How to Connect Home Cinema Sound System?

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By: Helen (South Wales)

Sorry to sound really thick but we’re a bit confused about the sound system needed for our cinema room.

We’re thinking of getting a projector and screen, my son will also want to play games from his PS3 on the screen and we’ll have a Sky box too.

How do we set up the sound system please?

Not sure if we have to have a home cinema surround sound system and connect it to the actual projector, ie how do we get sound for all the things we want to use: DVD’s, CD’s, PS3, Sky box, etc – and what do we connect it to?

Any advice would be really appreciated.


Comments for How to Connect Home Cinema Sound System:

Helen

Don’t worry, it’s not that hard once you know how!

The main thing you need is an AV receiver (and some 5.1 speakers to connect to it).

The AV receiver is the center of your system. It takes all the sound and video signals from your external devices – and then sends the pictures to your display device (projector) and the sound to the speakers.

You would have a system something like this:

Connecting a 5.1 home theater system with an AV receiver
Connecting a 5.1 home theater system with an AV receiver

You would need an AV receiver with at least 2 HDMI inputs. You would then connect the Sky box and the PS3 to the AV receiver via an HDMI cable (like in the diagram).

I assume you will be playing DVD/CD from the PS3? If not, you will need a 3rd HDMI input on the receiver for a DVD/Blu-ray player.

You would connect the HDMI output from the AV receiver to your projector (not a flat screen TV like in the diagram).

The AV receiver sends the pictures to the projector and the surround sound to the speakers.

You may find the links below useful… or maybe not!

All the best.

Paul (Site Editor)

You Might Also Be Interested In:

How to Set Up Surround Sound: Easy Home Theater Install Tips

Guide to AV Receivers

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What Is an HDMI Splitter and How Do You Use It?

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About The Author

Paul started the Home Cinema Guide to help less-experienced users get the most out of today's audio-visual technology. He has been a sound, lighting and audio-visual engineer for around 20 years. At home, he has spent more time than is probably healthy installing, configuring, testing, de-rigging, fixing, tweaking, re-installing again (and sometimes using) various pieces of hi-fi and home cinema equipment. You can find out more here.

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