Optical cable upgrade necessary?

Rohirrim

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Hi guys,

I recently bought a Sony VTX D800U freeview box to be able to have digital surround via the optical output connected to my Marantz SR5200.
I bought a very cheap optical cable and a 3.5mm mini jack to connect them up but have found that on a few tv channels the dialogue which should just come through the centre speaker is bleeding slightly through the surround speakers enough to be annoying (didnt happen when I had surround via scart connection).
If I bought a more expensive optical cable would the bleeding sound stop?

Cheers,

Phil.
 
No, a different optical lead won't help. An optical lead either works or it doesn't. An expensive lead will be better made, but it won't work better.

There is no real advantage to using a digital connection with a Freeview box, as all the channels are broadcast in stereo. Freeview doesn't currently provide 5.1. Your AV amp will be converting the stereo sound to surround sound, probably using Dolby Prologic.

You will always get some "bleeding" with Prologic. If it's noticeable from your normal listening position, there's probably something wrong with the settings on your amp, or the speakers are badly positioned.

Are you sure that it didn't happen when using the scart connection? Maybe you are now listening harder, trying to hear the benefits of switching to the digital cable.
If scart really did work better, check the settings on the amp.
 
Thanks for that Clockworks, the weird thing is that it only happens with a few tv channels. You stating my speaker position may be wrong sounds like thats the problem thinking about it. I will have a play about with things and see what happens.

Cheers,

Phil.
 
If it only happens with a few channels, it might be a problem with the broadcast. If the stereo soundtrack is badly balanced, Prologic can be thrown out of whack.
 

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