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The Hand you're dealt...

#1
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3/8/09 at 6:37am
  • Joined: March 2009
  • Post Count: 2
So...this is my first time on HTF.(or any forum for that matter) so please bare with me...

My 79 year old father decided to get into the world of HD DURING a visit to Best Buy and with limited (no) holp from the sales folks bought the following components: A 52" Sharp Aquious LCD, a Panasonic BluRay player, and a JVC "Home Theatre" system/DVDPlayer (he thinks it's a TH-F3) and we wants me to hook it up for him today!! Additionally, he bought a pair of Koss wireless headphones to add to it and wants to listen to them while the TV speakers are on, as he's going deaf (literally) and needs the sound turned waaaaaay up to the point that noone else can be in the room with him.

I did some research and the TH-F3 only has limited digital inputs, and headphones will cut the speakers off if added to the "phones" jack.

Any insights/help anyone has to wire all this up??
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#2
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3/8/09 at 1:12pm
  • Joined: August 2004
  • Location: Columbia, MD
  • Post Count: 1,301

Re: The Hand you're dealt...

Hey bro, welcome to the forum, even if it's not necessarily voluntarily!

I think you are going to wind up returning the jvc system. Most of the home theater in a box systems (HTIB) that incorporate a built in dvd are not meant to accept a digital signal from another source like your dad's blue ray player (BDP). The easiest thing is likely to be to take back the jvc and look for a yamaha or onkyo HTIB without a built in dvd player. The audio video receiver (AVR) to the system in that price range will likely not have an input for HDMI (necessary to process the brand new audio formats available on BD) but I am guessing that will probably be ok given your dad's purchase of a low level HTIB in the first place. You'll still get full digital sound with Dolby Digital and DTS (just not Dolby True HD or DTS HD).

By using an onkyo or yamaha HTIB, which typically have fairly decent AVRs, you'll also be able to use a combination of the headphones and tv speakers without an issue.

I'm skipping over a lot of the real technical detail and requirements for the best configuration because you're a novice, your dad's demands aren't for the ultimate in sound and because I don't want you to be overwhelmed.

Connections:

Connect the BDP to the tv via an HDMI cable. You don't need an overpriced one. You can get a decent one (and all your cables) at monoprice.com, cablesforless.com or any of a host of other online retailers. Anyway, this will give you sound and picture from the BDP to the tv. You also want sound from your HTIB. You get that by hooking a digital audio cable from the BDP to the HTIB. There are two types, optical audio or coaxial digital audio. Check the audio outputs on the back of the BDP and the inputs on the back of your new HTIB AVR and make sure you get a cable that will work for both. Either is fine. That should get you started.
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#3
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3/8/09 at 5:48pm
  • Joined: August 2004
  • Location: Columbia, MD
  • Post Count: 1,301

Re: The Hand you're dealt...

Once you get everything connected, there are often some menu selections you need to make in the AVR and BDP to enable the digital sound, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
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#4
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3/9/09 at 11:31am
  • Joined: July 2003
  • Location: Lacombe, AB
  • Post Count: 2,564

Re: The Hand you're dealt...

Actually, you should still be able to use the TV speakers (not the HTiB ones) with this setup. It's all about how you set up the audio decoding in the BD player. My system is currently hooked up with HDMI from my HD DVD player to my 32" LCD and via optical to my ancient Pioneer receiver. Because my HDMI seeting is at auto, I actually have to turn down my TV speakers to avoid a nasty echo delay between the TV and my receiver (it kind of sounds like a movie theatre with no acoustic damping on the walls). Alternatively, if the display has a headphone jack, you could plug the wireless headphones into that and your dad wouldn't even have to turn the HTiB on if he's watching alone.

\"My opinion is that (a) anyone who actually works in a video store and does not understand letterboxing has given up on life, and (b) any customer who prefers to have the sides of a movie hacked off should not be licensed to operate a video player.\"-- Roger Ebert

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