Bought a soundbar.....

[darich]

As the subject says, I've just bought a soundbar. A Bose 600.

I'll be connecting it to a PS5 and Sony TV and while it may be very clear and easy when it arrives, I'm just wondering about the best way to connect it.
PS5 optical cable to soundbar with HDMI to TV?
If that's the case, I'm not sure how I connect the TV to the soundbar if I'm watching a movie from my NAS and the PS5 is switched off.
TV has 4 HDMI ports and the soundbar, only one so maybe the HDMI from tv to soundbar?

I know I could connect the optical cable from TV to soundbar so any sound from TV is played through the Bose unit, but the soundbar has dolby atmos, as does the PS5. The TV, as far as I know, does not. So wouldn't that then mean you lose the effect of Dolby Atmos?

I guess, I'm kinda thinking out loud, and because I bore the wife to tears with constant chatter about this sort of thing.

[ronk]

Whatever you do, just make sure you give her detailed instructions how to get sound for her favourite tv prog when you go out!

[pvr]

Sound is best via the optical, you are missing the amp in the setup to make it even more complex

I don’t have a Sony tv but the connections in your case sound pretty straight forward, hdmi for video switching and optical for sound.

[TOMGREEN413]

Unfortunately l can't help.........these days I've gone "BACK TO THE FUTURE ", just bought an old school TV, VHS AND DVD set up of ebay ( all Sony and all for under £50) so l can enjoy my films l havent been able to watch for years and playing my PS2 etc , all my modern stuff is not compatible and l love the simplicity of stuff from 15/20 years ago.
Good luck with the set up

[smorris_12]

The magic phrase you need is ARC.

One of the HDMI sockets on the TV will be labelled ARC (Audio Return Channel) and this socket wants connecting to the soundbar.

When in ARC mode this HDMI socket acts as a conduit to send the audio from what you're watching to the soundbar as well as the volume control instructions from the TV remote. This way you only have to sit with one remote on the sofa. The TV should also know to mute its own speakers too.

You'll also need to use ARC is you are watching anything in surround sound and want the soundbar to handle it. Optical only carries stereo audio.

Easy.

[ronk]

Unfortunately l can't help.........these days I've gone "BACK TO THE FUTURE ", just bought an old school TV, VHS AND DVD set up of ebay ( all Sony and all for under £50) so l can enjoy my films l havent been able to watch for years and playing my PS2 etc , all my modern stuff is not compatible and l love the simplicity of stuff from 15/20 years ago.
Good luck with the set up

That was state of the art, modern and a very complicated setup in its day. I well remember spending £525 on a vhs video and several hours pondering over the setup procedure and manuals supplied!

Oh and those Scart plugs.

[TOMGREEN413]

Probably just me but I love the simplicity of the old school equipment

[Nanu]

Just gone the opposite and purchased a Sony Bravia several months back where the sound comes out of the screen.

No idea how it works but sounds great and if a sound comes from a particular part of the screen, that's where the sound comes from.

[ronk]

The sound on screen has been around for some time - I have it on my Bravia but I still prefer my AV Amp set up.

[Pondrew]

The magic phrase you need is ARC.

I would say the magic phrase you need is an AV amp and a set of decent speakers (oh and an ARC port).
Soundbars are a compromise. Admittedly they are convenient, small and unobtrusive, but not very cheap (especially if they have the word BOSE emblazoned on them).

I bought a used Denon AV amp, a set of 7 and powered sub Q accoustics (decent quality) AV speakers and speaker stands for around £500 more than a Bose 600 soundbar on it's own. The sound is very, very good TBH.

In my other living room (I know I'm very posh), I have a Yamaha AV amp with just 5 speakers and powered sub. That is also far better than any soundbar could ever hope to be. When it comes to sound generation; size matters (as with so many things in life)!

[ronk]

I’ve got a Sony AV amp and a KEF sub with some good quality floor standing speakers - bi wired etc.
It’s not the neatest nor the most compact - but it sounds good.

The TV / sound bar set up (Samsung) in the conservatory is perfectly adequate for that environment tho!

So basically, do what suits your needs and if it works for you then it’s all good

[Pondrew]

I’ve got a Sony AV amp

I sold my Sony AV amp a few years ago. I wish I hadn't. It was far superior to the Yamaha and Denon. Sony make very good receivers IMO.

[ronk]

I’ve got a Sony AV amp

I sold my Sony AV amp a few years ago. I wish I hadn't. It was far superior to the Yamaha and Denon. Sony make very good receivers IMO.

I’m a firm believer in having a one manufacturer system.
I can’t argue with your Sony appraisal!

[pvr]

As my lounge setup is with a plasma screen, sound has always been a challenge from the control point of view as it goes via an amp. At least the latest amp has the sound delay feature as the processing time of the plasma would introduce a lip synch issue.

I had to get a Philips Pronto to replace the remote controls as otherwise there were too many involved to control it all.

In the west wing, we have a standard tv with sound and a single sky remote, the ultimate simplicity

[darich]

Thanks for all the replies.

I'd also been digging and found that as advised by SMorris, one of my HDMI ports is eARC and found a few websites stating the same thing.

I'm aware that a sound bar can never be as good as a proper surround set up but the room it's for isn't that big - only around 10ft x 10ft. So a full on surround system with associated cables isn't something I want.

Whatever the sound from the soundbar, it'll be better than the near 20 year old 2.1 speakers I have attached to the headphone socket!!