Panasonic HT, Blu Ray, and Plasma Hook Up?!?!

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loreejohnson

1 post

Wannabe Geek

#80189 28-Mar-2011 18:49

Please help me hook these components in the correct order or a good website that can help. Here is what we have:

Panasonic (TC 50PX14) 50" Plasma TV
Panasonic (SA-PT673) Home Theater Surround Sound/DVD player
Panasonic (DMP-BD605) Blu-Ray
DirecTV receiver
Nintendo Wii

I have tried several different combinations, and inevitably, something doesn't work.

Currently I have the Blu-Ray connected to the TV with HDMI cable, the Direct TV connected to the Home Theater, Home theater connected to TV with HDMI, and Wii connected straight to the TV (we aren't able to get sound through home theater from this item). The problem right now is that the Blu-Ray does not have sound at all. The only way we can get this to have sound is to disconnect the Direct TV from the surround sound and then then connect the Blu-Ray to it. It is not such a horrible thing for me to do, but my kids aren't able to watch a Blu-Ray without bothering me to reconnect everything. I know there is a way to connect them all, but I have not been able to find anything to show me how.

One other note, I have a optical audio cable that I have tried to connect from the Blu-Ray to the Surround Sound and it still will not give any sound.

I just want to get this so that everything works without having to unhook one and plug in another. (My current setup involves disconnecting the DirecTV in order to hook up the Blu-Ray, and vice versa.

I feel like I'm probably making this more complicated than it actually is, but I'm hoping someone can help explain this to me.

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek

#452982 28-Mar-2011 23:00

I'm no expert, and this could be completely wrong:

With the BD Player connected to the TV, you'll only get sound through the TV, not through the HT system. Are you saying that doesn't work?

Your best option is to replace the HT system with one with more inputs, but that will cost a bit.

You could look at an HDMI switch to allow either the DTV or BD to feed into the HT.

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elldizzle

91 posts

Master Geek

#453018 29-Mar-2011 08:12

If your HT has one HDMI input then connect the Direct TV strait to that. Then connect your Blu-ray player to the TV with HDMI. This if for the visual only. Then use your optical cable to connect your Blu-ray player to your HT system. This will be for your Blu-ray audio. You then should be able to enable your HT system to receive an input from the optical port only. Then just play your Blu-ray as normal. This is how im assuming the HTIAB systems work. I don't know as I personally preffer seperates for everything.

Dunnersfella

4064 posts

Uber Geek

#453089 29-Mar-2011 11:28

Yeah so you're borked...
I'm picking these are non-New Zealand models, so most folk around here won't be familiar with them.
However a quick Google search shows that your home theatre in the box setup doesn't have an HDMI input, which means you only have either analogue inputs or an optical input.
If you're not getting sound out of your BluRay, then you need to tweak the sound settings within the BluRay player - try dropping into the menu system and changing the sound output... or of course, switching the input on the home theatre to 'Optical'.

The ultimate solution for you is a component home theatre amplifier setup.
With your list of products, I'd suggest one with an analogue to HDMI upscale feature (Pioneer VSX920 or Yamaha RXV667 as examples). These systems will mean you'll never have to unplug a cable to run something else :-)
And as a plus, it may well improve the picture when you use your Nintendo Wii!

Jaxson

7681 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#453093 29-Mar-2011 11:37

As above, a new receiver, even a cheap one should give you the connectivity you really require. I'd highly recommend going that way over spending more money on input switche boxes etc to your current home theatre unit.

Also as above, it's best to go hdmi from the bluray player direct to TV and then optical to the receiver. If you get no sound via optical you'll need to ensure this output is selected within the bluray player itself. You'll need to turn down the TV volume too as hdmi will carry sound from the bluray player to the TV too on the same cable.