Advice on Hifi Setup

[andybrock85]

Hi all,

Hoping to get some advice on my first ever hifi setup that i have in mind. I'll soon be heading to my local hifi store but just wanted to check whether this setup will work.

Basically i'm after turntable + amp + speakers. I'm thinking of an amp like the Rotel RA-12 which has a built-in DAC.

What i want to do is connect the optical out from my tv into the amp, as i have a HTPC + Xbox (which has blu-ray player) which connects via HDMI to the TV.

If i set the options on the TV to output audio via Optical, will it mean that sound from the HTPC will go via HDMI > TV > Optical > Amp > Speakers?

I'm not really interested in a 5.1 setup, i'm just happy to have a pair of decent speakers that i can also use for watching movies from time to time.

Thanks for your help

Andy

 

[andybrock85]

Awesome thanks Mark, i'll check out that remote too.

 

[iMark]

What you're trying to do will definitely work. We have the TV connected to the optical in of our DAC, which means that all inputs to the TV (Bluray player, Humax PVR and Wii) are linked to the TV output. The TV speakers remain silent (which is great because the sound like s**t).

Because of all the different settings needed on both the TV and the stereo receiver we decided to get a Logitech Harmony Touch remote. We now use the 'activitities' on the remote. After programming it, it switches the source to whatever we want to use and will choose the right input on the TV for every activity. When we switch to 'phono' or 'tuner' it will switch other equipment (TV, bluray player etc) off. It works really well and my other half loves the fact that we have only one remote in the lounge. The six remotes have been boxed up and now live in the attic.

 

[rainsoothe]

hi

I would like to suggest also trying to audition the Marantz pm6005 as well. I happened by one a couple of days ago when I was looking for an FM radio for my kitchen, it was playing something in the hi-fi store, fed by a Marantz 6004cd and driving Dali Zensor 3 speakers. The combo sounded brilliant imo, so you could try auditioning that stuff as well

 

[friendly_ghost]

Another vote for the Marantz!

I auditioned both the Rotel RA-11 & the Marantz PM-6005 and ended up buing the Marantz. The RA-12 is more powerfull but I think the Marantz PM-7005 is the comparable model. I felt the Marantz involved me more and I liked the look more as well. I'm very happy with it!