Receivers, surround sound, sound bars, etc

[RizzoTheRat]

I currently have a fairly old Onkyo 5.1 receiver, but having moved house I don't think I can easily get wires round for the surround speakers so wondering if it's time for an upgrade.

The Onkyo doesn't do sound over HDMI, but does have passthrough for the sound, so playing around last night I think I need the cable box, playstation and Chromecast plugged direct in to the TV (luckily has 3 HDMI inputs), and use the optical out from the TV to the Onkyo, so only using it as an amp.

Both the cable box and the playstation have optical out but of course the chromecast only does sound over HDMI.

I'm not after ultimate sound quality, but it would be nice to improve on the TV sound a bit, I think modern sound is designed for more complex systems and speech sounds way too quiet compared to the music just on the TV speakers.

Presumably a sound bar would run directly from the TV optical out? Would a receiver that takes all the HDMI/optical inputs be better? Are there decent options for wireless surround speakers?

Don't want to go mad budge wise but happy to spend a few hundred quid to get something reasonable.



eta: my Sub is reasonably decent and connects via a mono cable, would be nice to still keep that.

Edited by RizzoTheRat on Wednesday 31st August 10:06

[ZedLeg]

I have a sonos beam and it's excellent. Connects to the TV with either HDMI-ARC or optical and if you decide you want to expand to full surround sound you can buy more speakers separately and it'll all connect wirelessly. Being Sonos it's pricey for a sound bar but definitely worth it imo.

[RizzoTheRat]

Not familiar with HDMI-ARC, does that need a specific output on the TV (mine probably doesn't have) to go

Multiple sources -> TV -> Sound Bar

Or can it go through the sound bar?

Multiple sources -> HDMI switch box -> Sound Bar -> TV

[ZedLeg]

Yeah you need a specific port for hdmi-arc, I have it plugged straight into my TV and all my other stuff going through a switch to the other port. It works fine with optical as well though. Basic sound controls can be programmed to work with your TV remote and more advanced eq controls are handled with an app on your phone/tablet/whatever.

It'll play whatever output your TV has automatically but you can connect anything else on your wi-fi network to play sound separately too. If you hit the volume control on the TV it'll go back to that. It's all very intuitive.

[TEKNOPUG]

Just buy a new Receiver and plug everything into it and an HDMI out to the TV for the picture. That's what they are designed to do - no point trying to overthink it. Get a pair of book shelf speakers to go with your sub for a 2.1 setup. Spend as little or as much as you want. Don't dismiss second hand as it sounds like pretty much anything built in the last 12 years will be superior to your current setup.

[RizzoTheRat]

Are there many receivers that can have some speakers wired and some wireless? The Sonos mentioned above, and the LG soundbar a colleague has, can have additional speakers connected wirelessly, but can't have wired speakers. I think my ideal setup would be wired speakers (initially reusing my existing speakers) at the front and wireless for the surround.

Randomly looking at different brands, for example the Denon S660 looks like a more modern version of my Onkyo with wired speaker connections, but HIOS built in I think means it could connect a couple of Home 150 speakers for surround sound. Does that sound right?

Also just remembered we plug a laptop in sometimes to need at least 4 HDMI inputs.