Help for a first system, please!

[gkarrish]

This is my first attempt to put together a home theater, and I fear I might have bought the wrong receiver.

First, some background information. I am working on a budget. I decided to replace my very old CRT TV with a 37" 780p Vizio flatscreen. For sound I decided it would be cheaper to get a decent stereo system than to try for surround sound, so I picked up two Klipsch F1 stand speakers. I'm also going to be using a Samsung bd-p1600 blu-ray player, partly for the Netflix streaming feature.

Here's where the problem comes in. I bought an Onkyo TX-8255 receiver, and can't figure out how to run the sound from my TV to the receiver. The only sound out jack I can see on my TV is for an optical audio cable, and the receiver only seems able to use the red and white RCA cables for sound in. The blu-ray player is still being shipped, so I'm not sure whether I'll have any compatibility issues between the blu-ray player and the receiver.

I'm okay with non-optimal sound from my TV (not digital sound) as long as it sounds decent. Is there a way to make this work, or do I need to replace the receiver and get a different one?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

[blackraven]

The bluray player hopefully will have analog audio outs to connect to the receiver so at least you can get sound from a movie. Are you using cable TV or satellite?

You may want to return the onkyo and get a hometheater receiver. There are a few inexpensive ones that should work

[blackraven]

Here's a few,

http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=TX-SR307&class=Receiver&p=f

http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-HTR-6130BL-5-1-Channel-Theater-Receiver/dp/B0013Z9F66

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_033AV1609/Denon-AVR-1609.html?tp=179

[markw]

Just feed the red and white outputs to an input on the receiver.

I've heard that many Vizio TV's do lack analog audio outputs so, as of now, you're SOL. Cost control and all that.

But, overall, you might be better off with a multi-channel receiver (AVR).

If you do get an AVR, you should be able to get sound from the TV through it. Maybe not 5.1, but at you should get least something.

[blackraven]

Gk, here's an audio digital optical and digital coax to analog RCA converter that will solve your problem.

http://www.ramelectronics.net/audio-video/audio-converters-extenders/analog-to-digital-digital-to-analog/c10000-c16000-c16002.html?gclid=CK-nhs7Zi54CFQEhDQodpxexpw

note that this is a cheap DAC but it will do the job on a budget and should work fine for TV audio. You might want to check www.audiogon and look for used DAC's if you want something better.


But in the long run you would be better off returning the Onkyo if you can and buying an AVR.

If you only want a 2.1 channel receiver this HarmonKardon 3490 is a great buy and has digital coax and digital optical inputs. HK receivers have a nice warmer sound with plenty of high current power with sub woofer and preamp outputs so if you ever want to get a separate power amp you can use the HK as a preamp. It also has phono input and headphone jacks.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=554381&is=REG&A=details&Q=

I hope this helps, good luck!

[markw]

I don't know if this is true for all TV's, but I read somewhere that their digital output only feeds audio from their internal ATSC tuner. Nothing else is "passed through" through that.

If there's a cable box involved, it would probaby require a direct analog audio connection to the receiver.

[Mr Peabody]

Are you wanting to add a center channel speaker and rear speakers in order to have surround sound or are you just wanting sound from the two speakers you have?

If getting the Blu-ray I'd recommend expanding to at least a 5.1 system in order to get the full effect of home theater and the Blu-ray.