Question about sound output from an HDTV

[nightflier]

I'm seriously considering the Olevia 747i HDTV. It has two built-in tuners and digital audio out. Does this mean that if I use a over-the-air (OTA) antenna to pull in digital & HDTV broadcasts that it will be in surround, if the original broadcast is in surround (e.g the next season of 24)?

Also, this TV has both optical and coax digital out. What is the distance each of these will carry the audio signal w/o a repeater? Which one will go further?

Finally, the TV has removable speakers. Does anyone know if they have standard binding posts / clips or do they have some type of proprietary connector?

[Wireworm5]

I don't know the answere to the first part of your question, but I don't see why not. Do they even broadcast in 5.1?

The second part of your question, is optical is good up to about 25' for longer distances coax is better. Around here you would be hard pressed to find an optical cable over 12'. I think they can be found longer on the internet.

And the third, can you take speakers off and see for yourself?

[markw]

I've recently heard of one manufacturer that only outputs two-channel audio through the toslink connector on at least one of their sets with built-in ATSC tuners.

I think it was Olevia, but do should your homework very carefully here.

[nightflier]

MarkW,

My sales rep is checking into that. If that's the case the Olevia is definitely out. I'll have to go back to the Sharp Aquos and take my chances with the banding issues. I saw the LC46D62U for $1700 online, and that's the best price I've seen so far. Of course, I'll have to check on whether it's output is 5.1 as well. You'd think this is a pretty important detail that would show up in the reviews, right?

Thanks for the info on the cable lengths. Now I'll have to find a 25' coax cable that won't break the bank (and that's not a sub cable posing as a digital cable).

Wire, I did get a response from an Olevia owner on the speakers, and they are standard connectors on the back. So yes, the speakers can be detached and used in another system like regular speakers, although I doubt they would be as good as a basic set of Polk bookshelves.

[bfalls]

I'm not positive, but it's difficult to believe coax has a greater distance spec than optical. I've worked as a network engineer and our multi-mode fiber connections had a distance of almost 2000ft and single-mode almost twice that. Copper wire UTP (unsheilded twisted pair) spec was 100m (384ft). I believe coax has a longer distance because of shielding, but there's much more signal loss with copper than fiber. I'd originally heard you shouldn't have an HDMI cable over 25ft, but 25ft for optical doesn't make sense to me.

I've seen several "attached" speaker systems and they usually all have either a binding post connection or a two-wire pigtail which you can extend and connect to your receiver. The problem is usually integrated speakers are low power (6w - 20w) and may not be the best match for your receiver/amp.