surround sound question (newbie)

[ronchito]

hello, i am in the process of creating a home theater system. i am
purchasing speakers one at a time, so please bear with me on that one.
right now, i have an integra 5.3 surround receiver, a sony dvp-ns715p
dvd player, and 3 out of 6 speakers from the totem dreamcatcher
series. to this point, i've only purchased the two L/R fronts and a
center channel. the sub will be next when i can afford it. anyway, i
have L/R audio cables hooked up from the dvd player to the receiver,
with a third cable (yellow) for video. is the reason why i am forced
to use dolby pro logic II (versus straight up digital) because i am
not using the digital coaxial cable? if i connect only the digital
coaxial cable, will that take care of both the video and the audio
signals and give me the true dolby 5.1 experience (instead of the pro
logic decoding)? anyone who can help explain my options and what my
best bets are given the equipment i have, i would be greatly
appreciative! thanks very much,

chris

[Kalman Rubinson]

You cannot get the 'true dolby 5.1 experience' unless you get more
speakers. However, if you used the digital (audio only) coax, you
will have more options in regards to using the various audio formats.

Kal

On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 17:07:13 GMT, (ronchito)
wrote:

>hello, i am in the process of creating a home theater system. i am
>purchasing speakers one at a time, so please bear with me on that one.
> right now, i have an integra 5.3 surround receiver, a sony dvp-ns715p
>dvd player, and 3 out of 6 speakers from the totem dreamcatcher
>series. to this point, i've only purchased the two L/R fronts and a
>center channel. the sub will be next when i can afford it. anyway, i
>have L/R audio cables hooked up from the dvd player to the receiver,
>with a third cable (yellow) for video. is the reason why i am forced
>to use dolby pro logic II (versus straight up digital) because i am
>not using the digital coaxial cable? if i connect only the digital
>coaxial cable, will that take care of both the video and the audio
>signals and give me the true dolby 5.1 experience (instead of the pro
>logic decoding)? anyone who can help explain my options and what my
>best bets are given the equipment i have, i would be greatly
>appreciative! thanks very much,
>
>chris

[Bruce Abrams]

Connecting via the coax cable will allow you to enjoy Dolby Digital 5.1, but
only if you have the surround speakers installed. The receiver may have
some DSP modes that allow it to simulate the presence of the rear speakers.
Check the manual.

The digital coax cable won't do anything for the video signal, as it only
carries audio.

Bruce

"ronchito" > wrote in message
. net...
> hello, i am in the process of creating a home theater system. i am
> purchasing speakers one at a time, so please bear with me on that one.
> right now, i have an integra 5.3 surround receiver, a sony dvp-ns715p
> dvd player, and 3 out of 6 speakers from the totem dreamcatcher
> series. to this point, i've only purchased the two L/R fronts and a
> center channel. the sub will be next when i can afford it. anyway, i
> have L/R audio cables hooked up from the dvd player to the receiver,
> with a third cable (yellow) for video. is the reason why i am forced
> to use dolby pro logic II (versus straight up digital) because i am
> not using the digital coaxial cable? if i connect only the digital
> coaxial cable, will that take care of both the video and the audio
> signals and give me the true dolby 5.1 experience (instead of the pro
> logic decoding)? anyone who can help explain my options and what my
> best bets are given the equipment i have, i would be greatly
> appreciative! thanks very much,
>
> chris
>

[Cossie]

"ronchito" > wrote in message
. net...
> hello, i am in the process of creating a home theater system. i am
> purchasing speakers one at a time, so please bear with me on that one.
> right now, i have an integra 5.3 surround receiver, a sony dvp-ns715p
> dvd player, and 3 out of 6 speakers from the totem dreamcatcher
> series. to this point, i've only purchased the two L/R fronts and a
> center channel. the sub will be next when i can afford it. anyway, i
> have L/R audio cables hooked up from the dvd player to the receiver,
> with a third cable (yellow) for video. is the reason why i am forced
> to use dolby pro logic II (versus straight up digital) because i am
> not using the digital coaxial cable? if i connect only the digital
> coaxial cable, will that take care of both the video and the audio
> signals and give me the true dolby 5.1 experience (instead of the pro
> logic decoding)? anyone who can help explain my options and what my
> best bets are given the equipment i have, i would be greatly
> appreciative! thanks very much,
>
> chris
>

The digital coax cable or an optical cable only carry audio, but they carry
the full discrete multiple channel audio you need for true 5.1 sound. The
reason you are only able to use ProLogic right now is that you are sending a
stereo L/R signal to your receiver, which then needs to decode that stereo
signal into a "matrixed surround" - ProLogic. In other words, your receiver
is taking two channels of audio and "guessing" how to split them up into 6
channels. Considering what it does, I'm often amazed at how good ProLogic
is, but it doesn't compete with true 5.1. If you get a coax cable to carry
your digital audio, you can continue to use the yellow video cable that you
already have.

Bill Balmer

[ronchito]

thanks for all the great answers. much appreciated.

chris


"Cossie" > wrote in message
...
> "ronchito" > wrote in message
> . net...
> > hello, i am in the process of creating a home theater system. i am
> > purchasing speakers one at a time, so please bear with me on that one.
> > right now, i have an integra 5.3 surround receiver, a sony dvp-ns715p
> > dvd player, and 3 out of 6 speakers from the totem dreamcatcher
> > series. to this point, i've only purchased the two L/R fronts and a
> > center channel. the sub will be next when i can afford it. anyway, i
> > have L/R audio cables hooked up from the dvd player to the receiver,
> > with a third cable (yellow) for video. is the reason why i am forced
> > to use dolby pro logic II (versus straight up digital) because i am
> > not using the digital coaxial cable? if i connect only the digital
> > coaxial cable, will that take care of both the video and the audio
> > signals and give me the true dolby 5.1 experience (instead of the pro
> > logic decoding)? anyone who can help explain my options and what my
> > best bets are given the equipment i have, i would be greatly
> > appreciative! thanks very much,
> >
> > chris
> >
>
> The digital coax cable or an optical cable only carry audio, but they
carry
> the full discrete multiple channel audio you need for true 5.1 sound. The
> reason you are only able to use ProLogic right now is that you are sending
a
> stereo L/R signal to your receiver, which then needs to decode that stereo
> signal into a "matrixed surround" - ProLogic. In other words, your
receiver
> is taking two channels of audio and "guessing" how to split them up into 6
> channels. Considering what it does, I'm often amazed at how good ProLogic
> is, but it doesn't compete with true 5.1. If you get a coax cable to
carry
> your digital audio, you can continue to use the yellow video cable that
you
> already have.
>
> Bill Balmer