Newbie after some AV Receiver advice

wangtastic

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Hi all,

I'm a long time browser but first time poster and I'd like to say that I think the site is EXCELLENT.

Here's my situation:
I got given an amp a while back that was somewhat outdated but still perfectly acceptable for my needs, the amp is a 5.1 Sony jobby (at work so don't have model number to hand).
It has no HDMI but it does have 3 optical in 1 out.

At the moment it has 2 PC's connected to it and an Xbox 360 all via optical, the devices are also connected via HDMI to an LG LCD TV.
I also have an astro mix amp for my headphones (for late night watching/gaming) connected to the optical out of the receiver.

this has worked great for me for the past year or so but I'm looking to upgrade as I'm fed up of having wires trailing round the room and would much rather have one cable going to the TV.
I'm also looking at adding a PS3 to the mix.

I've found an amp I like that's in my budget (£150) at richer sounds, however before I take the plunge I have a couple of questions:

1) the amp has no optical out but my TV does, am I right in thinking that if I connect my Astro mix amp to the TVs optical out, the TV can passthru the audio from the hdmi via optical out to the mixamp?

2) does dolby/dts HD make a big/noticeable difference in sound?

3) if I stay with my current set up and add a PS3 do optical splitters exist so I can let it share the Xbox 360'a port on the amp?

Thanks for reading

Steve
 
Not all TVs can pass sound from a HDMI output to its optical output so you would need to check the manual of the TV. You would also need the amp to be able to pass the sound through to the TV as well (again need to check the amp you are looking at). The issue with this is that if it can it can cause problems with HDMI connections not sending 5.1 sound to the amp since it will 'see' the TV as the source, this is stereo so it will only send stereo.
Dolby/DTS HD are only on blurays so will only be relevant if you have these. It is slightly better than SD sound but there is no need for the receiver to be able to decode them. Your PS3 can decode them and as long as the amp you buy does audio over HDMI (all current ones do) then you still get HD audio.
You can buy optical switchers (you want a switch and not a splitter) so you could do what you want. They are nto cheap if you want one that will work as you really want a powered one and not a passive one.
 
Thanks for the response it's given me a fair bit to think about.
Well looking through my manual for the TV (lg flatron) it's a bit vague on the pasthru front but does look promising!
Didn't think about the amp and seeing the TV as stereo...I think what I'm gonna have to do is try it out tonight using the current amp as a Guinea pig...
 

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