5.1 Home Cinema Set-Up Help

wackojackouk

Hope someone here can help me out as this is driving me nuts.

Just bought a H&B 6500 Home Cinema System and set it up.

The plan was to have 5.1 surround sound for both DVD and when watching Sky etc.

For some reason on the current set-up If I have Sky on I cannot turn the Surround Sound Up or Down or Mute it with the TV remote, Sky remote or the DVD remote.

Please advise me how to set-it up correctly.

Here is the current Set Up

TV (Toshiba)
Scart cable to Sky Box
Scart to external Scart Splitter Box (3 scarts)
Ant to VCR

Sky Box (Pace)
Scart to TV as above
Second Scart to VCR
Aerial
RF Out Cable to VCR RF In
Red/White Audio In/Out Leads to Home Cinema (Subwoofer Channel)

VCR
RF Out to TV (Ant) - (as above)
Scart to Sky - (as above)
RF in to Sky RF Out (as above)

Home Cinema/DVD
Speaker Wires to Speakers and Subwoofer.
Video (yellow lead) to Scart Splitter Box (Video) Yellow lead.
Red White Audio In/Out Leads (in Subwoofer) to Sky Audio In/Out

PS2
External Scart Splitter to PS2I hope someone can give me a simple solution to this as I would like them to all be connected up together.

My friends have 5.1 through Sky and no probs but they are away so I cannot ask them

trickdick

Hi

I may be wrong, but I believe you can only get 5.1 surround from a Sky+ box. If you have got a normal Sky box you will be able to get Dolby ProLogic sound but not Dolby Digital (ie the same sound comes out of both rear channels rather than stereo rear)

Your home cinema remote will be the one that controls the sound level. If thats not working then its likely that its not wired up correctly.

What I would do is concentrate on the tv first - stop trying to get the TV, Sky and VCR to work at the same time - get the tv working then incorporate the Sky box and finally the VCR and PS2. One step at a time usually works for me.

I'm not familiar with the H&B brand - perhaps the equipment is faulty - if the pile of DVD players/recorders etc piled up behind the Customer Service desk at my local Asda store is anything to go by - its not that unusual !!

Good luck - these things take a great deal of time and patience to set up !! :mad: :mad: :mad:

wackojackouk

Hi m8

Thanks for the advice. I have set it up now again and it seems to work fine although I do noticed a low buzzing noise coming from the speakers even when the system is on standby.

Is this normal do you think?

WJUK

scheming_gypsy

wacko... do you actually get 5.1 sound from Sky? as i've got all mine running through a Yamaha amp and it only shows 2 channels on the amp when i've got Sky on

wackojackouk

No m8 apparantly u need Sky + for that. My father in law has Sky+ and his does.

I'm more concerned about the low buzzing/hissing noise even when the unit is on standby. My m8's doesn't do this nor does my father in law's.

Is this common?

scheming_gypsy

mine does that when i've got the subwoofer switched on. unplug it and see what happens


I've got Sky+ and not getting 5.1.. looks like wednesday is take my tv and kit apart day.

wackojackouk

scheming_gypsy wrote:

mine does that when i've got the subwoofer switched on. unplug it and see what happens


I've got Sky+ and not getting 5.1.. looks like wednesday is take my tv and kit apart day.

The subwoofer doesn't have it's own power on this system. I tried it without and I could still hear the speakers only slightly but I can hear them.

Another point which makes me wonder if something is wrong. When I turn on the unit via the remote from standby I get a loud bang through the speakers - is this right?

POLDO_DONK

Good advice from Trickdick.

Regarding the noises/hissing/buzzes, Wacko, Does your Father in Law and your mate both have the same H&B unit? If so, that would suggest that the problem is unique to your unit and so you should be able to get it sorted/replaced under guarantee.

If they have different brands of equipment it could well be the way the H&B is designed. Under normal operation, if an amplifier is powered (even in standby) some very low volume hiss may be heard if you put your ear very close to the speakers, although not from any distance away. This is normal and nothing to be concerned about. The volume of hiss may increase very slightly when the unit is switched out of standby. If you can hear this hiss/buzzing at a reasonable volume (i.e. you don’t have to try to listen for the sound, it’s obvious) from more than few feet away, then it’s either faulty or a poor design.

Usually (but not always…) most amplifiers have relays that isolate the amp from the speakers upon power up to prevent the thumping/banging sound that you are hearing. This is something that MAY cause damage to speakers at some point.

Poldo

drlight_2

Switch the volume down on the amp when you turn it to protect your spaeakers from thump,
Sounds like your not getting a very good signal into your amp & reading this post it's probably from the sky box, the volume is turned up way high frm the sound of the hissing.
Plug something straight into the amp to check your amp works ok.

trickdick

scheming_gypsy wrote:

mine does that when i've got the subwoofer switched on. unplug it and see what happens


I've got Sky+ and not getting 5.1.. looks like wednesday is take my tv and kit apart day.

Have you got your Sky+box connected to your amp via a digital cable?(co-ax or toslink) - if its connected with a Scart then you won't get 5.1.

Hope this helps

scheming_gypsy

it's connected to the amp with the red and white.