Plenty of folks are baffled with the different methods of hooking up a Soundbar, and this is unsurprising - every make appears to have different choices and methods for getting this done! In this post we set down the principal methods. Clearly we cannot be really specific since the options differ a great deal, however we will give you a basic overview of the main approaches and strategys.
The most basic of Soundbars have a simple 3.5mm stereo jack input. You just connect the headphone output from your TV to the input on the Soundbar; maybe adjust some volume/tone settings on the Soundbar and you're done. All your gadgets (Wii, Xbox etc) plug into the TV like normal. The advantage with this is the simplicity and the fact that normally you don't need another remote control - you continue to use your TV remote as normal. You won't get the best sound from such a system but it will still be brilliant compared to the TV on its own!
Shifting up the Soundbar level of quality hierarchy the next big connection option which you are likely to come across is optical. With this situation you usually connect all of your devices to the Television and next the optical out from the Television to the Soundbar. An optical cable can transport much more data and may offer superior audio when compared to a 3.5mm type connector. You might also need optical to reinforce a non HDMI ARC link. (see later paragraph!)
Some Soundbars in the Mid-Range will come with an HDMI input and possibly an HDMI ARC output. This means you can connect HDMI devices(Such as a BluRay player) directly to the Soundbar. Video signal will then be passed through to the TV. If the HDMI on the Soundbar and the TV is ARC compliant then you won't need any more cabling between the Soundbar and the TV as the single HDMI cable will not only pass video signal to the TV but sound from the TV back to the Soundbar also. If it's a non ARC HDMI connection then you will need to add an optical cable to the mix.
The best Soundbar often has all of the connection choices from the midrange and a pile of new ones on as well! There are also likely to be many more of them! Some models may have RCA, Optical, coaxial, wireless iPod connection as well as multiple HDMI inputs! With one of these top of the line models it's frequently possible to attach all of your gadgets to the Soundbar and then pass through any video signal (BluRay disk for example) to the Television.
Keep in mind that Soundbars along with other electronics can vary significantly. This information is simply an overview of the kind of strategies which may be feasible. It is important for you to check the handbook on your particular models prior to hooking everything together!
The most basic of Soundbars have a simple 3.5mm stereo jack input. You just connect the headphone output from your TV to the input on the Soundbar; maybe adjust some volume/tone settings on the Soundbar and you're done. All your gadgets (Wii, Xbox etc) plug into the TV like normal. The advantage with this is the simplicity and the fact that normally you don't need another remote control - you continue to use your TV remote as normal. You won't get the best sound from such a system but it will still be brilliant compared to the TV on its own!
Shifting up the Soundbar level of quality hierarchy the next big connection option which you are likely to come across is optical. With this situation you usually connect all of your devices to the Television and next the optical out from the Television to the Soundbar. An optical cable can transport much more data and may offer superior audio when compared to a 3.5mm type connector. You might also need optical to reinforce a non HDMI ARC link. (see later paragraph!)
Some Soundbars in the Mid-Range will come with an HDMI input and possibly an HDMI ARC output. This means you can connect HDMI devices(Such as a BluRay player) directly to the Soundbar. Video signal will then be passed through to the TV. If the HDMI on the Soundbar and the TV is ARC compliant then you won't need any more cabling between the Soundbar and the TV as the single HDMI cable will not only pass video signal to the TV but sound from the TV back to the Soundbar also. If it's a non ARC HDMI connection then you will need to add an optical cable to the mix.
The best Soundbar often has all of the connection choices from the midrange and a pile of new ones on as well! There are also likely to be many more of them! Some models may have RCA, Optical, coaxial, wireless iPod connection as well as multiple HDMI inputs! With one of these top of the line models it's frequently possible to attach all of your gadgets to the Soundbar and then pass through any video signal (BluRay disk for example) to the Television.
Keep in mind that Soundbars along with other electronics can vary significantly. This information is simply an overview of the kind of strategies which may be feasible. It is important for you to check the handbook on your particular models prior to hooking everything together!
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