Can someone explain AV receivers to me?

Domo

Domo

Domo

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Just invested in a new TV but I don't have a sound system to compliment it.

Been looking online - in particular the home theatre bundles - AV receiver and 5.1 speakers.

I have a PS4 Pro, Sky Q (coming mid Jan) and Nintendo Wii U.

So all those things get plugged into the receiver as well as the TV?

What happens when I don't want to use the surround sound? E.g. watching the news or Mrs simply wants to watch some daytime TV?

Complete noob to this. Any advice will be appreciated.

TV is KS8000 (might swap for OLED55B6V though).
 
Yes all sources connect to the AV receiver. Route all video and audio through the AV receiver.

If you don't want surround sound, you can use a 2 channel mode for regular TV watching. Generally a good idea to disable the TV's own speakers.
 
As above. Most if not all avrs will have stereo mode which will only use the front speakers and turn off the surrounds and sub. Once you have a 5.1 setup you won't want tot go back to tv speakers for any reason!
 
usually have two options

pure stereo- L/R are full range, no bass management, no subwoofer.
2 channel bass managed - L/R are bass managed to what the crossover has been set to, subwoofer active and signal sent from whatever is below the crossover point.

If the soundtrack is multi-channel, then it's downmixed to stereo.
 
Connect all sources to the AV receiver. Think of the TV as a monitor. (Unless you have a smart TV - but ARC will deliver audio back to the receiver for that). Its only used to display the picture, the built in speakers are turned off, and all sound is left for the receiver to deal with.

Even normal TV watching, I use the AV receiver. Using normal TV speakers sounds horrible now. I do turn the subwoofer off after 7PM though.

May I also suggest a Logitech Harmony remote. We used to have multiple remotes which my Mrs struggled with. Have been using Harmony remotes for around 5 years now, would never go back.

Once set up, you press 'Watch TV', the TV turns on, selects the correct HDMI input, turns the receiver on, selects the correct input, turns the Sky box on etc etc. Makes life very easy. Plenty of demos on YouTube. It's so easy my 7 year old daughter, my Mrs, my mother-in-law, everyone can operate it.
 
Even the BT TV remote has a macro function where I press the top left on button, TV turns on, AV turns on, fetches my slippers, gives me a beer.

Its all easier than you think.
 
mushtafa said:
Connect all sources to the AV receiver. Think of the TV as a monitor. (Unless you have a smart TV - but ARC will deliver audio back to the receiver for that). Its only used to display the picture, the built in speakers are turned off, and all sound is left for the receiver to deal with.

Even normal TV watching, I use the AV receiver. Using normal TV speakers sounds horrible now. I do turn the subwoofer off after 7PM though.

May I also suggest a Logitech Harmony remote. We used to have multiple remotes which my Mrs struggled with. Have been using Harmony remotes for around 5 years now, would never go back.

Once set up, you press 'Watch TV', the TV turns on, selects the correct HDMI input, turns the receiver on, selects the correct input, turns the Sky box on etc etc. Makes life very easy. Plenty of demos on YouTube. It's so easy my 7 year old daughter, my Mrs, my mother-in-law, everyone can operate it.
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I've got a Logitech Harmony but never really use it. I find it way too slow, fiddly and annoying. Almost over complicating things.

With HDMI CEC it's all automatic. Press Sky on the Sky remote and it all comes on, TV, Amp and Sky box... it then is used to control the TV viewing/volume. I turn the PS4 on and it all turns over automatically, turn it off and it switches back. Only thing I use another remote for is to turn the AVR over to my HTPC.
 
I dont see how a harmony can overcomplicate things. I press a button, my tv turns on and switches to the right input, my av amp turns on and switches to the right input, my addition hdmi switch box switches to the right input if it's needed (and it stays in standby if it isnt).... the programmable buttons automatically change according to whatever activity ive started - i dont see how that can be any more straight forward. the only real complexity is in setting it up but how often do you do that?
 
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james.miller said:
I dont see how a harmony can overcomplicate things. I press a button, my tv turns on and switches to the right input, my av amp turns on and switches to the right input, my addition hdmi switch box switches to the right input if it's needed (and it stays in standby if it isnt).... the programmable buttons automatically change according to whatever activity ive started - i dont see how that can be any more straight forward. the only real complexity is in setting it up but how often do you do that?
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I just can't get on with it really.

I don't like the button layout. It's counter-intuitive and not at all ergonomic despite the remote being perfect to simply hold in ones hand. I try but always end up going back to the Sky remote.

It's got a really bad touchscreen that is a pain to navigate, it almost always ends up being more than 1 thing you've got to click/swipe/whatever to do what you want it to do.

Plus you can't get it to skip things, for example it HAS to select an AV input on the TV, even though with a AVR it's always on the same one, lengthening the already silly amount of time you've got to sit there with the remote pointed in the right direction while it does it's thing. If you move and it misses something it can end up throwing everything off and you've got to start again, depending what you were doing.

