New to home theatre, could do with some help!

dirtychinchilla

dirtychinchilla

dirtychinchilla

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Morning guys,

Getting the TV put on the wall by a pro (I bodged the last one...) and I've got the opportunity to add two more speakers, so I'll have front and rear.

My current amp only has two channels, so I'm looking at upgrading. It'll be used for streaming audio via an echo dot, playing vinyl, and primarily for the TV.

I guess my questions are:
  • Should I get an AVR?
  • If so, I'm definitely going to be doing it as cheap as possible, buying something used from eBay I expect. Any recommendations?
    • Bonus if it already has Echo in it
  • I've read a few things about ARC. I don't have a centre channel and hadn't considered using one. Is the benefit to ARC really just to eliminate one cable? If so, can definitely live without it
These are just formative thoughts, so might be a bit simplistic!

Thanks in advance,

dirtychinchilla
 
Kenai said:
ARC is designed (in this sort of scenario) to allow you to put all your media devices into the AVR, which then passes video on to the TV via one HDMI cable but also allow your TV to send audio information in the other direction on that same cable if you're using streaming apps on the TV for example.

Not sure of the relevance in terms of having a centre channel or not and where you've read that, ARC is about sending audio from your TV to your sound system - be it AVR, packaged surround system, soundbar etc.
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Thanks. I was just googling it and stuff like this kept coming up:

"HDMI ARC is designed to reduce the number of cables between your TV and an external Home Theatre System or Soundbar. The audio signal is capable of traveling both ways to and from the speakers, which will improve the sound quality and latency of the signal."

And then I read a bit more and it talked about two way communication between a soundbar and the AVR.

If I'm understanding ARC correctly, HDMI and an audio cable achieve the same thing? Just thinking if I'm going to buy second hand, some older units may not have it.
 
hornetstinger said:
Stereo amplifiers will sound better than AVR, so I wouldn't get rid of yours however there are two things you must have/do to ensure this works properly

1) Your stereo amplifier has HT bypass
2) When you buy a AVR it must have full set of pre outs

HT bypass means your stereo amplifier converts into a stereo power amplifier in "AV" mode. Have a look here if it has this feature

Amplifiers with HT-bypass - update 27. October 2024

Audiophile.no has made a list of stereo preamps and integrated amps that have one sort of HT-bypass. This list is updated 27. October 2024 with preamplifiers from Teac, and will be will be continuously updated. Written by Karl Erik Sylthe, at 15.02.07 Translated to English in june 2008Latest...
www.audiophile.no www.audiophile.no

Otherwise you'll have to level match everytime you put it into AV mode, and reduce it back down before switching input to your CD player etc

The AVR must have pre outs so you take L/R from that AVR into your stereo amp HT bypass input. These models are quite expensive looking at Denon 3700 or similar price range. Cheap AVR's don't have them (Denon 1700 etc)
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Is there a dramatic difference in quality? I don't have an amp with HT bypass
 
hornetstinger said:
If yours is a good quality stereo amp, and quality speakers yeah you'll notice the difference.

Since you don't have HT bypass then take the L/R pre outs into a spare line level input. When you calibrate the system bring up the volume on the stereo amp so it matches the center speaker volume, get a marker pen and mark where this is on your stereo amp. Everytime in AV mode change to that input and set it to that marked level.
Click to expand...

I've got a basic Cambridge amp and a pair of B&W BM303s. They sound decent, but the amp doesn't have the features I actually want.

tom_nieto said:
@Kenai - the older (and maybe wiser?!) I get, the more I’m coming to this conclusion. In fact I’m even starting to look at sound bars. There’s nothing like ease of use and simplicity. I’ve had the multiple box setup with pre outs. It’s great, but it’s a faff!

The other option is to not bother buying anything at all and just use your existing amp and speakers.

@dirtychinchilla Are you very keen to get a surround setup? Do you watch a lot of movies? You have a vinyl setup - is music the main use of the speakers?
Click to expand...

I would like surround sound but in reality, not that bothered by surround sound. The speakers are mainly used for TV, but part of this little project is that I'm moving my record player into the living room, so it will be hooked up to this system and hopefully get some more use!
 
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