When planning the purchase of my home theater, I took a slightly different approach. The main reason was that I wanted to avoid high costs and I felt it was a waste to throw away my old computer, even though it is old, it is of good quality and reliable.
At that moment, I had 5.1 amplifier speakers made of real wood, which deliver great sound even at peak loads. Unfortunately, they only have analog inputs for already decoded sound. That came a bit later. My 42-inch LCD TV is somewhat newer. It has many HDMI inputs for connecting various video sources. I also have a small room where the speakers are connected by cable and embedded in the wall.
First, the idea was to use a regular computer with a 5.1 analog output through RCA connectors and connect the TV via an HDMI cable. That's what I did. Unfortunately, the motherboard I had from the manufacturer ASUS did not want to convert sound through the analog outputs. I believe it makes no sense to have good speakers but listen to music through the TV. I contacted Asus service but received this response: "Please contact the seller from whom the purchase was made."
After filing a complaint, I received a replacement disc. Finally, I managed to get surround sound from the speakers.
The distance between the computer and the amplifier is about 3 meters, so I had to buy an extension consisting of 6 cables, each 3 meters long.
Almost everything was fine. After the first cleaning, I was missing some parts, so the sound disappeared in one of the speakers. After several attempts, I found the cause, which was a broken low-frequency audio cable.
I didn't want to fix it. I started looking for a decoder with a digital optical audio signal for 5.1. After a few days of searching on the Internet, I chose this model ...
Because it is small in size, has several different cables (optical and coaxial) as well as a couple of analog RCA. This allows me to connect the radio with the alarm clock, and the phone for listening to the radio or home theater. I bought it and connected everything, and it worked the first time.
The sound quality was good, without any disturbances.
After some time, I wanted to play music from my phone or tablet in Dolby Digital format through this decoder in my home theater. When I connected the connecting cable, everything worked, but the cable did not allow me to move more than 1.5 meters away. I needed an extension. I know there is technology for low-power wireless audio signal transmission. After a few days of searching on the Internet, I chose a small device that receives the audio signal via the BLUETOOTH interface and converts it to analog through a 3.5 mm jack.
The device has a built-in battery that allows it to operate for an extended period without access to a power source. We connect it with a cable to the decoder and phone using the standard procedure for device discovery.
I turn on the music on my phone and listen to it on my home theater system.
Additionally, the phone can be anywhere, in a pocket or on a charging stand, but no more than 30 meters away from the Bluetooth receiver. Over time, I wanted to watch a match and news in English. So I used online TV over the Internet.
After a few weeks of precise adjustments, I managed to watch not only online TV but also my favorite zipped movies and live digital television.
The tuner, connected via USB, did not work without problems, and I couldn't manage with the remote control.
The result was as follows: An Android Box with a built-in DVB-T tuner, an audio remote control with digital output, about the size of a small router, completely replaced the computer.
Now I can sit on the couch, control the remote, and watch my favorite TV shows; through the Internet, I watch new movies and channels in my native language.
Using the keyboard and mouse, I can edit documents, respond to emails, and browse the Internet.
I'm glad I bought this device!
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