Really New and Confused about Surround Sound (1 Viewer)

[Maips]

Hello all and thank you in advanced for you help.
I have a
Panasonic 50" Plasma
Panasonic DVD System SA-ST1 with surround sound
Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000 cable box
(reading what everybody else has, I feel quite in adequate )

I just don't know how to have surround sound when I am watching regular tv.
I am all set when I have a DVD in, it actually sounds awesome.

Now, you have to be gentle with the terminology. I have a white cable that has 3 colored ends (blue, green, and red) I have 2 cables that have red and white ends. I also have a cable with the standard 3 ends (yellow, white and red) there is no place to plug that into my DVD player.

I don't know if this is enough information to help me, I just need to know what cable goes where to get the sound. Right now I'm not even worried about that crisp, booming, perfect sound, just surrounded for now.

Thanks,
Michlle

 

[buckrogers71]

did you hook your cable box to your receiver in the tv/ cable spot? If not, then try that. Also, if you have a optical cable port in both your receiver and cable box, you could purchase a optical cable and run that. Try MOnoprice.com for these. They are pretty cheap there

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

It would help if you could supply the model number for the TV. Also I can't seem to find the model number you list for the Panasonic. I keep getting referals to a model "SCST1". Are you in the U.S.? (Manufacturers sometimes use different model numbers for the same item in different countries.)

Finally, while you list the cables you have, you don't say how you have all this stuff connected. Which outputs on which components are plugged into which inputs on the other components?

I have looked at the manual for the SCST1, and it does not appear to have any audio inputs. This is one of the disadvantages of a "home theater in a box" system, they are often designed to be self-contained and don't offer connection options for other components. But without knowing for certain what system you have, I can't be sure about this. See if there are any red and white RCA-style jacks marked "input" on the Panasonic. If there is, run a red-and-white audio cable from the cable box to that input and you should get surround sound. If not, you're probably out of luck and won't be able to get surround sound from cable TV short of replacing the Panasonic with new speakers, a receiver and a separate DVD player. (The advantage of doing this is that you end up with a more flexible system. You can start out with a modest setup, then gradually upgrade individual components. You can also add other items down the road like a Blu Ray player or gaming system. The obvious disadvantage is that it costs money.

)

Regards,

Joe

 

[chuckg]

The red and white cables will not give you surround sound - they only carry stereo audio.

If your cable box has an optical output (weird looking squarish plastic thing) or a single Coaxial (usually orange, RCA type connector like those on the red/white stereo cable) then you might be able to get surround sound, but only if your Panasonic amplifier/HTiB has inputs for it.