Home Theatre Setup with Xbox

 

New member
Username: Flaming_gooch

Post Number: 1
Registered: Mar-05
Hey all. I'm really new to this stuff so dont bust my chops for this question. I dont know if any of you guys are familiar with the Xbox Advanced A/V Pack. I have that and I have a surround sound system that i want to hook my Xbox up to. I think i need a receiver or something to that extent, because all i have now is the speakers and the DVD player the home theatre system came with. If anyone can help me keep my S-Video and get surround sound with my xbox and the current speakers i have. Or if no one can help me, tell me where to go to find out. Any information will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 

Xbox, Xbox.. good old BIll Gates..
Unregistered guest
I had the same problem with my Xbox. Am I right in thinking that the leads you have, only have the audio L/R cables (Red & White)? If so, you may have to loose S-Video and go SCART, or if not (And it has an optical out, and your player has an optical in) go with optical and keep S-Video.

Sorry thats a little vauge.
 

Thank You,Thank You, just throw money at me
Unregistered guest
I have the HI DEF pack for my xbox and you connect the optical cable to your reciver and compent cables to your TV
 

New member
Username: Flaming_gooch

Post Number: 2
Registered: Mar-05
Actually the leads on my speakers are red and black. What is SCART? My player only has optical out. And, for the ultimate n00b question, what is a receiver, and if I get one, can I hook up my xbox and speakers to it?
 

New member
Username: Billkwando

Maryland USA

Post Number: 1
Registered: Mar-05
The non-component A/V pack has S-video &, optical outs. You only really need the S-video and optical.
 

New member
Username: Billkwando

Maryland USA

Post Number: 3
Registered: Mar-05
This is what you should have: http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?c=1&oid=79784&Key=48248
 

New member
Username: Flaming_gooch

Post Number: 3
Registered: Mar-05
Ummm....I have that. I mentioned it in the first post. Where can I get an optical audio cable, and what do I plug it in to? I think I still need a receiver so I can keep my S-Video.
 

New member
Username: Flaming_gooch

Post Number: 4
Registered: Mar-05
So, no one can help with this issue??
 

Xbox Junky
Unregistered guest
Madden,

You can purchase HD advanced pack...everybody calls it something different, it has the red,blue and green cables to hook to your tv via component and the red and white for the audio...this is ofcourse just analog audio...you dont want to use these if you dont have to.

You can purchase an optical out that will plug into the little hole at the base of the HD pack(where it plugs into the xbox). Then you can run the optical cord straight to your tv or (recommended) to a receiver.

If you go to best buy and see those surround sound system with all those speaders hooked to it, well the box that the speakers hook to is the receiver. You can get a pretty descent one for under $200...make sure it has an optical input though. You hook the optical out from teh xbox to the receiver...then the audio signal from the xbox will go through the receiver(this will decode the audio signal) and send it out to the speakers.

You can get a really nice reciever that will have plenty of inputs and outputs. This way you can run even the video signals through the reciever...I really dont suggest this, but you can do it if you want.

Just figure out what you have to hook up. Like me, I have a Samsung 46" DLP, a HD/DVR cable box, and an xbox. I have the xbox hooked to the TV with the component cables. The r/w audio cables arent even plugged in. The xbox audio is running str8 to my reciever so that I have the surroudn sound when I play or watch DVDs. The cable box is hooked up to the TV with component cables as well...sometimes you will need Svideo cables hooked up too for analog channels. I have the Cable audio running through regular RCA jacks to the reciever, so I can have surround sound for what I watch on cable. I dont watch a lot of cable TV anyway, so I didnt care about having the cable hooked up with an optical or coax(digital-its an oragne RCA cable) input. Now my reciever can only have two devices connected to it at the same time, even though it has 4 inputs. So if I had a DVD player or another game system as well, then my reciever would not do what I wanted it too.

So what you need to figure out is what you are going to be using, then find a receiver that has the input/outputs that you will need. Buy the correct cables to hook it all up and ENJOY!!!
 

New member
Username: Flaming_gooch

Post Number: 5
Registered: Mar-05
Ok first thing, my xbox isnt hooked up to an HD TV. Second, you wouldn't recomend hooking the video through the receiver?? Why?? Anyway, thank you very much for the help. I really appreciate it. I am looking at a Pioneer reveiver right now. I think I'm gonna get it. It's the VSX-D514-S.
 

New member
Username: Sr_immortal

Post Number: 2
Registered: Mar-05
well to me hooking the video to the reciever is kind of pointless. You are going to have to buy an extra set of cables to do that as well. You will have the A/V pack from the xbox running to the receiver and then from the reciever(the seperate set of cords) to the TV. It also depends on how good of a TV you have. For me, I would rather have my $3000 TV decode the video signal rather than a $200 auido receiver...you always lose a little bit of the signal each time it has to go through something else.

Even if you dont have an HDTV, you can still use the monster A/V adapter, and it should have the optical output "hole" as well.

I dont know a lot about receivers, most of the stuff Ive learned, Ive learned from reading posts on this website. I usually do months of research before I buy anything relating to home theater. And the next thing on my list is a new reciever. I have a cheap sony one, but I want a nice one.

If you can save the money you could get a descent home theater setup for under $700. That's really cheap if you think about it. I bought the Advent 27" HDTV 4:3. Its about $400 right now. Its a great TV to start out with if you dont have a lot of money. And get one of those Surround Sound Systems in a box...it comes with a receiver and the 5.1 speakers.

Now honestly I would suggest saving up for some nicer things. But if you are ancy like I was to get the most out of your xbox, then buying the cheaper stuff first to hold you over isnt such a bad idea.
 

New member
Username: Flaming_gooch

Post Number: 6
Registered: Mar-05
Ok, thanks everyone for the information. You've all been really helpful.
 

Unregistered guest
Wow. Thanks from my part too. Reading this post was a lot of help. But, I'm still.. a little confused.

Say my sound system did have a reciever with optical input and then I purchased an advanced AV for the xbox.. Would I need to buy any more cables to connect the advanced AV to the TV and reciever (not running the signals through reciever, straight to TV)?

Thanks in advance,
Haanz
 

Bronze Member
Username: Sr_immortal

Post Number: 14
Registered: Mar-05
You would hook up the advanced AV pack straight to the TV...this is for your video. You can hook up the red and white cables to the TV if you want to have the sound coming through the TV as well, but i wouldnt recommend it.

You will also have to buy the "special" optical cable that plugs into the base of the AV pack(where it connects to the xbox) and run that to your receiver.

If your receiver does video conversion, and you dont have enough inputs on your TV, then you will run the AV pack(just the video) to the receiver's input and from the output of that source hook it to the TV. Then you plug in the optical to the receiver as well, but not both the optical and RCA audio cables.

Hope that helps.
 

Haanz
Unregistered guest
The special optical cable? Know where I can pick one of those up in the UK at a budget?

Sorry if I'm sounding absoloutely clueless but.. I am.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Sr_immortal

Post Number: 15
Registered: Mar-05
I have no idea about in the UK, unless you guys have a best buy. The only thing special about the optical cable is that one end will only fit into the Advance A/V pack for the xbox. You couldnt use it for something else. Im sure if you do a search on google, you can order one.
 

Unregistered guest
The best thing I found was the MadCatz Scart kit its about £17.99 from the usual suspects it comes with the optical cable you need.
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