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Plex Server to Chromecast - to HDMI on Samsung TV - Optical Dig. out of TV to Harmon Kardon AVR 525 (1 Viewer)

LuckyLimey

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Hugh Ev
Hi - I have an older (no HDMI) Harmon Kardon AVR 525. I am streaming content from a Plex Server to a Chromecast plugged into an HDMI on a 2008 Samsung Plasma.... and then outputting Audio from the Samsung via a an optical digital link to the HK receiver.....

My speakers are a 5.1 configuration.

I am a little disappointed in the sound.... There is definitely a stereo effect L to R but the highs seemes muted and maybe everything is a little muddy......and am wondering if this wiring is the correct way to go... should I use the Samsung RCA; outputs and not the digital link? There is no HDMI on the HK...all the HK reviews are great... am I missing something? (I am a cable cutter) so have no use for the myriad of inputs on the HK Is there an HDMI to RCA converter...

Any suggestions or thoughts....
 

David Willow

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The TV is probably outputting everything as stereo. Most TVs will output 5.1 only for the built in apps and tuner.

Do you have any other options? Maybe a PC that can be connected to the TV and the AVR? Or maybe it is time to upgrade.

FWIW - I had an HK 325 and also really liked it.
 

LuckyLimey

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Thanks David - I'm trying to sort this out. The HK525 has optical... and can handle 7.1, so is that possible only via the optical imput or can it do 7.1 via the RCA jacks? I would like to try and keep the HK cos its kind of classic. I could upgrade the Samsung bit am not sure what to look for.... Is there a TV that will pass through the 5.1 or maybe use a Amazon Fire? .... I guess you aresaying look for a smart tv that has Plex loaded as a native ap???
 

David Willow

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The only way to pass 5.1 is thru optical (or digital coax). The RCA jacks will be stereo only.

There may be TVs that pass digital audio but I have found any (not that I've looked - just a general consensus on boards like these).

Maybe you could get a bluray player with built in apps? Many of the Samsung's have Plex available. The Roku Ultra also has optical.
 

LuckyLimey

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OK... thanks David for the discussion and clarifying the issues.. Problem solved. I had a Gen1 Amazon Fire collecting dust....And it had the Plex Ap AND it had HDMI AND Digital/Optical out. So I connected the Amazon TV HDMI to Samsung and ran a direct optical connection from Amazon TV to the HK 525. OMG - the system is now sounding really great. I was really lucky that I had a Gen 1 Fire as the newer ones do no have digital out......thanks for jumping in and helping get it sorted..... now Im going to figure out if its choromecast or TV mudding the audio....
 

David Willow

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Probably both. Your Chromecast is plugged into the TV which only plays stereo. So all the Chromecast can output will be stereo. So Plex will convert anything more than stereo back to stereo. You can see if this is true by looking at the Plex logs while playing a video. It will tell you what it finds and what it intends to do.

I think your Amazon TV solution is about as good as you can get with the current hardware.
 

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