARC control/TV remote so that they only interact with the Onkyo.
Any insights here would be greatly appreciated.
