Firestick Theater
Firestick Theater: a reader asks…
My surround sound system doesn’t work with the firestick. But it works with the TV. Any ideas how the firestick can work with the surround sound system. Any ideas will be appreciated.
The Amazon Firestick is an amazing gadget for watching video of all kinds. It’s designed to plug into an available HDMI port on your flat-screen TV, but for folks with home theater setups, that can be less than satisfactory. After all, you’ve invested in a fancy home theater surround sound system, so you want to get the full audio experience! The trick here is to plug your Amazon Firestick into the the home theater system rather than directly into the TV. Here’s what you do:
First, you should have your surround sound speakers tied into a receiver/amplifier. This box usually has inputs for 2-5 HDMI devices like DVD players, cable boxes, etc. And it has one output with an HDMI cable going to your TV. And of course, cables going to your surround-sound speakers.
What you want to do is plug your Amazon Firestick into one of the receiver’s HDMI inputs. These are usually on the back of the receiver, although there may be one on the front, depending on your model. If there are only input ports on the backside of the receiver, then you’ll want to use the HDMI extender that came with your Firestick. Using the extender will also improve wireless reception to your Firestick since you can position it away from the other electronics that can block wi-fi signals.. If you’ve lost your HDMI extender cable, you can buy another from Amazon for $12 (order it here).
UPDATE: Many older receivers cannot send video from HDMI inputs to the receiver’s speakers, but only to the TV. Even if your receiver has HDMI inputs, you need to check the manual to see if they’re only ‘passthrough’ ports (to the HDMI output port). If you have an older receiver, then you need to plug the Firestick into an available port on your TV, and then run a digital optical or coaxial cable from the TV ouput ports to an available optical/coaxial input port on your receiver.
So you end up playing your Amazon Firestick through your home theater receiver just like you do your DVD player. The audio signal coming from the Firestick then goes to your surround sound speakers while the video signal goes to your TV. That gives you the bone-shaking bass coming from your sub-woofer, and you can hear that monster as he comes up behind you!
I should note that some older home theater systems (Bose, I’m looking at you), don’t have multiple HDMI ports, but only have analog video ports. These are RCA-type cables (a central pin with a round metal shield). If this is your situation, then you are not going to be able to solve this as simply. You’ll need another box to convert the digital signal from the Firestick to an analog signal to plug into the receiver. Fortunately, Amazon also sells such a box, you can order it here for $30. It comes with all the cables you need, but you’ll still need the Firestick and its extender cable in order to complete the setup. This converter box comes with clear setup instructions. The only problem is that this box is for the even-older analog standard that uses a single RCA cable for video and two RCA cables for audio (left and right). So before you order, check the backside of your home theater receiver to see what kind of jacks and ports it uses.
If you want to preserve a higher-quality component video signal, or if your home theater system only has component video jacks (3 cables for video, usually colored red, green and blue), then you’ll need an HDMI to 1080P Component Video (YPbPr) Scaler Converter, such as this one (you can get it on Amazon for $45). Please note this box doesn’t come with component video/audio cables, so you’ll need to buy them separately (like this set on Amazon for $6). That’s a total of 5 individual wires with jacks on the end, three jacks for video and two for audio.
In either case you’re going to plug your Firestick into the converter box, and plug the analog cables between the converter box and your home theater receiver. Both of the converter boxes I’ve mentioned above also have a small electrical plug (‘wall wart’) that’ll need to be connected to power the converter.
If your system is different, please give me some details in the comments below and I can give you a more specific answer. You should include the brand and model number of your surround-sound system.
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Author: Chris Gardner
Your Tech Coach at PosiTek.net
There are currently 1284 reader comments on published articles, care to join in? Use the Leave a Comment form below/at the bottom of any existing comments. This is a good place to ask follow-on questions on this subject.
My surround sound system doesn’t work with the firestick. But it works with the TV. Any ideas how the firestick can work with the surround sound system. Any ideas will be appreciated.
You’re going to have to give me a little more information on this, like the brand and model number of your TV and surround sound system. I don’t read minds.
Hi Chris I am having the same problem as others. I plug the Amazon Firestick into the HDMI port of our Onkyo receiver model HT-R570. Then I ran an HDMI cable from the receiver to the tv. It doesn’t matter which input port I use (aux, CBl/sat, dvd) I get video but no audio. I can only hear amazon programming through the tv. Any help,would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Jonathan, thanks for your question. A bit of detective work revealed that your receiver model is part of the Onkyo HT-S5200 system (download the online manual at https://www.onkyousa.com/Downloads/manuals.php) – that receiver isn’t sold by itself so doesn’t have a manual listed there for the HT-R570.
Looking at that manual shows that your particular receiver isn’t capable of passing HDMI audio to the speakers as it uses the (cheaper) “Passthru” circuitry for HDMI. The paragraph at the bottom of page 25 says:
Hence your problem. Your receiver wasn’t designed for the type of input device you’re using (the Firestick). So at this point you have two reasonable options:
1. if your TV has a Digital Audio OUT port (optical or coaxial), then you could run a cable from that to one of the Digital Audio IN ports on the back of the Onkyo receiver. Audio from the TV would route through the Onkyo out to the TV and then back again to the receiver. Sounds wonky and it is, these lower-cost home theater systems weren’t designed to be as flexible as the higher-priced models.
2. You can buy an audio extractor box (like this one https://www.amazon.com/Tendak-Optical-Extractor-Converter-Splitter/dp/B017B6WFP8 for $28). plug the Firestick into the box’s HDMI IN port, run an HDMI cable from the box’s HDMI OUT port to an HDMI IN port on the Onkyo receiver, and run an optical cable from the box’s SPDIF OUT port to an optical IN port on the Onkyo receiver.
