General Home AV Set Up Queries

churchill

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Hi guys,

I recently purchased my first house and am looking to get started with a decent AV set up. I've never done a proper AV set up before and I'm a bit clueless on the sheer amount of products and technology available these days, so am hoping someone can provide me with a bit of a starting block! Apologies for the number of questions!

In the living room I'm envisaging a smart TV mounted on the wall, with a 5.1 surround sound system. The cabling from the TV and the 6 speakers will come back to a common location where I can put all of the gear. As well as watching regular Freeview TV, there'll be a Blu-ray/DVD player and games console. As well as that, I'd also like to be able to plug in other random HDMI devices (like a laptop), and 1 or 2 axillary audio devices (by means of a 3.5mm jack), to make use of the surround sound speakers. On top of that still, I'd like to be able to connect my smartphone/tablet to the TV and surround sound to be able to output video/audio from the smartphone/tablet through them (by means of screen mirroring or similar). Lastly, I've also got a server/NAS that has offline audio and video on it, that I'd like to be able to play through the TV and speakers.

1. Am I right in thinking that all of these various devices would/should all plug back into one common receiver? How would the server/NAS connect? Would Plesk/Chromecast or similar be of any use here?

2. Would the smartphone connect to the receiver in some way? Or would the smartphone typically just connect point-to-point to the smart TV?

3. Would an amplifier need to sit in between the receiver and the speakers? Or do most receivers these days come with speaker level outputs?

4. What wiring would you suggest goes out to the surround sound speakers? Currently the previous home-owner had run 18/20 AWG bell wire to each corner, would this suffice for most scenarios? Or does it really depend on the power that I'll be giving to the speakers?

5. Say I'm watching Freeview TV using the smart TV's built in tuner. If I want to be able to listen to Freeview through the surround sound system I obviously need to get the audio signal back to the receiver. I guess this is as simple as connecting the TOSLINK or other 'audio out' method back to the receiver and then choosing that said connection as the source on the receiver?

6. Is it true to say that when I plug in, for example, a PS3 into one of the HDMI inputs on the receiver, that the receiver strips off the audio and routes the audio to the surround sound, and sends just the video to the HDMI out (i.e. the TV?). I'm just thinking with respect to question number 5...

7. Are most TV shows on TV these days broadcast with surround sound? I'm just wondering how much TV away from the films, etc. would be broadcast in it?

8. Some of the receivers that I've seen have Ethernet ports on, what are these used for? What services can receivers offer over Ethernet?

9. At some point, I'm considering extrapolating the AV setup in the living room into the adjoining dining room (probably just the addition of a couple of ancillary speakers) and then maybe into the adjoining kitchen at some point (with maybe another 5.1 set up and screen). Could this/how would this be approached given the existing hardware for the living room?

10. I've read about products like Plesk, Sonos, Chromecast, etc. Would any of these be of any benefit to me given my requirements do you think?

Apologies for the open-endedness and simplicity of some of the questions! I'm a pretty technical guy so don't be afraid to hold back; AV is just one of those fields I never properly got into!
 
If you are buying a new TV and receiver then most likely both will have ARC. This will send audio from the TV back to the receiver via the HDMI cable that goes between the 2 so no need for another audio connection. You would connect all other sources direct to the receiver and then the receiver to the TV with the one HDMI connection. If possible all sources should be connected via HDMI to the receiver. Most receivers have the amp built in so no need for a amp between receiver and speakers. Some amps have airplay but I am pretty sure none of them will stream video via any of the network functions. So you may be able to send audio to the amp but not video. So if you want to stream video from your NAS or tablet it would need to go to some other device first i.e. a smart function on TV or other media player. General advice for speaker cable is 2.5mm or greater. A lot of HD channel programs are broadcast in 5.1 but even if only broadcast in stereo your receiver will be able to 'upscale' the sound to create a surround sound effect (dolby prologic).
Although centralised systems sound good, the second zone functions of many AVRs are not that good and have big limitations. It is often easiest/best to have separate systems for each location.
 
AVR - the Ethernet port allows you to A. Update Firmware and B. stream music services online.

Sonos - is a Music streamer to play local and online music/radio and is generally a big step up in use ability over the streaming services an AVR will offer.

Chromecast - is a video/audio streamer, you will have to have a look and see if it offers you anything your TV and PS3 don't.

PS3 - can be located remotely but be sure that doesn't prove to be a problem in terms of controlling it for gaming!

Smartphone - there are lots of individual Apps. to allow you to interact with your TV, AVR, Console etc though many are still rather clunky. There are also Apps. Such as iRule which with the addition of some relatively low cost hardware from the likes of Global Cache can bring your various devices together within a single ' control' layer.

Plugin devices - can be achieved though 3.5mm stereo may not be the way to go as most devices are now all digital with HDMI taking over video and audio duties, also your plugin points may be better 'in zone' rather than in your AV cabinet!

Joe
 

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