TV audio output

[trevorhartman]

I just bought a JVC TH-BA1 and am wondering the best way to hook it up. It has an RCA input and 2 optical inputs. Currently I have some HDMIs hooked up to my Panasonic Viera plasma, which is really convenient since it carries the audio and video. Should I use my TV's audio output to run to the JVC for audio? Will the quality be decent?

 

[GPS]

I don't know how decent the JVC speaker will sound but I used Optical for years before HDMI with no complaints.

 

[trevorhartman]

Cool. I'm gonna try the TV's optical out to the JVC and see how it works. Just wasn't sure if it was a bad idea to run audio through a TV instead of an AV receiver.

 

[markw]

I strongly doubt your TV will "pass-through" multi-channel audio to the sound bar.

Connect your sources directly to the JVC using toslink and use that to select the source sound. Video selection will still be done via the TV. That should give you the maximum SQ of which your units are capable.

If you like, you can connect the TV's red/white audio outs to the corresponding input on the JVC. This will pass an analog stereo signal to the JVC. It may not be the ultimate sound, but it may be more convenient for day-to-day operation,

 

[trevorhartman]

Hmm, that's what I was afraid of. Here's the unit, for reference:
http://av.jvc.com/product.jsp?modelId=MODL028590&pathId=30&page=1

Supports 4 channels so I'll probably want to at least run my blu ray directly to the soundbar, and everything else from the TV.

So digital/optical can't carry those 4 channels?

 

[markw]

So digital/optical can't carry those 4 channels?

I doubt it. Many only output what's generated by the TV's internal ATSC tuner. I could be wrong, though. You need to explore the TV's manual for that info.

But, the good side is that anything fed into the TV comes out the analog red/white audio outputs, with the benefit of the TV's volume control.

Clarification: digital/optical from the source will carry all the channels.

 

[trevorhartman]

Ok, thanks for the help.

 

[trevorhartman]

Only thing I could find in the manual was:

DIGITAL AUDIO OUT: PCM / Dolby Digital, Fiber Optic

Edit: you were right, just read:
When audio from other equipment connected to this unit via HDMI is output using “DIGITAL AUDIO OUT” of this unit, the system switches to 2CH audio.