Help me set up my new 5.1 surround sound speakers!

Effigy2000 — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 03:23:51 -0800

I just bought a 5.1 home theatre system. The speakers are Klipsch; the receiver is a Yamaha RX-V363. I'm having some (read; a lot) setup problems that I'm hoping the hive mind could help me out with. Specifically, I'm having trouble getting sound out of my PS3 and a picture and sound out of my Wii. Hope me! OK, so this is the first time I've ever tussled with a 5.1 surround system so this is a bit new for me. Normally I'm pretty good setting things up like this with a bit of trial and error but I've been at this for a few hours now and I'm at my wits end.

I'm doing some things right though. I have my iPod dock hooked up to the receiver (via the portable connection at the front of the receiver) and sound is running from my ipod through my speakers beautifully. So it's safe to assume the speakers are connected properly.

The first problem is that my PS3 isn't giving me any sound. I'm running an HDMI cable from the PS3 to the HDMI port marked 'DVD' on the receiver (see this picture of the back of my receiver for a clearer picture of what I'm talking about). From there of course I run another HDMI cable from the HDMI out port on the back of the receiver to the HDMI In (1) port on the back of my TV, which is a Sony Bravia 40" LCD. I am getting a picture from the PS3 just fine. No sound though, which is a major bummer.

I have a theory about what may be needed to fix this. As you'll see from here's this diagram of the back of my TV, there are two HDMI In ports; HDMI In (2) has audio ports next to it. I'm assuming if I had an audio cable I could run a cable from my receiver to these ports on the back of my TV. I'm just a little confused as I've always managed to run sound and video through the single HDMI cable into the HDMI In (1) port on my TV. I'd test this out but it's night where I am and no shops are open (I need to buy this cable). In the meantime I just want to ask if I'm on the right track here?

As for my Wii, it usually runs through to the TV via component cables. With the arrival of the home theater system, it had been my hope to run the component cables into one of the component cable connections at the back of the receiver. No such luck. Switching to the DTV/CBL channel on my receiver (where I had plugged the Wii cables into), I got both no sound and no picture. I have no theories how to fix this at this stage.

I've also run the auto audio setup thing the receiver has, and I've fooled around with the 'scene' settings like the manual says. No luck.

And I've told the PS3 via it's menu to run sound through the HDMI port. As you can guess, still no luck.

To help you help me (and just in case you missed the earlier links), here's some pictures of the front and back of the receiver. Also here's something of a diagram of the back of my TV. With these pictures I'm hoping it makes it easier for any tech experts out there to tell me exactly what needs to be plugged where.

Please help me!!!

Best places to talk Home Audio?

Phyltre — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:42:05 -0800

What and where are the best audio/home theater discussion groups/forums for someone wanting to learn about said items? I'm working in big-box retail (and loving it, thank you very much), and there are some extremely tempting Employee Accommodations available to me. I've been looking at home audio a lot recently, and this cements it--I'm definitely buying when the components cost between 50 and 75% less than retail.

The catch is, I don't know very much about home audio. I've googled the models, and gotten some information. I've googled for audio and home theater forums as well (with tons of results), but I don't know who to trust or respect. That's where I need your help. What and where are the best audio/home theater discussion groups and forums, so I can get good advice and not waste my once-a-year accommodations purchase or, at worst, buy the wrong thing and burn the house down?

(Because I know you'll ask: My preliminary plan is to get a Harman Kardon AVR-144 receiver with two Klipsch RF-82 floorstanders and an RW10d sub. Price to me: roughly $700 for everything. Yes, this will be an ad-hoc 2.1 system on a 5.1 receiver, but I'm not buying everything at once for budgeting reasons.)

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Help me set up my new 5.1 surround sound speakers!

Best places to talk Home Audio?