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Newbie question Home Theater in a box

Discussion in 'Receivers and amplifiers' started by grantr, Dec 9, 2007.

  1. grantr

    grantr Member

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    Hi all. Ive never had a home theater speaker set up before but thought I may get one now as I recently purchased a new HD LCD TV. I was thinking of just getting a basic "in a box" system , a brand such as LG or similar. I have seen then here (australia) for around $250.00. My question is will I only get the sound thru the home theater speakers when watching a DVD or will it go through them when watching normal TV? I really want something that will work when watching movies, sport etc thru normal TV as well as on DVD. Thanks.
     
  2. cactikid

    cactikid Active member

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    i dont know if u would call a tv with xtra speakers home theatre,i got a sony bravia hd 40 ",i already had a panasonic home theatre with dvd about 3 years old 1000 watt,and because unit was old it did not have optical or hdmi.i recently bought a yamaha ysp 900 and sub
    awesome sound thru 21 5 beam speakers all modern connections 2 optical, digital co ax,video,audio inputs x 2,only problem i could not hook up dvd,so i upgraded my dvd to a philips upscaler with 160 gb and hook up with hdmi lead,now i have full picture on screen and the benifit of 2 home theatres running and my god the room vibrates as i love my noise!
     
  3. JVC

    JVC Active member

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    You can get surround while watching tv, as long as the HTIB has the input for it. If you have cable box or satellite, or tv with audio output.

    Cable boxes or satellite boxes will usually have digital coax or optical output. Cable box may have digital coax, and sat receiver have optical. Just see which output your box has, and make sure the HTIB has the same kind of input.

    If the new tv has a built in tuner, it may have an optical output.

    On tv, the only channels that will be in 5.1 surround, are the HD channels, "Premium" movie channels (HBO, Starz, etc.), and some PPV movies. Everything else can be set to Pro Logic (simulated surround), in A/V receiver. It sounds pretty good too.

    The thing about HTIBs is that some of them don't have many, if any, inputs. I tried to setup someone's HTIB system today, and found it had NO inputs. Since the dvd player was built into the receiver, dvds was all that could be played in surround. They had a new tv, with DirecTv HD box, but no input on HTIB to hook it up to. They are SOL.........
    Know what you need, when you go to buy.
    Good luck!
     
  4. JVC

    JVC Active member

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    @ cactikid..........
    Why couldn't you hook up your dvd player? Sounds like you had the inputs for it......
     
  5. grantr

    grantr Member

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    Thanks JVC. My new TV has audio out L & R and Digital audio out and digital audio in. I won't be connecting any cable or satellite boxes etc. All I will have is the TV and the HTIB (dvd player and speakers). So I just need to make sure that the DVD player that comes with the HTIB has some kind of audio in, correct? Thanks again for your help.
     
  6. JVC

    JVC Active member

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    Yes, but technically, it's the receiver that has the input. Not the dvd player. Some HTIBs have a standalone dvd player, with a standalone receiver, like the Sony and Pioneer that Wal Mart sells. I'd stay away from those that have the dvd player built into the receiver, even if I had to buy a separate dvd player.

    Edit:
    Just reread your post and see you already have the HTIB?
    As long as it has a digital audio input, you should be ok. You live in an area where you can get a lot of local channels in HD? Just curious...... why don't you want cable or sat, for HD programming? DirecTv now has 50+ channels in HD. When I finally get an HDTV, that's probably what I'll get. I have digital cable right now.
     
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2007
  7. cactikid

    cactikid Active member

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    jvc i bought a yamaha ysp-900 that had a dvd coaxial and i had no socket on panasonic home theatre to plug into so i added an upgraded dvd 160gb hd with upscaler as this has coaxial digital output.
    if i want to use dvd with the philips i can use my yamaha and my panasonic together if i wish to shake the floorboards. i can also play dvds in my panasonic but because it is old not the same impact and with cables running under carpet i just built around it,and my next problem i will have when i get my new entertainment chair,reclining,airbag massager and a 5-1 sound system where do i plug it in? lol
     
  8. grantr

    grantr Member

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    JVC, havent bought one yet but going looking this weekend. I will only be getting a low priced HTIB so I think it will only be a stand alone dvd player and speakers. I will check out what inputs they have. Hopefully I will find something suitable otherwise I may have to settle for the surround sound only on DVD's!
     
  9. grantr

    grantr Member

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  10. JVC

    JVC Active member

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    That looks like it will do what you want............
     

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