I have my sound bar working fine but think there is a better way to get it working with my TV.

The TV has speakers built in but I prefer to mute them and use the sound bar instead.

Thing is, to watch a DVD, I have to change the source to my TV speakers. Same for watching an online movie or something on You Tube.

Watching anything from my Virgin HD Box comes through the sound bar.

Different remotes, changing the sound source.....annoying.

Is there a way to have the sound bar in use for all sources?

I have an HDMI cable going from it to my Virgin HD Box.
I'm thinking the cable should go to the TV instead? But then how will I get sound from the Virgin media box?

I will be playing around with it but wanted to ask some advice first in case it could save me some frustration.

Thanks!

If both the soundbar and TV support Audio Return Channel on the HDMI then use that. ARC allows the TV to send audio back down the HDMI lead to the soundbar from whatever is being watched on the TV.

So you connect everything to the telly and use ARC to feed the audio to the soundbar. However it probably is fixed level out of the TV, ie is unaffected by the TV volume control, so you'll probably still need the soundbar remote to adjust the loudness.

Alternatively if the TV has a digital audio output and the soundbar has a digital audio input simply connect the two with an appropriate lead. This will do the same job as ARC over HDMI so you have everything connected to the telly. Like ARC the digital out is likely to be fixed level so again loudness control needs the soundbar remote.

Big thanks Chris, I will have a go later tonight and report back!

Alternatively, does your TV have a digital sound output (optical or coaxial)? Connect all your inputs to the TV and take the output to the sound bar. That is what I do. TV speakers muted, all the sound through the sound bar. No problems.
Sorry, just noticed the final paragraph of Chrijr's post and realised that we have given the same advice. Apologies.