Question Tips and help for first home cinema set up :)

[NewGuy781]

Hello all!

I have been getting my feet wet into hi-fi and home cinema but there is still quite a few things I need to learn. My home cinema "set-up" is more like a ragtag of components that I have gotten on a bargain but its ok for a small apt I think.. for now.. In the future I'll be looking for much better components! But I want to learn about this subject before throwing money at expensive things

For now I am a bit confused in the whole surround sound/5.1/dolby/dts world and I need some help in getting my current set-up to work for a good movie watching experience, so I would appreciate any tips/corrections/upgrade advice.

Sidenote: Sorry if I posted this in the wrong section, please let me know if I should move it.

So before I state my issue/confusion here are the components I have and a some specs:
-TV: Blaupunkt (dumb TV) with 3 HDMIs in (no outs), and the only audio out I see on the TV and manual is the 3.5mm for headphones, and 1 Coaxial audio-out (digital-out)
-AVR: Yamaha RX-V430RDS with no HDMI input, but does have Coaxial input and Optical input. (Its an oldie so I think I'm limited to dolby digital and dts. No fancy truehd/plus or atmos for me I guess, not with this AVR)
-Speakers: Polk Audio RM6750 5.1 with "normal" input terminals, and line in input.
-Sources: I mainly stream (Netflix, Disney+, Primevideo, and such) using Chromecast and Roku Express
-Current connection: Chromecast & Roku Express (audio settings in auto which detects the various dolby digital signals and dts) -> into TV's HMDIs-> TV's coax out -> into AVR's coax. Speakers are connected to AVR just as speaker manual describes.

Basically my issue is that it seems I am not getting real surround sound (no Dolby or DTS), just the AVR generated Prologic I/II "fake" 5.1. At least that is my interpretation/impression because my receiver is supposed to light up the dolby or dts light when it detects any of those signals, but it doesn't. It only lights up the lights that signal 2.1 channels, i.e. R&L channels, Prologic 1/2, and the 70mm dsp programs (70mm according to yamaha manual means 2.1).
The second reason I think it might not be "real" 5.1 is that when I tested the speakers before buying (obviously on a different AVR from the previous owner) they sounded quite good and enveloping, now its a bit.. meh... unless I crank it up quite a bit and the bass gives me nice vibes, but the rears leave a lot to desire.

Now my first impression was that the TV might not be sending dolby or dts to the receiver. I say this cause the TV digital audio setting only has 3 options: Off, Auto, and PCM. So even though the streaming devices might be sending dolby/dts the TV could be sending PCM to the receiver (which explains the PCM light on the receiver).
The only thing I know for now about PCM is that it is lossless as opposed to dolby/dts, but I dont quite understand the relationship between PCM and dolby/dts.. can it transmit dolby/dts? or if there is any relationship between these? or is its a completely apart surround sound signal? or is it even a 5.1 signal or just a 2.1? or is the 5.1/2.1 output TV dependent?

There is another weird thing (at least for me). The receiver only indicates right&left channels are connected and does not indicate that the sub, rears and center channels are connected even though they are, sound is coming out from them, and even the AVR settings for these (speaker small/large etc.) are set according to speaker manual specifications. This leads me to believe that the AVR is actually "acting" as a 2.1 setup (because its only getting 2.1) with one of those "virtual" surround effects and thats the alleged reason why the rears and center channels sound too, but not because they are getting real independent rear and center signals like in a 5.1 set up.
I have tried different settings and AVR programs but nothing either makes it detect the channels nor get me a dolby/dts light signal.

One last thing I should mention is that the coaxial cable I have form TV to AVR is not one of those expensive digital coaxial cables, its a cheap digital coaxial cable (to be honest I don't even remember if it was marketed/branded "digital" since I got it long time ago). So I am also wondering if this might be the culprit or part of a bunch of things that I am missing.

As I mentioned before I'm a newbie in this home cinema thing so I'm certain I might have plenty of wrong going on in my post and need more than a few corrections, so please fire away any tips/corrections/upgrades/etc.! I could use all your help, not just for this set up, but also for future ones as I would like to go deeper into this subject and learn a lot!

Thanks in advance!

PS: If you need more info/clarification/pics, please let me know, I'll do my best.

 

[ShanePJ]

To me it sounds like you really need to upgrade your AV Receiver in order to access the surround sound via the HDMI feeds from Roku unit (not 100% sure on the Chrome unit as I've never used one) if it doesn't have any HDMI connections. Whats happening with the TV which is like happens to many TV's is they down sample the audio feed to 2 channel.

If you upgraded the av receiver to one with HDMI, the av receiver would simply become a plug and play hub whilst the TV may still need to be connected would connect via Coaxial connection in order to hear the TV's audio sounds when watching Freeview (if no other broadcasting device is used)

Now in order for others to properly assist you, model numbers are everyone's friend here as they will enable others to identify what other options you may not have included because you didn't know they had to be included or what I have mentioned above will be just be cemented

 

[NewGuy781]

HEY! Thanks a lot for replying

To me it sounds like you really need to upgrade your AV Receiver in order to access the surround sound via the HDMI feeds from Roku unit (not 100% sure on the Chrome unit as I've never used one) if it doesn't have any HDMI connections. Whats happening with the TV which is like happens to many TV's is they down sample the audio feed to 2 channel.