Then you've got the fact that you have to remember what half the buttons do on each device depending how you've set it up. A Sky remote is a Sky remote, but every Harmony will be setup differently.

FurryLemon said:
When you need to alter settings they are hopeless.
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This too. The software is shocking.
 
mushtafa said:
Connect all sources to the AV receiver. Think of the TV as a monitor. (Unless you have a smart TV - but ARC will deliver audio back to the receiver for that). Its only used to display the picture, the built in speakers are turned off, and all sound is left for the receiver to deal with.

Even normal TV watching, I use the AV receiver. Using normal TV speakers sounds horrible now. I do turn the subwoofer off after 7PM though.

May I also suggest a Logitech Harmony remote. We used to have multiple remotes which my Mrs struggled with. Have been using Harmony remotes for around 5 years now, would never go back.

Once set up, you press 'Watch TV', the TV turns on, selects the correct HDMI input, turns the receiver on, selects the correct input, turns the Sky box on etc etc. Makes life very easy. Plenty of demos on YouTube. It's so easy my 7 year old daughter, my Mrs, my mother-in-law, everyone can operate it.
Click to expand...

Properly setup CEC on modern TVs and AV receivers bypasses all that faff.
 
dbmzk1 said:
I just can't get on with it really.

I don't like the button layout. It's counter-intuitive and not at all ergonomic despite the remote being perfect to simply hold in ones hand. I try but always end up going back to the Sky remote.

It's got a really bad touchscreen that is a pain to navigate, it almost always ends up being more than 1 thing you've got to click/swipe/whatever to do what you want it to do.
Click to expand...

That's down to your particular remote - i dont have those problems with my harmony 785 (no touch screen for starters...)

Plus you can't get it to skip things, for example it HAS to select an AV input on the TV, even though with a AVR it's always on the same one, lengthening the already silly amount of time you've got to sit there with the remote pointed in the right direction while it does it's thing. If you move and it misses something it can end up throwing everything off and you've got to start again, depending what you were doing.
Click to expand...

Well inter-command and inter-device delays can be tweaked, i dont know if you tried or not. I dont know why commands were missing either unless the kit isnt all in the same space? i just press a button and hold it for a few seconds or set it down on the sofa for example, works fine:confused:

Then you've got the fact that you have to remember what half the buttons do on each device depending how you've set it up. A Sky remote is a Sky remote, but every Harmony will be setup differently.
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Yeah i guess. I don't have an issue with that though?


Don't get me wrong, mine isnt perfect. I have a slight issue with my now tv box (and only that, strangely) repeating commands every now and then and the backlight on my 785 is rubbish but on the whole it works great. My son (6) doesnt have any issue with it, at any rate. He can switch between netflix on the youview box and nowtv without any problems.


This too. The software is shocking.
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Yes but again how often do you need to set an activity up?

TheMightyTen said:
Properly setup CEC on modern TVs and AV receivers bypasses all that faff.
Click to expand...

What happens when you want to access any of the extended commands. Say, you want to cycle surround modes on your AVR? How do you cope with that without falling back to multiple remotes?
 
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Domo said:
What happens when I don't want to use the surround sound? E.g. watching the news or Mrs simply wants to watch some daytime TV?

Complete noob to this. Any advice will be appreciated.

TV is KS8000 (might swap for OLED55B6V though).
Click to expand...

Why would you not use the surround sound system after buying it? If it's to save on electricity then your not seeing the big picture here.

Your TV is gonna cost what £1700+. Your AVR and seperates setup another what £1K+ minimum for something half decent.

so that's £3K+

the electricity a surround sound setup will use is probably akin to £5 a month used daily for several hours a day. If you think that is a lot then you probably shouldn't be buying that tv or a surround sound setup in the first place.

if it's because you don't think the news or daytime tv viewing warrants surround sound then it's a bit pointless spending that amount of money on a decent tv then or sound setup at all. why watch the news on a OLED for example? it would be akin to me spending £2K on a camera but only using it for special occasions, why bother at all when 99% of shots are still going to be on my phone.

tl;dr - if your buying decent gear use it
 
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Why would you not use the surround sound system after buying it? If it's to save on electricity then your not seeing the big picture here.
Click to expand...

For some movies I down mix, sometimes you get a classic movie and it just sounds wrong in 5.1. Or if it's a bad mix, it's better in stereo.

Also it means not switching on the amplifier for the surrounds, if I don't feel the film is worth having it in 5.1. Or if I am watching a older movie I use a front three speaker mode.

Plus some material is just stereo, ie CD/tape/vinylj. So I listen to stereo. Although I could use a DSP which does a excellent job of upscaling stereo to 7.1- it's not a crappy DSP.
 
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