Hi,

After much thought, I have decided to go for the highly regarded Onkyo in 5.1 mode instead of 2.1.

My set up is simple. Panasonic 37" LCD/LED TV with dedicated 1.4 Audio Return Channel HDMI input on board, Panasonic Blu-ray player and Panasonic HDD recorder. So no SKY, STBs, or PS3 to worry about.

The only problem I have is the location of the amp/sub box. Well, I do have a location - except it's behind the TV. Without going into boring detail, a position out front, or to the side of the TV just isn't possible.

This position is great aesthetically (no cables on view and short runs), and the wooden corner plinth on brick foundation should be better for the sub re sound quality than it standing on a carpet, but the obvious problem is no line of sight for the Onkyo remote. But would I need it in day-to-day operation in my simple set-up?

1. Would the Onkyo auto switch off when I switch off the TV using the TV remote (I don't mean switching the TV to stand-by), and switch back on when I switch the TV on?

2. Would the Onkyo auto switch off to stand-by when I switch off the TV to standby using the TV remote, and switch back on when I switch the TV back on?

3. When I changed the input from, say TV to HDD recorder, or from TV to Blu-ray, or Blue-ray to TV, using the input menu on the TV remote, would the Onkyo automatically change the input without me using the Onkyo remote?

4. Would the TV volume still be controllable using the TV remote?

If the answer to all the above is Yes, I don't see any major practical disadvantage in having the Onkyo behind the TV.

But, it's a fair bet I have overlooked something.......

You can get a remote control extender for not many pennies. For example:-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/INFRA-REMOTE...4494868&sr=8-3

Many thanks - I didn't know such things existed! It's certainly an option, but it does mean having to use the Onkyo remote (I have enough remotes in use already!) I am hoping that using my TV remote would cover the basic operations I described above.

What about a One-for-All or one of the Cheaper Harmony universal remotes?

Also I am just installing one of these One-Click power extensions, learns your TV standy by signal and turns Power On to other devices plugged into it when you turn the TV on. Only just got it out of the box but seems to work Ok (about £23 with postage) anti-surge built in as well.

Hi Richard46,

Just seen the video for this. Looks a great product! I would be grateful if you could let us know how you get on.

I have an Onkyo HTX22HDX and a Panasonic LCD TV, both device use CEC (RHID on Onkyo, VIERA Link on Panasonic) which provides interoperability between devices. With a HDMI connection between the Onkyo and Panasonic, with HDMI Control turned on on the Onkyo and VIERA Link turned on on the Panasonic, I get the following:

When I put the TV into Standby (using tv remote), the Onkyo goes into standby and turns back on with the TV.

When I change the input from Sky HD to PS3 and back to Sky HD on TV, the Onkyo automatically changes aswell.

In the VIERA Link menu on TV, you can change which speakers are used (TV or Home Cinema) and the TV remote will change the volume on which one is selected.

Thats how it works on my setup which is:
Sky HD connected direct to TV by HDMI, Sky HD connected to Onkyo by Optical cable.
PS3 connected to Onyko by HDMI then Onkyo connected to TV by HDMI.

Thanks for your info. It is always nice to have actual user confirmation of something which is described in the user manual. HDMI-2 on my TV provides the Audio Return Channel to bypass the TV.

Have you got the system in 2.1 mode or 5.1? Interested to hear to what extent you feel it has improved "normal" broadcast TV sound. Does the mute button on the TV remote operate on the Onkyo?

I can only accommodate my sub on the wooden plinth behind my TV, so would need one of these to operate the Onkyo remote:

But from what you have said, once I have done the initial set-up proecdure, I won't need the Onkyo remote. As long as I can select input, volume, and switch on/off via my TV remote in day-to-day use. But if I do need to use the remote, I will need one of these
http://www.reallycleverhomes.co.uk/m...ender-set.html

as I can only accommmodate my sub box on a wooden plinth in the corner space behind my TV.

I use the system in 5.1 mode and it has vastly improved the sound. Since having the Onkyo, I haven't used the TV speakers.
The mute button on the TV remote will mute the Onkyo.
I haven't had to use the Onkyo remote or the buttons on the Onkyo for months.

Thanks again. I have researched this product to death (don't like unexpected post-purchase surprises!).

Hi DPM9876 (or anyone else with a view ),

Just wanted to ask....

1. Have you got your front speakers on stands? If so, what brand of stands?

2. How long are the cables which are provided for the rear surround speakers?

3. Are you using basic HDMI cables, or more expensive branded cables?

Thanks

As I understand it there is no advantage in expensive HDMI cables except; perhaps; for very long runs. I am using the two quid odd ones on Amazon. They seem fine. After all they are just sending digital infromation they either work or they don't. Quality of signal is not a factor.

Others may differ.

Edit; wolfie I think you have solved your problem anyway but you did ask me to report back about the one click intelli-panel.
Works fine so far.

NB but for anyone who wants to use one with a Harmony remote be prepared for a struggle, it has taken me half the weekend to get them working together and I am fairly familiar with Harmony remotes little quirks and ways to get round them.

Thanks,

I know this is not the place for this debate, but if it is indeed the case (as many argue) that most 1m £10 cables can equal the performance of most 1m £50 cables, then is it the case that respected companies like Chord, Ixos, QED, etc, in promoting these cables, are all guilty of the most blatant and cynical rip-off?

