So i got a new 42in panasonic viera hdtv for my bedroom thats working great so far. i had a pretty nice sony surround sound system with a dvd player, a sub, and 5 speakers that i had never used before and tried to hook it up to the tv.

It works awesome when I play a DVD through the player, otherwise the sound doesnt come through the surround speakers, it just comes through the TV which isn't that great. There is only 1 HDMI port on the system(3 on the tv), but i have no idea how to get the TV or ps3 sound to come through surround...

Some kid came over and recommended that i get an optical audio cable but didn't know what to do from there, and before i go to best buy and ask some idiot there I figured I'd ask for some help...Thanks!

you need to cross-configure the hdmi so that the tv input reads it as such

I'm pretty sure the optical audio cable suggestion was correct, I had to get the same thing when I hooked up my surround sound. It looks like:



Side note, they are ridiculously expensive for how simple they are, something like $40 IIRC (of course I got it at Best Buy, try newegg.com or something), but I'm impulsive.

And make sure you take the plastic pieces off each end, I'm ******ed and spent a solid 5 minutes wondering why it wasn't fitting.

maybe this diagram will help

gfy

Disclaimer: I suck at this stuff.

I had the same thing happen in my home setup. Although HDMI supports audio just fine, the TV and PS3 / Xbox 360 sound from HDMI output would not come through the stereo.

I forget the exact reason why this would not work, but after researching for a while, I read that it was expected. Solution for me was using optical cables and forgoing the HDMI.

What are the speakers connected to?

Optical cables cost around $3-$6

http://www.monoprice.com/products/su...02&cp_id=10229

Hence why I recommended newegg.com or something similar. I'm well aware buying that kind of stuff at Best Buy is a huge waste of money, but like I said earlier, I'm impulsive.

Funniest part is where the unnamed kid who shows up and figures out that you need an optical audio cable, but then can't figure out what to do from there. "Pointing it at the screen doesn't work... What if we tie it up like a lasso?"

Thanks dude, I know your time is very important so I'm sorry to waste it.

Get the help to do it.