5.1 Tuner & speakers question...

[ajf3]

Hey -

I'm planning on getting a 5.1 surround system for my TV... if I feed it with just a regular Red+White RCA audio input, will all of the speakers play, or will only the front two give sound - since it isn't a 5.1 feed?

 

[FeuerFrei]

Only way you'll get "surround" from a 2-channel source is if you set the reciever to Neo6 or ProLogic processing. You'll get sound out of all the speakers but it won't be multichannel. Just simulated.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Is that the only source you're going to have then?

You might want to just invest in a better 2.1 system then rather than getting a lower quality 5.1 set.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: ajf3

Hey -

I'm planning on getting a 5.1 surround system for my TV... if I feed it with just a regular Red+White RCA audio input, will all of the speakers play, or will only the front two give sound - since it isn't a 5.1 feed?

As another poster has said, you can get psuedo 5.1 by using matrix processing such as Prologic II. Which works quite well for TV, etc.

But if you want to watch DVDs in their full 5.1 glory, you need a digital cable. If you DVD has coax out, you can even use the very same red/white cables (just use one, leave the other out).

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: BD2003

But if you want to watch DVDs in their full 5.1 glory, you need a digital cable.

Well you don't need to use that depending on your setup

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: BD2003

But if you want to watch DVDs in their full 5.1 glory, you need a digital cable.

Well you don't need to use that depending on your setup

Well, if he has to ask, I doubt he's considering using 6-channel analog.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: BD2003

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: BD2003

But if you want to watch DVDs in their full 5.1 glory, you need a digital cable.

Well you don't need to use that depending on your setup

Well, if he has to ask, I doubt he's considering using 6-channel analog.

But it's a possibility...

 

[funboy6942]

What if he wants to listen in Dolby prologic II? That only requires the red and white hook ups no, and the movie should be incoded for that as well off the tv? I mean if thats all he has out of his source atleast he can enjoy that coming out of his audio

If it is a stereo feed from the tv it should be incoded, if it is a movie, as Dolby Prologic and you can set the reciever to that when watching a movie on the tv. Shouldnt be any different feed then using the red and white from a stereo vcr going into a dolby prologic reciever and most recievers still have that feature I believe as well. If not take that into consideration OP when looking for a 5.1 set up. You wont get true 5.1 but before 5.1 was even around we had Prologic and it was the sh!t back it its days and still is for the older movies that havent been redone or run off the old vcr

 

[ajf3]

My dvd & cable tuner will be using 5.1, but I also wanted to hook up the output from my soundcard - which only sends stereo into the tuner for a karaokoe party were going to have.... I didn't actually get the 5.1 setup yet (soon), so I wanted to see if my expectation of being able to have all of the speakers going with a RW stereo feed was off base...

Thx guys!

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Oh, well then by all means get a 5.1 set and there will be several options for you to have all your speakers going from just stereo sources.

Most receivers will have something along the lines of
Prologic II music
Prologic II movie
DTS neo music
DTS neo movie

and then depending on what you get, there may be several more options.

Do you know what you're getting yet?

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: ajf3
My dvd & cable tuner will be using 5.1, but I also wanted to hook up the output from my soundcard - which only sends stereo into the tuner for a karaokoe party were going to have.... I didn't actually get the 5.1 setup yet (soon), so I wanted to see if my expectation of being able to have all of the speakers going with a RW stereo feed was off base...

Thx guys!

Then you'll be fine. But theres only one catch - regardless of the number of cables its on, if the signal is mono (some karaoke machines), and you feed it into pro logic 2, it will come out ONLY from the center speaker...in standard mode, at least.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: BD2003

Originally posted by: ajf3
My dvd & cable tuner will be using 5.1, but I also wanted to hook up the output from my soundcard - which only sends stereo into the tuner for a karaokoe party were going to have.... I didn't actually get the 5.1 setup yet (soon), so I wanted to see if my expectation of being able to have all of the speakers going with a RW stereo feed was off base...

Thx guys!

Then you'll be fine. But theres only one catch - regardless of the number of cables its on, if the signal is mono (some karaoke machines), and you feed it into pro logic 2, it will come out ONLY from the center speaker...in standard mode, at least.

Looks like he's getting a stereo feed from him computer though?

 

[ajf3]

I'm trying to do it on the cheap, so I'm hoping to snipe this for $50 since I can pick it up local for no shipping charge:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300045149951

It includes a Yamaha HTR-5440 which is a little old, but seems to be pretty full featured and well regarded. Also includes the 5 NX-220P speakers with a powered sub.

Hope none of you are from Pgh and in the market for a 5.1 set

I'm thinking I'll feed the digitial sound from my dvd (opt) and cable (hdmi) into the TV and then send it via digital optical out from the TV to the HTR-5440. I'm a total newbie at this though, so I'm not entirely sure if it will work or not

The karaoke would just feed stereo into the TV and I assume pass that same stereo, non 5.1 feed into the HTR-5440 where I could use the prologic to play on all speakers...?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

You generally don't need to run audio through the TV before it goes to the receiver.

The exception would be your HDMI output if your TV does indeed have the ability to do passthrough of the digital signal to another format that the receiver can use.
If your cable box also has a digital coaxial / digital optical output, that could go straight to the receiver instead of having the audio go through the TV.

So the DVD player could hook straight into the receiver for audio and the same goes for the computer. The TV doesn't need the audio signal unless you want to use the TV speakers.