4k with an older avr (1 Viewer)

[Fraser8322]

Hi so I just got my first real home theatre setup. Got the 4k lg tv, a pioneer vsx932 amp and a set of elac debut 5.2s for a 7.1 set up. I got the amp cheap through Ebay as it was a run out model. While I'm happy with the amp and the features I've read alot about a decent amp making a big difference. I saw an arcam avr280 on Ebay again used for a very cheap price, bid on it and won. I am yet to pick it up, will have it in a week or two. I am trying to work out how I can hook my system up to still have 4k capabilities as the arcam amp wont support 4k. Only thing I can think of is to run my cable and ps4 into my tv first and have the optical output sound to the receiver. My question is will this compromise sound quality at all by running through the tv first? Am I better off with the new pioneer or old arcam?

 

[Lord Dalek]

Yes the only way to connect the AVR280 to your system over those conditions would be through optical. It's not a lossless decoder anyway so you're gonna get compressed audio no matter what you do.

My suggestion: stick with the Pioneer. Less headache involved.

 

[JohnRice]

Here are the drawbacks of using the Arcam. 1) The LG TV most likely will downsample anything you route from the hdmi input to the optical output to 2 channel. This topic comes up often, then the person asking will look at the specs of the TV, which says it outputs 5.1 from optical, but that's only from sources inside the TV (tuner, streaming apps) itself. Anything routed through hdmi will most likely be downsampled to 2.0. 2) The Arcam can't process the high resolution audio formats from 2K and 4K discs, so you'll be limited to Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1. No HD audio. No 7.1

 

[Lord Dalek]

Here are the drawbacks of using the Arcam. 1) The LG TV most likely will downsample anything you route from the hdmi input to the optical output to 2 channel. This topic comes up often, then the person asking will look at the specs of the TV, which says it outputs 5.1 from optical, but that's only from sources inside the TV (tuner, streaming apps) itself. Anything routed through hdmi will most likely be downsampled to 2.0. 2) The Arcam can't process the high resolution audio formats from 2K and 4K discs, so you'll be limited to Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1. No HD audio. No 7.1

Correction: The Arcam can do DTS-ES 6.1 but that's the max.

 

[JohnRice]

Well, that changes everything.

 

[Fraser8322]

Great, thanks for your answers, sounds like I might have to stick to the pioneer for the time being

 

[DigitalDawn]

This should solve your problem. The only product I know that can do this:

http://www.transformativeengineering.com/project/hds-12avr/

I have seen it online for $319.

 

[JohnRice]

Unfortunately, that product won't solve any problems for this particular situation.

 

[DigitalDawn]

Why not?