Home Theater Forum  ›  Forums  ›  Home Theater  ›  Basics  ›  Noobie Needs HELP and Advice-Thanks in advance!
Forum Nav More Forums | All New Posts | New Thread

Noobie Needs HELP and Advice-Thanks in advance!

#1
Rating: 0
11/1/09 at 4:42pm
  • Joined: November 2009
  • Post Count: 4
Just purchased a 50" Samsung Plasma, Boston Acustic Sound bar and Sub with a Samsung Blue ray that hooks up to the wireless router to rent movies over the internet.  I also have a Wii and Xbox hooked up.

I purchased this at Best Buy through Magnolia Home Theateer.  When they installed the stull they used HDMI for everything.  The unit is hooked up to HD Cablevision and the cablevision remove woprked all TV functions.

My probem initially was that the cable remote did not move the volume on the sound bar only the TV speaker volume.  After 3 visits from the Geek Squad a manager just left my house and he was able to program the sound bar to the remote.  My problem is that since he used the "external" speaker function every time i cahnge the volume a large blue box 15" long and 8" high pop up and says not availible with a yellow triangle.  It stays in place for 5 seconds after the volume is released on the remote.

The suggestion he made was to connect the unit with RCA cables instead of HDMI.  He said that wouyld work.  i asked about picture quality and he said if would drop a little.  i do not want to drop quality.  What can i do?  I am considering returning the whole thing at this point if it cannot be fixed
Thanks for the help.

Jeff
Export to Wiki
#2
Rating: 0
11/1/09 at 6:14pm
  • Joined: December 2003
  • Location: Charlotte, NC
  • Post Count: 2,812
I would suggest buying a good universal remote like a Logitech Harmony remote.  Once programmed (through a simple PC interface) these remotes know which components you're using.  So on this remote, when you press the volume button, it will only send the command to the soundbar, not to the TV, so you should not get that message anymore (assuming I'm understanding your issue correctly).

I typically buy my remotes refurbished on Ebay or somewhere else . .  . just make sure it's a reputable seller.  My wife just said again yesterday that our Harmony remote is the best piece of our entire setup.
Export to Wiki
#3
Rating: 0
11/2/09 at 3:06am
  • Joined: November 2009
  • Post Count: 4
tHE SOUND BAR DOES NOT HAVE A REMOTE, OR AND ir SENSOR.  iT TAKES THE SIGNAL FROM THE tv FROM WHAT i AM TOLD.  i APPRECIATE YOUR ADVISE DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER IDEA?  tHE ONLY OPTION THEY PRESENT IT TO ADD A RECIEVER AND RUN ALL THE SIGNAL THROUGH THERE?  i REALLY WEANTED TO GET AWAY AL LITTLE LESS EXPENSIVE.  i DID A MASSIVE HOME THEATHER IN MY BED ROOM AND i DID THIS SYSTEM TO GET MY KIDS OUT OF MY ROOM!

tHANKS

jEFF
Export to Wiki
#4
Rating: 0
11/2/09 at 3:37am
  • Joined: December 2003
  • Location: Charlotte, NC
  • Post Count: 2,812
I skimmed the online product manual to see how this thing works.  It appears that it does have an IR sensor.  It sounds like it does not come with a remote and that the idea is that you teach the soundbar to understand the volume button commands from your existing remote.  I assume this is what your geek squad guys did when they set your stuff up.  However, that means that whenever you hit the volume button it is sending the command to both the soundbar and the tv, hence your message that is popping up.

I still think my Harmony idea might work, but it would take some messing around with it to make it work.  I think you could test the theory before making a purchase though.  Since you have Samsung products, my thought is that you would download the codes for a Sony (or other) tv.  Then teach the soundbar to use the volume commands from the Sony tv and set that as your volume control in your harmony.  You could test this theory if you have a remote for another product somewhere in your house.  You could go through the steps in the soundbar product manual to retrain it to use another remote in your house and, once it is retrained, see if you still get the error message.
Export to Wiki
#5
Rating: 0
11/3/09 at 2:26am
  • Joined: November 2009
  • Post Count: 4

Thanks for teh time you took to answer this and for the research you did for me.  I will try tis when I get home from work tonight.

Thanks again,

Jeff

Export to Wiki
#6
Rating: 0
11/7/09 at 10:24am
  • Joined: November 2009
  • Post Count: 4
Seth,

BB just left and they did exactally what you suggested.  i got the Harmony 1 remote and all is fixed.  These techs were the best yet.  i guess you just have to be lucky with who you get.

Thanks again!

Jeff
Export to Wiki
Forum Nav More Forums | All New Posts | New Thread