Connecting a new TV with an older receiver (1 Viewer)

[AndyPandy]

Hi, I was glad to find this forum, and after reading quite a bit of information about home cinema systems I’ve understood a lot more, but I’m still confused: there are so many options!

I would like to upgrade the bad audio on my new FHD Tv, on a tight budget.

Instead of buying a simple soundbar, I’d prefer a 5.1 surround system. I’ve seen a lot of good quality, used receivers online and I’m wondering how I can connect my modern TV to an older receiver.

The receivers in question mostly have several HDMI inputs and also one or two optical inputs. (see photo's below ).

My TV on the other hand has only two HDMI outputs, one with ARC. And one optical output.

Can I get a good surround sound with this kind of setup? And how can I best connect the two?

Can I use the HDMI connectors on the receiver, or do I have to use the optical marked “TV”?
And last but not least, is it possible to add a bluetooth dongle to the old receiver so I can listen to the music on my phone?

RECEIVER:

TV:

 

[JohnRice]

What’s the source for TV. It’s internal tuner?

 

[B-ROLL]

You would use an HDMI cable from the TV (HDMI1) to HDMI OUT on the receiver. Depending on how old the receiver is, and how well either works with Audio Return Channel you may be able to use that as your sole input from the TV.

Generally you will only get Dolby Digital 5.1 from the TV. If you are not able to get sound to come out of the receiver - you may need to enable ARC on the TV (and possibly the receiver). You can use an optical cable to the receiver
Either way the video for other sources (Blu-Ray, Games) will come from the HDMI OUT. If you use cable/satellite - you should have an HDMI OUT connector on the back of the cable/satellite box and you would use an HDMI cable to connect the SAT/CABLE input of the receiver.

You haven't mentioned speakers. If you don't currently have 8 Ohm speakers, you will probably need to obtain some. Many receivers only work with 8 Ohm speakers.

The speakers that come with soundbars (or from All-in one systems) often use speakers that are not 8 Ohm - Ideally the speaker's impedance should be listed on the back. Some receivers can use speakers that have a lower impedance other than 8 Ohm but don't plan on playing the system too loud as it can damage the speakers, the receivers or both.

Do you have a total budget for your project?

 

[AndyPandy]

Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated.
The source is cable. It's a box called a "TV receiver" over here which is connected to a modem (Experia box) through a network cable and to the TV with a HDMI cable.
However I am planning on using Chromecast in the future and I imagine that might change the situation considering it's plugged into the TV.

So, if understood correctly I should try using the HDMI ARC connection first between the TV and the receiver and connect the "TV receiver box" to the receiver using the sat/cable input. And if that doesn't work I would have use the optical connection instead between the TV and the receiver, and connect the "TV receiver box" directly to the TV as I've been doing.

I've read multiple times that the HDMI input/output has to be marked "ARC" for it to work, that's why I thought I couldn't use it in this case.
So there's no way to know beforehand if it is going to work unless you physically try it out? Is age the main thing I should be looking at when choosing a used receiver? As in, the older it is the more likely it will not work with ARC?

Some of these receivers are sold with boxes already, otherwise I'd have to indeed just buy them separately. I don't intend playing them loud, so I don't need a lot of power, I'd just like to have a better sound system for both TV and music.
The attractive thing about these used receivers (and boxes) is that they are relatively cheap and probably offer a better sound than a new soundbar with the same budget: 150-200 Euro.