Home cinema - what connects to what...

[admin_exported]

Hi - Im about to take the plunge with a home cinema system, and having never had a surround sound system I wonder if someone could point me in the right direction / correct me where Im wrong re connections:

the plasma connects to the amp via HDMI?

the sky+ box connects to the screen via scart and also to the amp with audio cables

the ps3 connects to the amp via HDMI

the speakers connect to the amp via speaker cables

Pls dont laught if this is embarrassingly wrong - but having read up on the kit in the magazine (which has been my bible!) any comments would be really appreciated.

Thanks

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

mate half the fun is putting it all together take your time and read your manuals.
ps if your spending a lot of cash ditch the power leads and supplied hdmi cables and use upgrades

 

[Andrew Everard]

[quote user="tommo2020"]the plasma connects to the amp via HDMI?[/quote]

Depends on the amp - if you buy an amp with HDMI switching, yes this is correct, but you don't have to connect HDMI via the amp if the TV has enough HDMI inputs to accommodate all your sources.

So...

[quote user="tommo2020"]the sky+ box connects to the screen via scart and also to the amp with audio cables[/quote]

Correct on the Scart, but if you have a surround receiver/amp best to connect audio from the Sky box to the receiver using optical digital rather than analogue audio interconnects

[quote user="tommo2020"]the ps3 connects to the amp via HDMI[/quote]

Yup, provided the receiver can accept audio via HDMI. If not, then it's a direct optical connection again to the receiver from the PS3, and the HDMI picture output can go straight to the TV if you want, or via the amp/receiver.

[quote user="tommo2020"]the speakers connect to the amp via speaker cables[/quote]

Yup.

 

[fitzyboy2000]

[quote user="tommo2020"]the sky+ box connects to the screen via scart and also to the amp with audio cables[/quote]

Hi guys hope it's ok to stick my nose in, talking about sky+ connections, can you connect the sky+ via a scart to componet lead to ur amp ( i have onkyo 605) and use the amp to process this signal via HDMI to my tv, or am I completley wrong???

 

[Andrew Everard]

No, because the RGB output from the Sky box is simple RGB, not YUV component, which is what the amp will be expecting on its component video input.

To do what you want you'll need an RGB/YUV converter, which will cost you around £100, and of course puts another stage of processing in the signal path.

 

[fitzyboy2000]

Would you advise to do this Andrew or stick to scart and optical???

 

[Andrew Everard]

Scart and optical.

 

[fitzyboy2000]

Thanks Andrew.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Andrew - thanks for you helps its really appreciated. I wanted to make sure that when I put the trunking in the wall the screen will be on that I have enough of the right cables in there, so the builders can make good. So, i need the following from the screen:

power lead

1x HDMI cable to amp

1x scart for sky box

Should I have anything else do you think

Thanks again

steve

 

[Andrew Everard]

I'd put an aerial lead in to the TV, just in case the Sky box goes 'phut' at any point. And at the risk of being overcautious, I'd probably run two HDMIs to the TV, just in case...

 

[Anonymous]

Just to add to what Andrew said, depending on your setup, you might want to consider an audio out from your TV back to your receiver (so you can watch TV on it's own tuner and have surround sound). It's probably rare that you would watch regular TV rather than Sky - but if you run a aerial lead to the TV, at least you would have that option and with good sound. Also I put a FM aerial lead in the wall leading back to the receiver.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks again Andrew - really appreciate your advice

steve

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry for 'butting' in,

I have an Onkyo 705 receiver, Sky Hd and a PS3 all going to a Pioneer 428XD Plasma.

Am I better off going directly to 2 separate hdmi inputs on the tv with opticals going to the Onkyo receiver or just running everything through the receiver with one hdmi going into the tv ?

I currently have them through the receiver but cannot seem to get the devices to 'toggle' between each other using the tv/dtv button like my old panasonic used to do.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Yes, separate HDMIs with optical audios to the receiver.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Andrew.

At least if I use separate hdmi cables I presume that I simply press whatever hdmi button (1-4) on the remote to connect the device being used. Will I have to set the receivers audio selection manually for each source or can it be linked to whatever is being used ?

Does anyone know if the Pioneer remote can work Sky+ or a PS3, I tried the 007 setting in the manual which says is for Sky but no luck ?

Thre are that many settings on this set I have not got a clue !!

