Looking for greatest hookup flexibility with 45tx (1 Viewer)

[Brad Newton]

I am looking for the greatest flexibility & ease of use when connecting a dvd, vcr & satellite to the 45tx. I want the wife to be able to watch tv, or dvd or vcr without having to use the receiver. Is this possible? I had thought about only running the digital audio from the dvd and the satellite & the analog sound from the vcr to the receiver. That way she could still wath everything the way she does now, but still be able to have the sound run through the receiver for HT purposes. I also need advice on the best way to get the tv sound through the receiver for HT. Again, I also want to be able to watch tv without using the receiver. Can this be done by using the audio out from the tv into the receiver & still maintain use of the tv speakers? By using this method, does it mute the tv speakers?

 

[Brad Newton]

Anyone....

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Brad,

You've pretty much answered your own question.

You can connect video and analog audio cables directly from source components to the tv, and digital audio to the receiver. That way you or your wife can watch any source with sound and without having to fire up the whole system. You would be using the tv for all video and all analog audio switching in this scenario, and it won't work unless you have enough inputs on the tv.

You would then connect analog audio cables from the audio out jacks on your tv and an unused analog audio input on the receiver so you can listen to regular tv and non-digital source audio (vcr) thru the receiver when desired.
Your tv set will not automatically disable it's own speakers when you use the audio output jacks on it.

Be aware that there are usually 2 types of audio output from most tv sets, fixed and variable. Fixed output will send a constant volume level equivalent to that of any other audio device to your receiver, regardless of the tv's own volume setting. If this fixed output is available on your set (some have separate "fixed" and "variable" output jacks, others have a selection in their audio setup menu that switches between the 2 modes on the same set of output jacks), use it so you won't have to jockey between the volume settings on the tv and that of the receiver when listening to the tv on your reciever.

With variable output, the volume from the audio output jacks will vary according to the tv's volume setting so you'll have to deal with 2 volume controls instead of 1 when using the receiver.

Most tvs also have an audio menu setting that turns off the set's speakers, but it's sorta buried and a nuisance to find every time you want to listen using only the HT system. If you use the fixed setting or output jacks, all you need to do is turn the tv's volume control down all the way to mute it's speakers when using the HT, yet can simply turn it back up again instead of delving into an audio control menu when you want to just use the tv's speakers.

I hope this isn't too confusing.