Advice for a new system...please!

[rhodri]

Hi I'm new to this forum and could REALLY use some expert advice. I have just bought a Sony HT-DDW750, It's an old 5.1 system but I had a very good deal on it through ebay. I have never had a surround sound system before and because I am moving house next week I thought I would give it a go. It has 500W output with both optical and coaxial digital connections. My first (and main) question is the cabling...

do i go for optical or coaxial digital cabling, or will it be hard to tell the difference? I will be setting this up to work with my PS3, and Sky, once it's installed. The PS3 has only got optical connection but i'm hoping Sky has coaxial so I could have both running without getting up all the time to change it around. Or is there another way of doing it?

The other question is to do with my sub. It only has once input - i think its a 3.5mm jack, but might be wrong (sorry). Can anyone suggest a good cable for this??

Sorry in advance for the ridiculous amateur questions.

Cheers,
Rhod

 

[Deleted member 30535]

In my experience there is little or no difference between optical and coax digital. Much depends on the hardware I guess, but I think you could safely stick with the optical; it's cheaper and less bulky to install. Sky+ HD has both optical and coax out.

Your sub will most likely need a dedicated subwoofer cable with the ubiquitous "phono" or "RCA" type ends.

Scan.co.uk: Belkin Pure AV Subwoofer Cable RCA Male to RCA Male Double Shield - AV50500BEA15

 

[rhodri]

In my experience there is little or no difference between optical and coax digital. Much depends on the hardware I guess, but I think you could safely stick with the optical; it's cheaper and less bulky to install. Sky+ HD has both optical and coax out.

Your sub will most likely need a dedicated subwoofer cable with the ubiquitous "phono" or "RCA" type ends.

Scan.co.uk: Belkin Pure AV Subwoofer Cable RCA Male to RCA Male Double Shield - AV50500BEA15

Hi I have setup the system with sky and it will only work with an optical cable. I also have the PS3 setup using the optical so was hoping to use the digital coaxial output that sky has with my receiver. Once it's connected I am unable to select this input on the receiver and therefore can't get it to work.

Any ideas as to what it could be?

thanks

 

[MaturityDodger]

Have you tried unplugging the optical cable and seeing if the coax works then? You might find that there's some kind of auto-select feature that allows you to use coax OR optical, and detects which one is plugged in.

 

[rhodri]

Have you tried unplugging the optical cable and seeing if the coax works then? You might find that there's some kind of auto-select feature that allows you to use coax OR optical, and detects which one is plugged in.

thanks for your info...i have tried it without the optical cable and it still wont find the coaxial input. i have video 1 and video 2 to select from and when i have selected which one i can also change the input to analogue/optical etc. im unable to find a coaxial option on either video 1 or video 2. i will check again to night and let you know

cheers

 

[MaturityDodger]

I just downloaded the instruction manual for your Sony.
It appears that the coaxial input is linked to the DVD channel only. Try connecting your sky box to the DVD channel and see if that works.

 

[rhodri]

I just downloaded the instruction manual for your Sony.
It appears that the coaxial input is linked to the DVD channel only. Try connecting your sky box to the DVD channel and see if that works.

ha, just as i read this comment i was playing around on the dvd options and found it! thanks a lot. both optical ps3 and coaxial sky working well!

just need more hdmi ports on my tv now :-s

thanks again