Home theater question--picture quality through receiver?

Question

I'm buying a 50" plasma, have a blu-ray player and am looking to purchase an audio system--something cheaper, under $300. Been looking primarily at the sony HT-CT100 for good quality/price ratio. My question is, is there anything I need to look for to ensure i don't lose picture quality by running the blu-ray through the receiver? Or do all receivers faithfully transmit whatever quality signal they get to the TV? If not, what about the HT-CT100 in particular? Any other recommendations? thanks!

Answer 1

it is unlikely that you will any discernable amount of signal quality going through a receiver, since the receiver is "powered."  you will usually lose a signal going through a device, like a signal switcher (for hooking multiple components to a single set of inputs) that is not electronically amplified.  of course, for the absolute best signal, a direct connection is better.  if it isn't too difficult, you may want to run the video signal from the player to the tv and the audio directly to the receiver.  however, over HDMI, both audio and video are transmitted over one single connection, so you probably won't have a choice but to go through the receiver (if your reciever has an hdmi pass-thru).  

the best bet would be to run hdmi from the blu-ray player to your tv, then run a connection from the tv's "audio output" to the reciever.  typically, you will be able to set the volume on the reciever and leave it, and control the entire surround sound system volume through the tv.  depends on the connections your set offers.

Answer 2

I would buy an HD projector.

I did own one in the UK.

The picture quality is stunning compared to TV.

You can also have a much bigger screen!

They are also much cheaper than TV's.

Answer 3

You won't have to do anything, that equipment will accept 1080p60 and 1080p24 and pass it through.

However, don't think you're getting much in the way of quality with that system. Why bother getting a nice 1080p HDTV and a Blu-ray player and then shaft yourself on the audio department.

For $500 you can get much better sound than an all-in-one Sony system and you're NEVER going to get surround sound from one speaker in the middle, regardless of how the speakers are arrayed, that's just a marketing gimmick.

Onkyo TX-SR605 supporting two HDMI inputs, one output, 1080p video and audio through HDMI, 90w/ch into 7.1, decodes Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD Master Audio - $264 refurbished, warrantied by Onkyo for 1 year.

http://www.ubid.com/Onkyo_TX-SR605S_7.1_...

uBid are authorized by Onkyo to sell refurbished equipment, refurb'd by Onkyo to like new condition.

NEW JBL SC145.5 5.1 speaker system for $145 - five year warranty, 100w/ch handling, 8" 100 watt subwoofer, hits 30Hz - http://www.ubid.com/New_JBL_SCS145.5_6_P...

For $409 that would give you infinitely better fidelity in your viewing area, an environment you and your TV will be happier in and will allow you to appreciate the quality of audio the Blu-ray Disc are coming with.