Ahaaa ok, you see I had no clue at all that TVs did that. Thanks! I was worried that I had to get a new TV cause I personaly don't subscribe to "smart" tvs.
Although price wise, upgrading the AVR might be a bigger hit to the wallet. But we'll thus avr is quite old and got it on a thrift shop

Now in order for others to properly assist you, model numbers are everyone's friend here as they will enable others to identify what other options you may not have included because you didn't know they had to be included or what I have mentioned above will be just be cemented

You mean the TV's model number right? Sorry I missed that, it's a cheap brand and didn't find the model on the manual when writing the post.. So yep that cheap

I'll look for it behind the TV when I get back home tomorrow, or take a pic of the connections on it and update.

If there is other specifics you need, let me know

Thanks!

 

[ShanePJ]

As your AVR is quite old, what speakers have you and if you're unsure, take a photo. there are some very clever folk on here who can identify products by just having a close up. The reason I mention this is that simply because if your AVR is part of a one box solution, replacing it will be harder than you think. So best be on the safe side

To find the model number, you can usually find this on the rear of TV. It will have a label somewhere an on that label will be some random letter/s and number/s

 

[gibbsy]

For you to get any kind of surround sound from any TV you need either an ARC connection of a digital optical output. From you description of your TV you don't seem to have either. The headphone out, which can be used, will just give you a stereo signal.

I agree with @ShanePJ that you really do need to upgrade to a modern AV receiver and use that as a HDMI hub for all connected equipment with a single HDMI to the TV for video.

 

[NewGuy781]

Hi All sorry for the delay, had some car issues and had to delay my comeback home

For you to get any kind of surround sound from any TV you need either an ARC connection of a digital optical output. From you description of your TV you don't seem to have either. The headphone out, which can be used, will just give you a stereo signal.

I agree with @ShanePJ that you really do need to upgrade to a modern AV receiver and use that as a HDMI hub for all connected equipment with a single HDMI to the TV for video.

You are right I cannot see anything that says ARC on the TV nor the manual, so I guess for the hdmi way, there is no way.
But I was under the impression that the "Coaxial digital audio out" (as called in the manual) would do the trick.. until I was told by Shane that TVs generally "down sample the audio feed to 2 channel"
I thought that my cheap coaxial cable would be the/a culprit but if what Shane mentiones is the case here then I guess that's no option either

But thanks for the info on the ARC thing, I read up on it and in my future TV I'll make sure to look for that

As your AVR is quite old, what speakers have you and if you're unsure, take a photo. there are some very clever folk on here who can identify products by just having a close up. The reason I mention this is that simply because if your AVR is part of a one box solution, replacing it will be harder than you think. So best be on the safe side
To find the model number, you can usually find this on the rear of TV. It will have a label somewhere an on that label will be some random letter/s and number/s

Sure I can provide some model numbers

So, the setup I have is not a box solution, I have a Yamaha receiver and a Polk Audio 5.1 system hooked up to it. Here are their model numbers and their manuals, which I found online and use for them (except the TV, I have a paper manual for it):

-AVR:
Yamaha RX-V430RDS

Controls And Functions; Front Panel - Yamaha RX-V430 Owner's Manual [Page 8]

Yamaha RX-V430 Manual Online: controls and functions, Front Panel. 2 3 Stereo Program Memory Effect Man'l/Auto Fm 9 0 Q W Input M0De Preset/Tuning Tuning Mode Fm/Am Preset/Tuning Auto/Man'l Mono Edit E R T 4 Input Mode Sets The Priority For The Types Of Input Signals (Auto, Dts,...

www.manualslib.com

-Speakers:
Polk Audio RM6750 5.1

POLK AUDIO RM6750 MANUAL Pdf Download

View and Download Polk Audio RM6750 manual online. COMPACT 5.1 AUDIO SYSTEM. RM6750 speaker system pdf manual download.

www.manualslib.com

-TV (as in the sticker on the back):
BLAUPUNKT 40" LED
Model Number: 40/1891-GB-5B-FHBKUP-EU
Product Code: BW40Z189BFBKPE481
Serial Number: BW40Z189BFBKPE481 108065 01025

I honestly thought that the "Coaxial digital audio out" would give me the 5.1 until you mentioned the down-sampling.. now my hopes are down.. But I hope the info above can help you and other folks find more info on this TV and hopefully a way to get 5.1

Cheers!

 

[Joe Fernand]

TV - do you have a link to the User Manual? The capabilities of the HDMI Inputs on the TV is what folk need to see.

HDMI > HDMI+Optical switch - if all of your devices support DD5.1 via HDMI you could add a switch to the system and send Digital audio to the AVR that way.

Joe

 

[NewGuy781]

Hi! Unfortunately I dont have a link for the TV Manual. But this is the page with available connections of the paper manual it came with.
(The manual is only in Spanish, French, Portuguese and Dutch. I assumed the Spanish one might have better chances of somebody understanding or easier to google translate )

Also, my AVR does not have any HDMI connections