[Mr_Ed]

I think this is the right forum.

Can you help me out with a minor technical issue I have...?

I have the following

--> Samsung 42" TV

--> Sky+ HD Box
--> PS3
--> Samsung Older (Similar to HT TZ222) with one HDMI in

The current setup is thus:

The TV has a crap sound system hence the cinema system
There is a HDMI lead from the TV to the Cinema system for full surround etc (there is only ONE HDMI input on the Cinema system)
The Sky+ box is connected via a R/W/Y sound cable to the cinema system but that doesn't give me full surround sound
The PS3 is connected to the TV via a HDMI lead and not the cinema system at all.

What I want is the cinema system to play all of them in sound as I now have Blu-Ray capability too... How do I go about this? Will a simple HDMI switcher do all this for me? Is this possible?

I think I would need a cinema system with 3 HDMI inputs or one of the other types but I don't think my cinema system even has that (I'm not home till Thursday to check and I am trying to get an answer sooner)...

Thanks in advance

[davepuma]

Just a minor point but the HDMI connection goes from the Home Cinema System to the TV and not the other way around. The HDMI connection on the Home Cinema System is an output to carry the video to the TV. Nothing goes the other way with HDMI at present other than HDMI CEC functions. If you want audio to go from the TV to the Home Cinema System, you would need a separate audio cable. Therefore an HDMI switch will not be of use to you in this instance.

Get rid of the Composite Video cable going between the Sky+ box and the Home Cinema System. Composite Video (yellow RCA) also known as CVBS is the lowest quality connection type available. Buy a decent SCART lead e.g. Thor, Vivanco (no more than £20) and set the Sky+ box to output RGB/16:9 and SCART CONTROL ON in the picture settings.

What audio inputs does your Samsung Home Cinema System have? You're ideally looking for an optical input so that you can get Dolby Digital 5.1 from both the Sky+ box and PS3. If it only has one input, you will need a 3 way manual optical switch or toslink splitter to share the input. Audiovisualonline or TVCables sell them. If it doesn't have optical, then I'm afraid you will be limited to a pseudo effect (dolby prologic) which isn't true surround sound. If this is the case, I would connect an analogue audio cable from the TV (red/white) to the Home Cinema System.

Model numbers and a list of available connections should be able to confirm.

I agree with your summary in that a Home Cinema Amp + Speakers are required here. A system or amp/receiver that processes LPCM audio over HDMI would be your best option so that you can hear HD audio from the PS3. You're looking at around £320 for a Sony system that can do this. Better still, up the budget and go for separates e.g. Onkyo 507 receiver or Sony STR-DH800 receiver. Then add some speakers and cables and away you go. It will depend of course on your budget.

Have a look at the packages at Creative-Audio, Quantumelectronics.co.uk, RoyJowettHomeCinema, HiFix, SuperFi and HiSpek

[Mr_Ed]

Thanks for that - the cinema system is a Samsung HT-THX22.

It seems to have (scrabbles behind the telly)

Audio In (Red/White cabling)

Component out (RGB)
HDMI Out
ETA (AV Out)

Those are the main components

[davepuma]

In that case, you won't get discrete m/chan audio but a pseudo effect. I would connect an analogue cable from the TV to the h/c system. Hopefully it will pass the audio from all sources and the built-in freeview tuner out via the analogue RCA connections. If the TV doesn't have analogue audio outputs, you can usually pass audio via SCART using a switchable SCART adapter at the TV end connected to the phono cable. Check the TV's specs in the manual to see which SCART connection can output audio. Otherwise, you would be looking at a phono switch to share the single input.

I really think an upgrade is in order though.