I’m looking for (mostly) factual answers so I’ll start in here. Hopefully I’ll get a lot of the doper audiophiles to educate me.
So here’s my set up…
TV: Sony Bravia KDL40W4100
HT: Sony SoundBar HTCT150
Game System: Sony PS3
DVDR/VHS: I think it’s a Sony RDR Vx560
Signal Input: Cable service.
Remote: Harmony One (plus all of the individual components’ remotes)
Anyway, I’d like to find the best way to set all of this up and I want to make sure I’m on the right path.
I’m seeing something in the various quick-setup guides that indicate I should connect a digital audio cable from my TV out to my Sound Bar. Is that correct? I figured all the sound information the Sound Bar needed would come from the HDMI cable going into the box from the cable box.
Or… can someone confirm this… Is the reason for connecting a digital audio cable back to the sound bar so that I can utilize the full features of the television (i.e. one recommended setup says to split the incoming coax, one to back of cable box, the other directly into TV) thereby allowing me utilize my picture in picture with fill sound?
I have more questions, but I guess I’ll start with this and see how this goes. Thanks.
The digital out on your TV is for use when you’re using the tuner inside the TV. If you have an external cable box with a tuner, then you don’t need to do anything with the digital out on your TV (since it has no signal.) If you do the split you talked about, you’d be using the TV’s tuner as well and want to use the digital out then.
Your HT has three HDMI inputs and one output. I would recommend connecting your components (cable box, PS3, DVD player) to these inputs and then run one HDMI to the TV. By doing this when you switch the audio input the video input will switch as well and you won’t have to mess with any of the TV inputs. I have my system set up this way and it works great.
If you do go this route please PLEASE do not buy the HDMI cables from Best Buy. Order them online (I prefer Monoprice). They will be less expensive and the same quality as those you’d get from Best Buy.
Totally agree; when I built my HT, I purchased almost all my cables from Monoprice. The only exceptions were my long-run HDMI cables (purchased from Blue Jeans Cable) and RCA interconnects (purchased from Emotiva). Regardless, you should always stay *far far away *from Monster Cable products.
At any rate, the one possible problem the OP *may *have is an annoying out-of-sync problem when deriving the audio from the HDMI. By contrast, the digital audio from the TV is guaranteed to be in sync with the picture.