rookie in home theater

Hi, I'm wondering if there's anyway to hook a tv w/out a/v outputs to a dolby digital home theater system? the system isn't great, but better than what i have.
second question, i also have a kenwood am/fm stereo receiver that i'm using with the other somewhat home theater system. i've got an older small subwoofer coming from my g/f's parents place, i'm wondering how to hook it up for maximum effect. the outputs on the back only have left/right speaker hookups, in both a / b ?
thanks for any help

 

i also have a modulator, if that makes a difference

 

Okay, first things first.

Where is the TV getting the signal from...cable box? Satalite receiver? rabbit ears?

If the TV is recieving an outside source such as a cable box or sat. reciever then how is it getting to the TV?

Next is the Sub your getting from your g/f's parents house active or passive? Meaning does it have it's own power source? or better yet..do you plug the sub into the wall?

And one more, you mention a "somewhat home theater system" what did you mean? what exactly do you have and what exactly do you want to do?

Those questions will get us started.

 

thanks razz.
the somewhat home theater system is the kenwood receiver connected to 2 3.5 ft acoustic speakers in the front of the room, then in the corners i've just put two boxed subwoofers that i know longer use in my car.
the sub we are getting does not plug in to a wall, but i am looking at buying one that does, pending i can get something working.........always try the freebie first!
the small tv we want to hook this up to is also from g/f's parents, they are closing there bar so we're reaping the benefits before the auction, again, freebie first! we are running a cable connection to it that directly plugs into the back of the tv. i would prefer to return the surround sound receiver bought yesterday if we can wire the sub into the kenwood receiver in living room, as i'd rather have one decent system then two garbage ones!
i needed to buy a modulator for the other tv to hook the playstation up.
i'm wondering if i hooked the vcr up and used those a/v outlets to the receiver if that would work. but i'd have to use the vcr to select chanells and just don't want to be bothered with it if it comes to that.

i'd rather improve the living room system, with kenwood receiver and two acoustic speakers....i can use the extra speakers from the surround sound that i bought yesterday to improve clarity, but would really like to get the sub involved.

sorry about the long winded answer, but hope that clarifys

 

it does clear some things up for me.

Now, it sounds like you want to have at least a "desent" system so hear is my advice.

You need to change the whole way of thinking about your home system. What I mean is, everythings needs to be plugged into the reciever, not the TV. Ideally, you will only have one line running from your reciever to your TV. "Monitor out" on the reciver to the TV "input". This will probably be an S-Video or Composit cable (those usually are yellow around the input). Run your cable/sat into the reciever, run the playstation into the reciever, and run the VCR into the reciever. Now wire the all the speakers into the reciever and this will give you the best sound. It will sound horrible it you run it through your tv and/or vcr. This also simplifies everything for you and you just tell the reciever what you want to do/listen to. Now sorry to tell you this one but the 2 subs you are using from your car are going to have to stay in the car. lol. Really though, you are going to need to by a "powered" sub and plug it into the wall and run the cable directly to the receiver. Now EVERYTHING will be plugged directly to the reciever. No more running things to the VCR!!!!!

This is really the only way to have a GOOD sound system. You will notice a HUDGE difference in sound...trust me you will. And after you learn how to use that reciever you have a little better you will notice how much easier everything is to do.

Oh one last thing, you didn't mention if you had a center channel or not. If you don't have one get one and pay a little more for the center channel than you want to. The Center channel is the most important speaker in the home theater, the sub is a close 2nd.

I'm going to Vegas for a couple of days but will check back on you as soon as i get home.

OHHHH. i just reread the whole string and your reciever is a "stereo reciever" not an "a/v reciever" if that is the case then you can't really have a "surround system". Stereo recievers only have 2 channels. A/V recievers have at least 5 and the .1 is the sub. You MUST have at least a 5.1 channel A/V reciever if you want to listen to "surround sound". That's just the way it is, no way around it.

 

thanks for reply, i'll do that. the stereo receiver is in the living room, home theatre in the bedroom, but i think i'll change that.
good luck in vegas

 

Cool.... back from Vegas...no luck but a great time...(the strip club was the highlight!!!)

Let me know what you do with your HT and anything way i can help

 

hey, one thing about vegas, you always score at the peelers!
i've returned the other s/s sytem, and bought a new pioneer home theater system, new sub, upgraded center speaker....now just waiting for it to get here!!!
i'll keep ya posted.

 

hey razz...
got a quick question, got everything in today and set up, only glitch is subwoofer is out of stock, and for the price i'm willing to wait! the connections for sub in the surround sound receiver is a plug in rather than the normal speaker clips. the sub i have right now is one that uses normal speaker clips......my question is can these be adapted to be the plug in style? can a plug be bought or no?
thanks again.......oh, i've got this wired, and only get sound from all speakers when it's in prologic mode... is that normal?
thanks

ps--no manual with the receiver, store return and none of the stuff i usually don't read anyways.

 

you can't use the sub you have now with that A/V reciever. The sub you have now is "passive", the one you are getting is "active". The one you are getting should have the plug in as well.

about the sound problem, that is not normal... if you don't have the manuel then go to the manufactures website and look around for one.... you might even try emailing them asking where you can get one....you are going to need it to figure out how to set up that reciever the right way.