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JonnyDrama16
@104.172.19.x

JonnyDrama16

Anon

Yamaha sound bar with Sony receiver

Hi there,

Hoping someone can help me with my av setup. I have a Sony STR-1030 receiver with hdmi, rca, coax, and optical (input). I have my cable box, did player and TV running through the receiver without issue.

I just purchased a Yamaha sound bar, model ATS-1030. The sound bar has optical and rca ports (no hdmi). I tried connecting rca cables to the receiver out rca ports, but I audio didn't play on the soundbar, just the speakers hooked up to the receiver. My guess is the hdmi is overriding the rca ports. I tried the same thing with the optical ports on the receiver and sound bar, and again, only output through my original speakers, not the sound bar.

I finally got simultaneous sound on both the original speakers and sound bar by connecting an optical cable from the TV out to the soundbar in. But...

I'm wondering if I'm losing something in my audio setup by doing this? The sound bar has two subwoofers built in (don't know if that matters). My question is, since the soundbar isn't set up through the receiver, and thus, isn't working in concert with it, am I defeating the use of the soundbar (as say, a proper center channel companion to my two side speakers?

If so, how do I properly set up the soundbar to run through the receiver.

Thanks!

RollTide2011
@24.217.29.x

RollTide2011

Anon

Most sound bars don't need a receiver to operate they connect directly to the TV via optical,RCA,HDMI and are an alternative to having a reciever and separate speakers.

Camelot One
MVM
join:2001-11-21
Bloomington, IN

Camelot One to JonnyDrama16

MVM

to JonnyDrama16
Yes, you are defeating the purpose of the soundbar. They are usually a replacement for a receiver/surround sound setup, not combined with it. And my guess is that you are trying to pull an audio output from the Yamaha by connecting to an audio input. That won't work.

You could technically turn the sound bar into just a center channel if you can get the right signal to it. Check to see if your Yamaha receiver has pre-out RCAs for the center channel. (I rather doubt it does) If so, you can connect that to the RCA input on the center channel. It may still sound a bit funky, as the soundbar tries to recreate a 5.1 sound out of just the center.

The other way to go about this is to get an unpowered center channel, then power it off the center channel speaker outs from the receiver. I'll warn you though that the unpowered models tend to be insanely expensive, to the point you could buy a really nice center channel for less.
BoulderHill1
join:2004-07-15
Montgomery, IL

BoulderHill1 to JonnyDrama16

Member

to JonnyDrama16
I am going to have to agree with the others.

You're doing it wrong.

The main purpose of a sound bar is to be used in an application where you do not have a receiver unit and speakers connected to the receiver.

The sound bar replaces all the receiver equipment. They are meant to mimic the surround sound experience with just the one speaker. And although many do in fact sound very nice, in my opinion they do not fully create the enveloping sound stage that multiple speaker systems driven by a receiver/amplifier setup can.

My suggestion is to go with either the sound bar or the surround receiver, but not both.

JonnyDrama16
@204.238.46.x

JonnyDrama16

Anon

Okay. My other question is that I have another TV with rca outputs. The sound bar has rca inputs. Will the surround sound mimicking on the soundbar work to its full ability using rca cables?

Camelot One
MVM
join:2001-11-21
Bloomington, IN

Camelot One

MVM

Yes, that is what sound bars are designed for. If you can feed it optical you should, but RCA will work if that is all you have.

Carterman32
@204.238.46.x

Carterman32

Anon

I have the option of coax output and rca output. I don't own a coax cable. Is there a major difference in sound quality that warrants me buying a coax?

Camelot One
MVM
join:2001-11-21
Bloomington, IN

Camelot One

MVM

No, that would only be used to get a signal to the TVs.

Carterman32
@204.238.46.x

Carterman32

Anon

But isn't coax digital vs RCA analog? Wouldn't that result in a sound quality difference

Camelot One
MVM
join:2001-11-21
Bloomington, IN

Camelot One

MVM

Sorry, I didn't realize you were talking about digital coax. It would have a single RCA connector, and it would be better than analog l/r RCA.
dave
Premium Member
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio

dave to Carterman32

Premium Member

to Carterman32
said by Carterman32 :

Is there a major difference in sound quality that warrants me buying a coax?

For about 5 bucks worth of cable, it might be worth making the investment purely on an experimental basis.

dib22
join:2002-01-27
Kansas City, MO

dib22 to Carterman32

Member

to Carterman32
said by Carterman32 :

I don't own a coax cable. Is there a major difference in sound quality that warrants me buying a coax?

Just use one of your RCA cables... works fine. A proper one would have more shielding but as short of a run as it is from tv to soundbar you probably will never notice.

printscreen
join:2003-11-01
Juana Diaz, PR

printscreen to JonnyDrama16

Member

to JonnyDrama16
Like dib22 said, you can use one of your RCA cables and it will work fine. You can try using that and then if you decide to go that way then you can get a better cable with the proper impedance. Digital coax audio uses 75 ohm RG59 cable with RCA connectors at both ends. You can find them cheap in Monoprice. The better cable does not give you better sound - digital is digital - it works perfectly or it doesn't, but provides a more adequate pathway for those ones and zeroes. If you have the option of optical (Toslink) you could go that way too. The result is exactly the same as digital coax (same bits) except that the cable is thinner and easier to handle.