Hi all,

I wonder if anyone can help, just hand an extension built and had a partition wall built to mount a TV to the wall and then underneath a recessed box for the amp, virgin box etc.

I have two HDMI2 leads and a twin RCA lead poking out of a hole behind where the tv is mounted to the wall and then coming out into the back of the recessed box. This makes things very neat as this is what I want and planned.

However the TV I bought is a LG with only digital audio out so the RCA’s dont work in the back of the TV which I wanted to plug into the back of the amp.

I bought a optical lead and tried to pull it through with the RCA lead which snapped, the route for the leads is very, very tight with two 90 degree bends so their is no way I can feed another cable through..

I now have only two HDMI2 leads in place and only need one from the TV to the virgin box.

Is it possible to get a convertion lead from HDMI to optical audio so I can plug my TV into a new amp that I need to buy?

Cheers.

Does your TV have an HDMI ARC port? ARC = Audio Return Channel

If so you can use the to get the audio to an amp via HDMI, as long as the amp can take audio in via HDMI ARC

Have a read of this HDMI ARC

Thanks for the quick response dmorts, the tv seems to have an ARC – Audio Return Channel, the tv spec is here- https://www.richersounds.com/tv-projectors/46-54-tvs/lg-49uj670v.html

I just need to buy an amp with the input to support this.

Can you not just take the audio from the virgin box to the amp?

thisisnotaspoon, you can for stuff coming off the virgin box but its a smart tv and I watch netflix,amazon,youtube etc through the tv.

This is why wherever posable you should run the cables in conduit as cables fail, standards change etc and you need to replace them easily.

I think I have ARC in my TV.
I run one HDMI from TV to amp, all the peripherals are plugged into the AMP (DVD, blu-ray, DVR) so in theory you should only need one HDMI cable from TV to amp if you get a compatible amp.

That’s how mine is set up. Everything into amp, one lead to TV for picture and then ARC feed back from TV down same cable for the smart TV stuff.

You could power a small FiiO DAC from a usb port on the tv to convert the optical to audio coax and hide it behind the tv, they are very small. I got one off ebay for < £20. Cheaper than a new amp and worked really well for many years.

http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=14622

Does your virgin box not have all the SMART apps on so? I would have thought so as my BT box does so would have thought a virgin box would have. That would be best anyway as you can’t get full surround sound from HDMI ARC which is why I don’t use it. I use the amp as a hub configuration. It’s the most convenient. Everything runs off the amp remote so you don’t have several remotes kicking about

That would be best anyway as you can’t get full surround sound from HDMI ARC which is why I don’t use it.

This was the caveat in the article I posted, so check the specs carefully if you want 5.1:

Except…

It doesn’t always work, at least, not perfectly. Turns out, many TV manufacturers haven’t implemented ARC to send any and all audio via HDMI. Want to hear 5.1 surround from your receiver? ARC might not let you do it. Many TVs are two-channel (2.0) only via ARC.

Sorry, crap internet connection where I am so doidn’t read the article. I got it from my Tv instructions/spec so should mention in there

My Samsung smart TV does full 5.1, DD, DTS through ARC. I run Plex app on it and get original quality audio from the media I stream. I believe I set the TV to just pass through digital audio.

Only thing I have hassle with is the Amazon app which tends to have drop outs on the audio in 5.1, but if I change the TV to 2.0 surround it’s okay (but not as good). It’s a known issue with long threads on Amazon support about it, basically concluding the app is crap and buy Fire TV instead but then Amazon want you to do that obviously.

Oh, and slight niggle when turning everything on is the ARC feed causes my amp to switch to TV input after a delay, when usually I want it set to the Sky input, regardless of what input I originally set it to switching on.

HDMI CEC control is useful though. Turn TV off and signal down HDMI turns amp off. It can turn it on as well but seems I have to turn on Blu Ray player which turns the amp and TV on. Just turning on amp doesn’t do it (and Sky doesn’t either).

Thanks for the replies, going to order this and the problem is solved via HDMI ARC.

https://www.denon.co.uk/uk/product/homecinema/avreceiver/avrx540bt