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Author Topic: Unusual Home Theater question?  (Read 1506 times)

Tim Weaver

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Unusual Home Theater question?
« on: July 03, 2018, 04:46:35 PM »

So my boss(es wife) has asked me to sort out their HT and surround sound setup since they just bought a new smart tv. It's fine, I don't mind doing it, but I have an issue/problem and am wondering if anybody has come across this.

They basically only want to watch TV from either the apps or the satelite. There's no need for dvd or networking or any of the specialty stuff that HT recievers can do. I don't think they even know what spotify is.

Their current receiver is dead:
Is there a solution to go from the tv (HDMI out) straight into a surround decoder and into amps? I don't need anything that a surround receiver does except for decoding and amps.

I would love it if they only had to deal with the TV remote to control everything. Volume included.

Is there a way to skip the receiver in a basic TV>Surround sound setup?
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Len Zenith Jr

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Re: Unusual Home Theater question?
« Reply #1 on: July 03, 2018, 05:20:23 PM »

You need a TV and receiver with the HDMI CEC standard. That allows your TV to control your receiver through the HDMI cable. It will automatically turn on/off the receiver when you turn the TV on and control the volume level just by using the TV remote. Sometimes it is called HDMI ARC.





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Lee Douglas

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Re: Unusual Home Theater question?
« Reply #2 on: July 03, 2018, 06:38:28 PM »

If all of the apps are on the satellite receiver, you could come of that receiver digitally (tos-link or coax) and straight into the surround receiver and run HDMI directly to the video monitor.  With this method you could use an older model surround receiver and not worry about HDMI.  If they are using the apps on the TV, just make sure that there is a suitable digital output on the TV and run the DVD into it and digital out or the TV into the receiver.  Some TVs do not pass a true 5.1 signal, though.
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Erik Jerde

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Re: Unusual Home Theater question?
« Reply #3 on: July 03, 2018, 11:43:40 PM »

If the TV has a digital audio output that carries a true 5.1 signal then you just need a device that will decode this data.  A cheap HT receiver should get the job done.  There are standalone boxes out there too that may work.

If there isn’t an audio output supporting 5.1 then you need HDMI-ARC which is Audio Return Channel.  It’s different from CEC which handles remote control communications but usually they’ll both be supported if one is.  ARC allows the HDMI from the HT receiver to the TV to also receive audio back from the TV to then be played through the HT receiver.

The argument for a HT receiver is it knows most of the digital audio encoding systems you’ll throw at it and it’s likely to just work.  It also has your amp right in it.

HT that is slick, just works, and the tech integration is invisible to the end user is a skilled trade unto itself.  Picking the right gear, knowing how to connect it together, and then knowing just the right “mother may I” to make it all work isn’t necessarily simple or something you can jump into from pro audio and have easy success.  Good luck!
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Craig Hauber

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Re: Unusual Home Theater question?
« Reply #4 on: July 04, 2018, 03:14:28 PM »

So my boss(es wife) has asked me to sort out their HT and surround sound setup since they just bought a new smart tv. It's fine, I don't mind doing it, but I have an issue/problem and am wondering if anybody has come across this.

They basically only want to watch TV from either the apps or the satelite. There's no need for dvd or networking or any of the specialty stuff that HT recievers can do. I don't think they even know what spotify is.

Their current receiver is dead:
Is there a solution to go from the tv (HDMI out) straight into a surround decoder and into amps? I don't need anything that a surround receiver does except for decoding and amps.

I would love it if they only had to deal with the TV remote to control everything. Volume included.

Is there a way to skip the receiver in a basic TV>Surround sound setup?
You might want to look into those all-in-one “soundbar” systems that use the optical audio output of the TV.  Many do the surround through psychoacoustic tricks and don’t require the actual surround speakers.  Most are CEC capable so the TV’s remote will still control volume -(especially if you get one from the same manufacturer of the TV)
They are the quickest and easiest way to get dumbed-down audio out of a modern TV.  There are fairly high-end models that come with a sub and actually crank it out if needed. Some even do have option for wireless rear speakers (but they get a bit spendy)
The issue with just simple surround decoders like the ones all over ebay for under $75 is that they don’t provide volume control so you are still stuck with needing either amps that have that functionality
Or actually finding a rare modern TV that allows the audio level on the digital output to be remote controlled.  Check to see what type of audio-out functionality their TV has and if it has decent control of it then get the cheap decoder and a multi-channel amp off ebay/amazon.
However the soundbar type systems still have you beat on lack of wiring and overall lack of complexity.
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Tim Hite

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Re: Unusual Home Theater question?
« Reply #5 on: July 04, 2018, 05:01:09 PM »

I have a Panasonic Plasma TV with apps and a $250 Onkyo HTIB. It does exactly what you are asking and has the CEC and HDMI ARC, so I can control receiver on/off and volume with dedicated buttons on the TV remote. Panasonic Blu-ray player remote will also control same functions. Took me about 20 minutes to figure out how to program it all to work like that. I generally run smart TV apps on the Blu-Ray player, but they are the same apps as the TV and I only ever bothered to configure the one device.

Only issue I've seen with TV providing the audio via ARC, there can be some latency issues with syncing the audio to the video. Most of the new gear has a function to correct this. I recently fixed it on a couple friend's HT systems after about 5 minutes of searching through menus for the desired function.


So my boss(es wife) has asked me to sort out their HT and surround sound setup since they just bought a new smart tv. It's fine, I don't mind doing it, but I have an issue/problem and am wondering if anybody has come across this.

They basically only want to watch TV from either the apps or the satelite. There's no need for dvd or networking or any of the specialty stuff that HT recievers can do. I don't think they even know what spotify is.

Their current receiver is dead:
Is there a solution to go from the tv (HDMI out) straight into a surround decoder and into amps? I don't need anything that a surround receiver does except for decoding and amps.

I would love it if they only had to deal with the TV remote to control everything. Volume included.

Is there a way to skip the receiver in a basic TV>Surround sound setup?
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Tim Weaver

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Re: Unusual Home Theater question?
« Reply #6 on: July 04, 2018, 07:29:07 PM »

I first thought about a soundbar thing too, but they already have speakers installed in the room and they wanna use them....
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Cailen Waddell

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Re: Unusual Home Theater question?
« Reply #7 on: July 05, 2018, 10:18:58 PM »

Look at the Logitech harmony remote.  It has saved my marriage.  .  one remote for everything. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Re: Unusual Home Theater question?
« Reply #7 on: July 05, 2018, 10:18:58 PM »


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