Hooking up a PS3 with a home theater system, and an HDTV (vizio 32" plasma)?

Question

ok. so I have a PS3 and a vizio 32" plasma hdtv. the speakers in the tv do not sound very great so I wanted to get a home theater system so I can play my PS3 with good sound and picture. I am a college student and this is for my dorm. Im not looking for a top shelf system, but something maybe $250 range with a 3.1,4.1,or preferably 5.1 or something I can find on ebay, hopefully less.... Is it possible to hook my ps3 to my hdtv with an HDMI cable, then use either an HDMI or optical digital cable to connect my plasma tv's audio to play out of a home theater system? would this allow me to play my PS3 video games and dvd/blue ray dvds with good picture and sound quality? (my tv has 3 HDMI ports, 1 digital optical output, 2 analog L/R outputs, a component input, a s/video input)..... I am asking if this type of connection would work because I know it costs a lot more money for receivers with the HDMI input features, and even more money to buy the speakers to compliment the receiver. If there is another way, a more inexpensive way, or any other suggestions on what I can or should do, I would greatly appreciate it. THANKS!!!

Answer 1

The PS3 has only one HDMI output though so you would need to go HDMI from your PS3 to receiver then HDMI to TV from receiver to get the best sound. Unfortunatly $250 for a complete system with receiver and speakers you won't get anything top notch. Most cheaper HDMI receivers have only HDMI pass-though which means it doesn't handle sound from HDMI cable within the receiver. You would need to run optical from the PS3 to the receiver to get sound in that case. You would be best to leave the HDMI to TV from PS3.

Answer 2

pioneer makes some pretty good 5.1 surround systems for around 200 or 300 dollars (walmart). i got the pioneer 5.1 1000 watt system with tower speakers and it is probably loud enough to use in a real movie theater if you wanted. i have had it for about 3 years and havent had any problems at all.

i have the ps3 hdmi cable and it provides a great picture. i use an optical cable since most surround sounds dont have hdmi, only the really nice ones. but the digital 5.1 sound from it is great and compares to the hdmi sound. btw you can just plug the optical cable in to the back of your ps3 and run it straight to your audio system while the hdmi cable goes straight to the tv.