How to Enable 7.1 Surround Sound on PS3 Blu-Ray Player! Help!?

Question

I have a PS3 as my blu-ray player. I run an HDMI cable to my directly into my TV for VIDEO. For Audio, I run optical cable (TOSLINK) to my Harman Kardon AVR247 7.1 receiver. The reason I don't use the HDMI for both audio and video, is that I have a monster cable that I want to run directly to the tv as it's the best picture quality, I dont want to have to buy another $100 cable, I only have the cheapies. If I run the Monster cable to the receiver, the one connecting the receiver to the TV wont be as good of quality and I'm afraid I'll lose PQ. IN the ps3 settings, I'm only able to select 5.1 surround with the optical cable.. If I want the 7.1, am I forced to use the HDMI connection for sound as well? Is there any way to keep the Optical cable?

Answer 1

Yep, optical only has the bandwidth for 5.1, so you need the HDMI for 7.1

Like the other guy said, Monster is overpriced, so if you have well built "cheapies" it'll work the same.  If you're really concerned, have the monster cable from from the PS3 to the receiver, since that has to take the most bandwidth, and then the "cheapie" from the receiver to TV since that only has to carry a 1080p video signal.

That's if you're concerned.

I bet if you hook up 2 of the cheapies it will look the same.

Answer 2

GREAT QUESTION!

You can get 7.1 only if you have the required 7 speakers (+ subwoofer) - otherwise there is no point. So if you have enough speakers, and if your H/K receiver is set to output in 7.1, then there's no reason the optical cable can't carry the 7.1 bitstream.  

That said, keep in mind that Monster Cable is over-rated, and you could still maintain good PQ by running HDMI from the PS3 to the H/K and then from the H/K to the TV via HDMI.  Give it a try and see if you can tell the difference... if not, then you just solved your issue!

Good luck and let me know how it goes.