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should audio connection go through TV?

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Here is my dilemma- new TV, new DVD player, both Toshiba, neither one expensive. Very satisfied with TV picture and sound. The Toshiba 4960 also plays SACD and DVD-Audio, and audio was one reason I bought it.
There are the multichannel audio outputs, but I am stereo only. There is one set of stereo audio outputs from the DVD player. Right now, I have it hooked to TV in, then TV audio out to the stereo system. Sounds pretty bad, I assume I am inserting some cheap TV audio amplification into the chain.
I could connect DVD audio directly to my preamp, but I don't want to do that- it's a tube preamp and I don't want to have to power on everything for every DVD and use up tube life.
The logical solution would be a splitter or a switch. Can I split the audio and send one connector to TV and the other to preamp? Or is there some sort of interaction which would make a switch more desirable. Is there any decent splitter or switch that will not degrade the audio quality?
Thanks.

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answer - Joe Murphy Jr 22:00:52 09/22/04 (3)
Connect the stereo output to the television and the L/R output of the multi-channel outputs to the preamp . The only problem you may have is if a DVD-A disc doesn't have a dedicated stereo track.
Stereo and L/R outputs from a DVD player can be the same, but can also be different. That's why the above should work the way you want in every situation (except a few DVD-A discs).
- thanks it works - tunenut 17:05:39 09/23/04 (2)
  Got it all connected and working. For high end audio, this is, so far, nothing special. The video output looks good. Up against a much more costly SACD player, this little Toshiba is not even competitive. Based on only 1 disk however.
  - quality - Joe Murphy Jr 06:01:37 09/24/04 (1)
    Toshiba isn't exactly the last word on audio quality. And unfortunately, even though they are a co-developer of the DVD format, the video quality in their players is a few steps behind as well.
    I have a Panasonic RP91 set up in a similar configuration (feeding a receiver and a television) in the bedroom system. The audio quality is acceptable , but the video quality (even in interlaced mode via S-video) is at the top of the ladder.
    - didn't exactly expect much - tunenut 09:52:16 09/24/04 (0)
      this was a $120 mail order deal and it's a universal player, CD, SACD and DVD-A. I have a CD/SACD player, the Sony SCD-1, that cost me about 30 times more than that. So I did not expect miracles. So far, no miracles.
      For video OTOH this is just what I needed, feeding component video to a Toshiba TV, the picture looks fine, I don't have plasma or anything like that. Obviously if I had more expensive display, I would get a higher quality DVD player. But this is perfect for its current use. And it's nice to have a backup SACD player, and if I decide to experiment with multichannel, I can do that now.
Re: should audio connection go through TV? - Kal Rubinson 10:59:28 09/22/04 (2)
Does it have separate stereo and multichannel outputs? If so, the front L/R are usually the same as the stereo outputs and you can use the former for your preamp and the latter to the TV. Or vice versa.
Kal
- I don't know - tunenut 12:45:29 09/22/04 (1)
  It never says anywhere that the L-R surrounds are the same as the stereo (these are labelled as "mixed audio"). I don't know how all of this works. I played a Japanese animation video (Metropolis) last night. It had audio setup, but it all looked like surround options- Japanese Dolby, Japanese DTS, etc. Does this mean that the 6 m/c audio outputs all had information on them (even though unconnected) while the "mixed audio" I heard was some sort of fold-down? Is there typically a choice of stereo sound on a DVD and then you get the same stereo on surround L-R outputs? Or do many DVDs simply have surround sound only as this one SEEMS to have (not 100% sure).
  - Re: I don't know - Kal Rubinson 13:57:21 09/22/04 (0)
    Varies. Most DVDs have a stereo track although some will, indeed, "fold-down" on the fly. In general, most players will have the same signals on the stereo jacks as on the front L/R jack of the MCH set.
    I do not know your player, so I cannot be certain.
    Kal

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