Hi wolfie9051,

To answer your question:

1. I'm using stands that came with my previous surround sound system, luckily the speakers fitted fine.
2. I'm not sure but just googled it, the speaker set to upgrade to 5.1 comes with a 3m cable for the centre speaker and 8m cables for the rears. Here's there manual, http://www.eu.onkyo.com/dl/1465317/Manual_sks-22x_e.pdf
3. I'm using cheap basic HDMI cables, I agree with Richard46 that there is no advantage of using expensive HDMI cables over short distances.

in general you often find that supplied remotes do things that you can't do from the deck itself. learing remotes often don't have the full range of buttons, and some need the supplied remote to "learn" from.

i don't think i would buy without a remote, if that is the issue

Hi all,
Regarding the question of the quality of HDMI cables,I have also just bought the HTX-22HDX sound system,at the moment just the 2.1 but the extra speakers will be bought next month.On initial installation everything was fine,until it came to watching a blu-ray movie,20 minutes into Avatar the sound was lost,just for a second or two,this happened several times during the course of the film,just momentarily and just the sound,no loss of picture.
I changed the HDMI lead from the sub woofer to the tv with another HDMI lead and watched the film again,this time it was perfect.Just to make a point,the HDMI cable that I changed was an old one from my sons X box,so from now on I will only be using good quality cables not cheapos,(why pay a lot of money for equipment and skimp on the cables that connect it all together).

Hang on a mo.

If you are listening to sound via the HTX-22HDX then I can't see how changing the HDMI cable between sub and TV can have any effect on the audio.

The HTX-22HDX normally takes the audio from the HDMI inputs and strips it from the HDMI output to the TV. So there should be no audio data going up the lead to the TV.

So unless you have your system configured to send audio to the TV and then link back from the TV to the HTX-22HDX I can't see how the TV HDMI cable could possibly affect the sound through the HTX-22HDX.



Thinking about it a bit (bad habit this thinking lark I know ) I'm wondering if an alternative might be some control issue between the TV and Onkyo?

That might cause the Onkyo to receive odd commands that it might interpret as "mute the audio" or something like that. Apart from that I can't think of any other reason for what has been described.
Last edited by chrisjr : 10-01-2011 at 16:34

Hi chrisjr,
You obviously know more about things like this than I do,(not too hard),I can only put it down to something my Sony has called ARC,(audio return channel).
Either way that's what happened,when I changed the cable connecting the HTX-22HDX to the ARC socket on my tele everything was fine.

ARC is a feature of the very latest HDMI spec, ver 1.4. It is always possible that a cable not 100% compatible with this spec could cause issues. Just out of interest was the cable you swapped to HDMI 1.4 comaptible or not?

But as I posted the normal way the Onkyo works is to extract the audio from the input leads and not pass it onto the telly at all. So not entirely sure what caused your problem. But if it's fixed then doesn't really matter now does it.

Hi chrisjr,
The cable that I swapped over was an old one from an x box that my son left behind when he moved in with his girlfriend which was about 3 years ago,the one I replaced it with was brand new,I think I paid the price for being a tightwad.

In terms of relibillity in many years of using interconnects of all kinds I have only had one fail and it was a very expensive brand name phono connection. Might have been down to a moments rough handling whatever. I would not draw any conclusions from one experience personally.

Mostly all cables 'work'. I can see how analogue things like speaker cables (and I have some very expensive ones) can work better depending on materials etc but not digital cables, they either work or they don't.
If a £2 HDMI cable stops working nothing much lost, if an expensive one breaks that is more expensive.

Well, I would tend to agree. But, Ixos cables do seem to make an aurally different sound to generally cheaper cables, but don't pay over the odds - Ixos are not particularly expensive if bought from dealers over this Interweb do dah.

I am thinking about buying the HTX-22HDX system with the 2.1 speaker configuration. I have a few questions I would like to know prior to purchasing.

1. I will be connecting it to a Samsung LED which supports ARC and I will also be connecting my TiVo, Xbox and apple tv. Can you confirm how these are best connected so most if not all functions i.e. Input switching and volume can be achieved from the Samsung TV remote as I would rather not introduce another remote to my setup.
2. Can I connect an additional centre speaker only to help with dialogue on action movies, don’t want the full 5.1 setup. If so can I use any speaker or only onkyo speakers?

Thanks in advance.

1/ The best way to use it is to connect all sources to the Onkyo. That is the best option to ensure you get audio from every source. You could plug every thing into the TV as long as it feeds audio from whatever you are watching back down the ARC channel. However you may have zero control over volume level over ARC from the TV remote. But that does not necessarily mean you need two remotes. The Onkyo is multi-function so can control the TV as well, just the button layout won't match the Samsung but most of the day to day functions should work.

2/ You could connect the centre only. The best match would be the Onkyo speakers. You could use any other speaker but it may not be such a good match sonically. You could hook up the surrounds but place them at the front. Won't give you the proper effect but at least you won't miss out on any sound effects that are only on the surrounds.

But that way assumes that it is always wanted to use the Onkyo amp to listen to the audio. Which is reasonable though you may want to run a secondary audio connection direct to the TV from whichever source may be used to catch a quick news bulletin update first thing in the morning for example without firing up the amp (unless the TV itself is connected to an terrestrial aerial for Freeview or a satellite dish for Freesat).