A TechLore "Ask the Experts" Question...

Question:

I just bought a Hitachi 51F510 hidef projection tv. I have a newer sony vcr (not sure of model), sony ps2, hi-def digital cable box, and Kenwod VR-209 receiver with 2 infinity tower speakers (not sure of model). I can't figure out how to hook this all up. The tv has good speakers and simulated surround sound already, and I wanted to hook it up to the receiver and use my towers as the back surround speakers. How do I hook this up so the sound goes through all of it?????? It's driving me crazy!

-submitted by clarkentvic

Answer:

It's usually not that hard to pull this off the right way. However, the limiting factor in your system is your receiver, which has no up-to-date video switching or front channel pre-outs.

What you need to do is route all of your audio and video to your TV, then take the audio output on your TV to an input on your receiver. Connect your speakers to the surround output on the receiver, and set it to Dolby Pro Logic.

If your TV does not have an option to make the audio output on the TV variable, you'll have to adjust the volume on both the receiver and TV anytime you wish to change the volume. If it does support variable audio output, keep the volume on the receiver turned up to a higher setting, and then only adjust volume on the TV.

One of the problems I see with this is by moving your towers to the back, you won't have any speakers to play music on. You'll get a better experience if you pick up some simple surround speakers and a center to add to your towers. This would give you a full 5 channel home theater system, allowing you to take advantage of discrete digital sound; routing through your TV forces you to analog.

Matt Whitlock - Editor, TechLore.com