LG HTIB drving me nuts (1 Viewer)

Hey all! I'm new around here, so I hope I'm posting in the right forum.


Anyways....

For well over a year now my wife has been happy with our home theater setup, I of course not so much, but thats a different topic that will be touched on in a bit.

I have a LG 32LC7D TV, LG E922PB HTIB, Xbox360, and a Pace dual DVR (model number escapes me at this time)

I'm fairly limited in my connections... as the TV came first it's been a bit of a pain, I didn't think ahead.

The TV has two HDMI hookups. and I have 3 HDMI devices.

So my setup is:

Xbox - HDMI - TV
DVR - HDMI - TV
HTIB - Component - TV
TV - Optical - HTIB

For 12 months this has been fine. In fact the TV never moved, and wires never tugged for those 12 months and the Harmony, while frustrating, operated fine.

Now the wife got in her head that the book shelf the Xbox was on (which was in a seperate corner of the room) should go away cus it's ugly (which it was) and the Xbox should join the HTIB and TV on the small TV stand we have.

So after that move, there was a loud squeal from the HTIB a week after it was hooked up, and now I cannot get any audio out of the HTIB unless I use RCA cables.

To make matters worse, after trying to reconfigure my harmony remote (550) I can no longer get the stupid setup program to "save" the command to switch between digital inputs (because the factory remote switches between AUX OPT and AUX COAX on a single button, while all other inputs are selected by single buttons). The command is listed in the setup screen, but when I say "done" it doesn't save the command to setup screen...or when transfered to the remote the remote does not see the command either.

I do not have the factory remote... the HTIB was an AS-IS purchase.

This is driving me nuts because 5.1 sounds is very important to me (and she could care less about 5.1 or audio quality, in fact the TV speakers are fine for her)

So now I'm in a bit of a slide...


I have given up on the HTIB box... I've replaced all the cables with brand spanky new Planet Waves ones and still nothing.... so I belive the input is fried, or the software is pooched... one of the two.


I have convinced the wife it's time to upgrade! But there are limitations...by her, the pocket book, and technical.

1: I have very limited room. the current HTIB is thicker than an Xbox and i only have 1 inch of verticle space left with the HTIB and a Wii stacked. I am not allowed to put the wii verticle on the side (this is her)
2: It must be black to match the rest of the system (also her)
3: It must be in the $500 - $1000 CAD price range
4: Perfer to be a 5 disc changer (her)
5: I want Blu-Ray
6: Would perfer it to have HDMI in/outs 2+
7: 5.1 setup, with wall mount rear speakers (physical limition)
8: Auto audio balancing (perfered)

This is what I would like essentially...

5 disc HTIB
Xbox 360
Pace DVR
Blu-Ray player

all hooked up through HDMI. Keep in mind my TV only has 2 HDMI ports

I could probably get her to ditch the 5 disc changer, or if there is a thin enough one out there add it at a later date and just hook it up through component, and then have a Bluray HTIB


Please help...

Oh, and I need to buy from a place that sells extended warranty. It has saved me in the past and I should have gotten it with this system.

I could not find your tv's model number at the LG site, so I couldn't look up anything about it.

I can tell you though, that chances are, you've only been getting Pro Logic from your tv, and not 5.1 surround. The optical output on tvs is for use with the internal tuner, when using an antenna. It is not for daisy chain connections, like you've had your stuff hooked up. When a tv passes audio at all that way, it down mixes the 5.1 surround to 2.0, so the best you can possibly hope for is Dolby Pro Logic (simulated surround). Of course, the only channels you'll get real 5.1 surround from are the HD channels, some premium movie channels (HBO, Starz, etc.), and some PPV channels.

You need to stay away from HTIBs. With most, you'll have the same problems. If you MUST go with an HTIB, get an Onkyo. They package a real receiver with their HTIBs.
http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=HT-S6200&class=Systems&p=i

hummm, so even when i'm playing xbox and listening to hdtv stations the channel deffinition I'm hearing is simulated? The TV does have a dolby pro logic logo on the back.

What aobut this kit from my local Best Buy?

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926HDS0010121709&catid=20303&PCName=Coop_Samsung

When hooking up a system, you need to think of the TV as a monitor and nothing else. Both the video and audio from each source component should be fed into the receiver, then a single video connection is run from the receiver to the TV. When you hook things up this way, you only have to switch inputs on the receiver to switch both the video and the audio to the correct source. It's a much more convenient way of connecting everything together.

The system you want to put together has 3 HDMI sources - the XBox, DVR, and Blu-Ray player. The Samsung system you listed DOES have enough HDMI ports, but from what I can gather it does HDMI "Pass-through" not "Repeating".

What's the difference? HDMI was designed to provide a way to carry both audio AND video with a single cable. Receivers, however, must be HDMI version 1.3a compatible in order to process the audio stream that comes on an HDMI cable. If they aren't 1.3a, all you get from the HDMI cable is the video feed, and these receivers are said to be "Pass-through". Newer, more feature-complete receivers (v 1.3a) are HDMI "Repeaters" and can process both the audio and video from a single HDMI cable.

What does this mean for you? It means that with the Samsung system, you'll need to run a digital audio cable from each source in ADDITION to the HDMI cable in order to get digital surround sound. Also, with Blu-Ray players, the new lossless, or "HD" audio formats are not transmitted via digital audio cables (only via HDMI or if decoded internally by the player, via 7.1 analog audio connections). This may not be a deal-breaker to you, but just be warned that it will mean that you won't get the full benefit of what Blu-Ray has to offer.

The Onkyo home theater system that Ed referenced above is probably one of the best "all-in-one" systems available out there. It has 4 HDMI inputs, it is 1.3a, so you CAN get audio via HDMI. In addition to the 6200, Onkyo makes a 6100 system that is also HDMI 1.3a. Both systems can be had from Amazon (an authorized Onkyo dealer) for well under $1000 US (sorry, I don't know the conversion, but it should fall within your budget).

Hope this helps, and good luck in your shopping!

Thanks guys

So, I took a look around the Onkyo product pages and I'm seeing a pretty good bang for the buck ratio for features... but how do these systems sound?

I can get the 6200 for a pretty good price at a local dealership that my business deals with for car audio, leaving me with enough dough for a blu-ray player.

Also, I'm trying to figure out how one would setup a 7.1 system in my available space.

I'd have to draw a picture of the room to give you an idea...

You can go to http://www.dolby.com and see how to place 7.1 speakers. Sometimes, you may need to use stands. You can also use a 7.1 system as a 5.1 system, and save the extra two speakers, or use them somewhere else.

The weak links of most HTIBs is the number of inputs and the speakers. They just can't give you great speakers, for the price of an HTIB. But it's hard to beat the Onkyos for the money. If you want very good speakers, they're going to cost you, and usually a good bit. Here's some very good speakers for the money: http://www.svsound.com/products-sys-sbs_black.cfm
They include a very good subwoofer too!