HDTV Home Theatre and gaming console

[conamor]

Good day!

I was wondering what was the best way to connect my home theatre.

I have a TV, Yamaha HTR-6130, Wii U, Apple TV, DVD, Cable box.

Everything is connected in HDMI to the TV and TV OUT to AMP + Audio Optical Out from TV to AMP.

5.1 Speakers are connect with normal copper speaker wire cable.

Is there a better way to plug my setup?

It shows PCM on my AMP, is this normal?

Thanks

 

[wongster]

depending on how you want your set up to be. do you always use your surround speakers when watching tv, playing a dvd, playing games, etc..? if you do, plugging everything into the receiver and letting that manage your video output will be the best way to go as you'll get the true surround effect. right now you have the tv out which is i think might just be the analog red and white cables coming out so you only get a analog audio signal. plus having the receiver manage the video will allow less clutter of cables going to your tv.

 

[conamor]

ok, I think this is the issue, when everything goes into the tv then out cdmi and out optical to amp doesn't give me Surround.

1 Issue I can see by plugging my devices (from hdmi) to the AMP is I have limited HDMI in.

I suppose I will have to change my AMP to one that has more ports correct?

As for the speaker cable, any differences between normal copper cable to banana plug or something similar? (more modern I believe?)

Thank you!

 

[snaky69]

ok, I think this is the issue, when everything goes into the tv then out cdmi and out optical to amp doesn't give me Surround.

1 Issue I can see by plugging my devices (from hdmi) to the AMP is I have limited HDMI in.

I suppose I will have to change my AMP to one that has more ports correct?

As for the speaker cable, any differences between normal copper cable to banana plug or something similar? (more modern I believe?)

Thank you!

As far as speaker wire goes: wire is wire. Make sure you have a good, solid connection with no oxidation and proper gauge for your speaker runs, and you're good to go.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Almost all TVs do not pass through surround sound signal. This means the nice surround sound signal you're putting into your TV via HDMI cable is being downconverted to simple stereo when you output it from the TV to the reciever. Even if you use optical out on your tv - it still will come through as stereo. It's a stupid limitation of most TVs today, they won't pass through surround sound under any circumstance.

The only exception is over the air tv, which the tv outputs in surround if its available on that channel.

If you want the surround sound signal to reach the reciever, you have to plug the audio source into the reciever directly. Whether it is by HDMI, optical, or coax digital.

So, if the audio goes through the TV first, you loose surround sound. I don't know what surround-capable inputs your reciever has, but use those. The downside is its more annoying to change between devices - you must change the input on both the TV and the reciever, which might potentially require two remotes. However, this is how to preserve that surround signal.

Or, get a receiver with lots of HDMI inputs and good video pass through.

 

[wongster]

ok, I think this is the issue, when everything goes into the tv then out cdmi and out optical to amp doesn't give me Surround.

1 Issue I can see by plugging my devices (from hdmi) to the AMP is I have limited HDMI in.

I suppose I will have to change my AMP to one that has more ports correct?

As for the speaker cable, any differences between normal copper cable to banana plug or something similar? (more modern I believe?)

Thank you!

banana plugs are not different than speaker cables. it just allows the cables to be a quick connect/disconnect. i used to work at best buy and it made my job a lot easier switching out 16 receivers one after another. i always encourage my stores to use these for my own purpose.

 

[conamor]

banana plugs are not different than speaker cables. it just allows the cables to be a quick connect/disconnect. i used to work at best buy and it made my job a lot easier switching out 16 receivers one after another. i always encourage my stores to use these for my own purpose.

Thanks!!

 

[pavelbure]

From looking at your receiver it seems you only have 2 hdmi ports. I would plug the wii u and the dvd player into those. Run a optical cable from the apple tv to the receiver with the hdmi going to your tv. Your cable box, I'm not sure if that has optical out or not. The wii u does not, that's why I mentioned to plug that in directly.

My receiver pre dates hdmi, so I have to do a lot of juggling if I add anything. A harmony remote helps with some of that juggling, also the optical coming from your tv to the receiver is just stereo. Honestly, for most wii u games this is just fine. Nintendo does not push the boundaries on sound or graphics. So if you want to free up a hdmi port on your receiver just plug the wii u directly into the tv and optical it back out to the receiver. They also sell optical audio switchers. I bought this one so I can have my apple tv and wii u hooked to my receiver, the wii u is using the arc from the tv.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000812QC6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My set up:
ps4: optical to receiver, hdmi to tv
apple tv: hdmi to tv, optical to switcher
wii u: hdmi to tv, optical arc from tv to switcher
macbook pro: dvi to hdmi converter to the tv, headphone out to receiver

So if this were mine I would
cable box: hdmi directly into receiver
dvd player: hdmi directly into receiver
apple tv: hdmi into tv, optical out to receiver. (have to mute tv every time this way or you will get sound from that also)
wii u: hdmi into tv, optical arc from tv to receiver

 

[conamor]

I like this suggestion

Thanks!