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="Andrew Everard"]
Yes, separate HDMIs with optical audios to the receiver.
[/quote]

I've currently got my PS3 and SKY HD boxes connected to my Onkyo 875 via HDMI for the video feeds, and via optical cables for the audio.

Do I then need the optical cables? Are they providing any benefit to my system?

 

[FuzzyinLondon]

[quote user="Andrew Everard"]
Yes, separate HDMIs with optical audios to the receiver.
[/quote]

Wouldn't you lose the option of PCM HD audio from the PS3 if you did this? Obviously it's only for Blu-Rays but I know it's important to some people and one of the reasons why they bought an Onkyo.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="FuzzyinLondon"][quote user="Andrew Everard"]
Yes, separate HDMIs with optical audios to the receiver.
[/quote]

Wouldn't you lose the option of PCM HD audio from the PS3 if you did this? Obviously it's only for Blu-Rays but I know it's important to some people and one of the reasons why they bought an Onkyo.[/quote]

That's the quickest answer I've had on this forum so far! ;-)

Cheers Fuzzy!

 

[FuzzyinLondon]

No problem mate. I hadn't seen your post but I'm glad it helped you out. Be aware though that you will need the optical cable for Sky HD. At the moment, I don't think the Sky Box can output surround sound audio over HDMI (don't ask me why) so in order to get the Dolby Digital surround sound, you will need the optical cable and set your Sky HD box to output audio through the optical output. With the PS3 you don't need the optical at all as long as you have set it to output audio over HDMI. It should be in the sound settings. Also set it to Linear PCM if you want the PS3 to do the decoding - this is necessary for Blu-Rays carrying HD Audio (PCM, Dolby True HD). The rest of the time you can set it to bitstream if you want to let the amp decode, although I'm not convinced there's that much of a difference in sound quality.

 

[Anonymous]

Fuzzy, so you would recommend going through the receiver rather than directly in to the tv ?

On my old plasma I just used to use the tv/av to toggle between the various components, eg sky, ps2, dvd, tv etc. As far as I can see you cannot do this with the Pioneer ?

If I have my Sky hd box on then turn my PS3 on how do I switch from Sky to the PS3 when they are both using the same single hdmi cable from the receiver to the tv ???

Has anyone got the pioneer remote to work with sky+ or a PS3 ?

Confusing all this !!

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="Iang27"] Does anyone know if the Pioneer remote can work Sky+ or a PS3, [/quote]

Sorry, but no to the PS3. The Pioneer's remote uses IR, whilst the PS3 remote control annoyingly uses bluetooth connectivity.

 

[Andrew Everard]

[quote user="FuzzyinLondon"][quote user="Andrew Everard"]

Yes, separate HDMIs with optical audios to the receiver.

[/quote]

Wouldn't you lose the option of PCM HD audio from the PS3 if you did this? Obviously it's only for Blu-Rays but I know it's important to some people and one of the reasons why they bought an Onkyo.[/quote]

Yes, oops. Correct on the PS3, but you do need the optical audio on the Sky HD box for surround.

 

[FuzzyinLondon]

[quote user="Iang27"]Fuzzy, so you would recommend going through the receiver rather than directly in to the tv ?

On my old plasma I just used to use the tv/av to toggle between the various components, eg sky, ps2, dvd, tv etc. As far as I can see you cannot do this with the Pioneer ?

If I have my Sky hd box on then turn my PS3 on how do I switch from Sky to the PS3 when they are both using the same single hdmi cable from the receiver to the tv ???

Has anyone got the pioneer remote to work with sky+ or a PS3 ?

Confusing all this !!

Thanks[/quote]

Connect PS3 to receiver with HDMI and make sure to set PS3 to output sound via HDMI in the PS3 sound settings. Connect receiver to whichever HDMI input you like on the Pio. Go HDMI from the Sky HD straight into the tv on a different input. Connect optical cable from Sky HD to receiver. This will allow you to get the best possible sound out of the Sky box ie. Dolby Digital 5.1. Now you should be able to switch between inputs on the tv as you wanted but you will need to change the output on the receiver depending on what you are watching at the time. As Ketch has pointed out, the PS3 uses Bluetooth so is incompatible with most remotes. However, cheap IR dongles are available but I'm not sure how well, or even if, they work. And last, but not least, Iang27, that picture just freaks me out - please stop using it ;-)