Tuan Jim

Since I'm still not getting any replies in my (probably poorly titled) other thread: http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=470162 , I'm starting a new one.

With a new TV, do I have to worry about shielding issues if I want to place the front 3 speakers directly in front of my TV (side speakers in front of the tv's built in speakers, center channel right in front of TV) -- and turn off the "interior speakers" on the TV itself.

I'm not even sure what magnetic shielding issues are, just that it was mentioned on another site and I've held off setting anything up till now.

If those locations are acceptable, I ought to be able to set up the rest of the speakers fairly easily -- try and set up some mounts in the rear corners of the room as I mentioned previously.

thanks.

hdtv00

Yes you have to worry about it if its a tube tv. LCD and rear projection you have no worries.

Tuan Jim

It's a brand new (last month) Hitachi 42" flat screen 42HDS69 HDTV.

Brian Shannon

This is a plasma tv and will not have problems with speaker placement.

Tuan Jim

Thank you guys so much for the reassurance. This knocks out 3 of my 5 issues -- now I need to get some plywood from self-help to make some rear speaker stands.

hdtv00

yep sorry i left out plama , look at the time it was late man give me a break hehe. I went to your other thread but you sure like to type a LOT hehe. So you got my quickie reply cause I still hadnt went to bed at 5:30 am .....and am up now with only 3 hrs sleep...kill me.

Tuan Jim

Ok, thanks for the tips. I've finally gotten everything set up and wired. Then I went through with my new DVE dvd which finally arrived this week. Now this probably sounds incredibly noobish since I've only just gotten to this level of technical experience with audio systems -- if I have a HTIB, do I still need a digital encoder of a sort for proper 5.1 output?

The reason that I'm asking is because my manual for the system doesn't go into much detail in this regard. I have the tv speakers turned off and there is no cable connecting the dvd player to the tv for audio (although I do have optical outputs on the player and inputs on the TV). I plugged all the speaker cables in to the player as shown in my manual and I get the proper "hum" from each one when the player is on. However, during the speaker tests on the DVD, I was not able to verify any audio output from the 2 rear speakers at all. All 3 front ones worked great and I have verified that the sub works too, but the rear ones don't seem to be putting out any noise. Is this because I need a digital decoder for dd 5.1 or dts or would it be a problem with the speakers? I assumed from everything I've seen elsewhere that 5.1 would be automatic once I set up the htib -- but you know what they say about assuming.

Further help on this note is greatly appreciated.

edit -- system is the Hitachi HTD-K210 HTIB. Of interest also may be the fact that I can't seem to switch to DD 5.1 or anything fancy in the DVD player's setup menu even though all the speakers run through it.

thanks.

Spiky

Check the DVD player's menu for a Digital Output setting of some sort. It should be set to Dolby or Bitstream, not PCM. Also, double check your speaker connections. That system claims to have a Dolby decoder, it should work.

Tuan Jim

I think I know what you're talking about but neither the menus or the manual is helping much at this point. I'm probably just going to have to try customer service again (hopefully available by email this time).

Tuan Jim

Ok,

This isn't working at all. Still waiting to hear back from Hitachi -- just emailed them again -- I don't know if I'm having contact issues because the system I purchased isn't one made for US sales (not listed on their support page) or what -- the manuals come in English, Arabic and Cyrillic.

Either way, I switched the rear speakers and rechecked the wires -- still no functionality coming from the rear at all. I'm still getting grayed out menu options on the DVD menu too -- that's what's really getting me. The manual has these notes but doesn't say when or why some options will be grayed out. I could understand them not being selected when I was getting audio through the TV speakers, but now that all the speaker wires are installed, I would think that it would be recognized. I'm not seeing additional external switches anywhere either.

Very frustrating. I don't really mind picking up a receiver if I do end up needing it -- but nothing I've read has indicated that I should need it. As others have pointed out (and one reason i went with this system) - it should be integral to the dvd player.

......

Spiky

What is greyed out?

Email never works with these companies. Try a phone call, instead.

Tuan Jim

That's the problem -- I'm in Seoul so the time difference makes things a little tough. I tried one call previously but couldn't get through. I may try again soon though.

I'm not getting options for the the Center or rear speakers in the speaker setup option. And on 3d Processing, I can't even enable Dolby Pro Logic II -- which is what makes me think the speakers aren't being recognized -- unless it's something else.

And unfortunately the manual is cryptic to say the least.

Spiky

Huh. I can only guess that it is set somehow in a non-surround mode, so it isn't showing the 'other' speakers. Maybe there's something that will open this stuff up.

That's tough with time difference, but your morning ought to match up, if you can make time. The email almost assuredly is a dead end. I've had very little luck getting any electronics company to respond via email. Just a couple tiny ones with good customer service, like wire companies or SVS.

Brian Shannon

I am going to throw out a few thoughts to try and help.

Spiky is right, the receiver probably needs to be set to the proper mode to enable or set up anything. With the speakers connected can you run the test tones with the receiver set to dolby digital? It is not like a pc where something is "not recognized". If the connections are correct and the mode is correct it should work. If you cannot get center or rear that tells me that the receiver is outputting 2 ch stereo only.

Tuan Jim

I'll have to see if I can find a Hitachi rep at the PX that I bought it -- a number of companies have reps who hang around the store during the day.

I'm getting sound from 3 speakers right now -- the two front side ones and the front center one (although that appears to be one of the grayed out ones) -- the subwoofer also works sometimes from what I can tell. However, any time that the DVD player is actually turned on, you can pick up the electronic white noise coming from all of the speakers including the rear ones.

I'll check into it some more, but thanks for the info. -- I've also been using my DVE disc to verify the sound output whenever I make changes.

Tuan Jim

Wow. Just wow.

I finally had the bright idea of going back to the PX to look specifically for a Hitachi rep -- I've seen NEC guys there before, etc. Lo and behold the Hitachi rep is actually the guy I bought the TV/sound system from the first time. And he had the answer.

The reason my DD options were grayed out was that I had made the mistake of leaving Downmix Turned On in a different menu -- I misunderstood the manual on this point. That was the one thing I had to turn off in order to enable the DD. It now sounds like everything is as it should (just ran my DVE test disc through again with stellar results).

thanks.