Seeking 4x1 HDMI switch w/RCA audio (stereo) out

[HriniakPosterChild]

More than 10 years ago, I bought a HD TV system for my family room which has a single DVI (not HDMI) input to the plasma display. (Told you it was retro.) The audio in this room goes through retro RCA cables to a stereo receiver which has no digital audio input. This is workable for my DirecT DVR and Blu-Ray player, but it keeps me from being able to buy nifty new toys like the Apple TV, Amazon Fire, or Roku, which have only HDMI output.

I would like to replace my old HDMI 3x1 switch with a new one that has RCA audio out. I tried the Monoprice 5557 two years ago and sent it right back when not even video got through it.

Can anyone recommend a switch to me?

(You can tell that I'm a pioneer because of the arrows sticking out of my back.)

 

[AlNipper49]

Why not just get a new receiver? They're reasonably cheap and you're not playing with the absolute junk you'll find on splitter gadgets.

 

[HriniakPosterChild]

Can I do that and get stereo output? There's no way I can put 5.1 in that room. (I do have a subwoofer, but no center channel nor rear speakers.)

 

[AlNipper49]

Yeah. A lot of receivers let you throw speakers into stereo mode (AllChannel Stereo).

When you think about it, it makes sense. That's what gyms and stuff do when they have 8 speakers and don't want them channelized.

Depending on the power of the amp you could also splice the speaker cables and pin it into a RCA Jack. I got some help here on that too, if I recall correctly. There was some math to make certain everything was safe for the speakers...

 

[LoweTek]

When you set up a 5.1 receiver you set up each channel. Center channel and rear speaker selections for example are Large (send the low frequency to the speaker), Small (send the low frequency to the sub-woofer) or None. When the center is set to 'None' the circuitry in the receiver simply sends center channel signals equally to the left and right channel.

Be sure you get one with enough HDMI inputs. Some lower cost models will not have as many.

 

[HriniakPosterChild]

I found a ~$200 Sony A/V receiver on Amazon and got it mostly installed yesterday. It turns out that my DirecTV DVR and Blu Ray player both have settings to push PCM (Stereo) over the HDMI output. Maybe that's a common feature.

 

[LoweTek]

Yes, it's intended for people who have just the two channels. You lose you sub-woofer output though, I believe, if you select it. Keep that in mind.

 

[HriniakPosterChild]

My subwoofer cable was weirdly wired into my old receiver, so I just copied the wiring on the new one. I guess the old receiver had no subwoofer port. The cable had red, black, white and green wires inside that were twisted into the L and R red and black wires and connected that way. The subwoofer is definitely subwoofing, but I don't think the receiver has any way of knowing that.