On the Onkyo, you’ll need to assign the optical IN port you use (OPT1 or OPT2) to match the HDMI IN port where you’ve connected the Firestick (or Firestick through the extractor box). Page 42/43 has the steps in the Digital Input Setup section.
Hi Chris, I have a Yamaha RX-V363. Can you help me connect my firestick surround in this please
Your online manual at https://usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/6/319936/RX-V363_U.pdf shows that you have two HDMI inputs on the back of the receiver (see page 9 for the diagram). However page 14 says that your receiver, like Jonathan’s can’t send audio from HDMI to your speakers. So, like Jonathan, you need to either run an optical cable from your TV to the receiver, or use the same extractor box.
Hey Chris! Hoping you can help me out here. I have the Yamaha RX-V373 and a Westinghouse UW40TC1W tv. I have plugged the fire stick into the back of the Yamaha and no dice for audio. I’ve also plugged it into the TV with a Optical Audio cable going back to the Yamaha, still no dice. Anything I’m doing wrong here???
Hi Kori, you’ve posted the same comment twice, I’ll answer the one at the bottom.
Hi Chris I know this post is from 2016 but I’m hoping that you still respond. To start my TV is newer it’s an LG with multiple HDMI connections USB Etc I have an older Samsung surround system model HT-650W with only one hdmi connection slot.
I bought an HDMI switcher from Phillips that is supposed to work for both audio/ video (it has 4 extra hdmi input slots, 3 on the back & 1 in front. Also has an output slot on the back)
so I guess my question is where do I put each cord and where do I put the fire stick? I have 2 HDMI-HDMI cables and my firestick as well as extension cord for the firestick.
After that is all connected the correct way do I use my original TV remote to get to the firestick through input menu and it will still play through the speakers or do I use the remote that came for the surround system? the only input options it has on the functions are DVD/CD,aux 1, aux 2 ,USB, and FM radio and something for ipod
Hi Chelsea, yes this article has been around, but you’ll see there are over 200 comments on it – it’s a popular subject!
Your surround sound system’s online manual is at http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/201104/20110420091116733/HT-C550-XAA_0607_CMS%5B1%5D.pdf. That system’s only HDMI connection is an OUT connection to send video to your TV. There are no HDMI IN ports, only a digital optical IN port for audio input.
You didn’t give me the model number of your LG TV so I don’t know if it has a digital optical audio OUT port. If it does and there are enough HDMI IN ports on the TV, you don’t need the Philips switcher, your TV could do it all. You’d connect a digital optical audio cable from the TV’s OUT port to the Samsung surround sound system’s optical IN port (see page 12 of the manual for the location on the back of the receiver) and plug your Firestick and any other video sources into HDMI IN ports on the TV (including the HDMI cable coming from the Samsung surround sound system). If your TV doesn’t have an optical OUT port, read on…
Without the model number of your Philips HDMI switcher I can only guess. If it doesn’t have a digital optical audio OUT port you have the wrong type of switchbox. Assuming it does, you’ll need a digital optical audio cable to run from the switcher box’s optical OUT port to the Samsung surround sound system’s optical IN port (see page 12 of the manual for the location on the back of the receiver).
Either way you’ll need a digital optical audio cable, such as this one: https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Digital-Optical-Audio-Toslink/dp/B00NH11H38.
Assuming you’re using the Philips HDMI switcher, here’s your connections:
1. You’ll plug an HDMI cable from the Samsung receiver’s HDMI OUT port to one of the HDMI IN ports on the LG TV.
2. You’ll plug the Firestick and any other video components into the Philips switcher box’s HDMI IN ports.
3. You’ll plug an HDMI cable from the Philips switcher box’s HDMI OUT port to one of the HDMI IN ports on the LG TV.
4. You plug a digital optical cable from the Philips switcher box’s Optical OUT port to the Optical IN port on the Samsung surround sound system.
Here’s how you’ll control things:
A. You’ll use the TV’s remote anytime you want to switch between the Samsung DVD player and the video source(s) handled by the Philips switchbox.
B. You’ll use the Philips switchbox remote to switch between the Firestick and any other video sources that are plugged into it (cable TV, DirectTV, etc.).
C. You’ll use the Samsung surround sound system remote to switch between the built-in DVD player and the external source (the audio coming from the Philips switchbox – using the Function/TV Source button), and to control the audio volume.
All audio from the Firestick and other video sources will go through the optical cable to the surround sound speakers.
Lastly, if your Philips switcher box doesn’t have an optical audio OUT port (sometimes labeled SPDIF or TOSLink) then the box is not going to help you much. For example, this box (https://express.google.com/u/0/product/16054703865125542383_10124930992431049343_10046) doesn’t have any audio output method other than HDMI. You need a way to extract audio from the HDMI video source(s), and send it via an optical cable to the surround sound system. Such as this $35 box: https://www.amazon.com/Tendak-Switcher-Selector-Extractor-Splitter/dp/B01HM1RP6G.
I have a amazon fire tv box hooked up to my Samsung tv but not getting my surround sound to work . I dont have an hdmi port on my Hartman/ Kardon receiver…any ideas?
Hi Karin, like Pedro, you’re going to have to give me a little more information on this, like the brand and model number of your TV and surround sound system. I don’t read minds.
I will say that if you have the Fire TV connected to your TV, you would need to run some sort of audio cable from the TV to your Harman/Kardon receiver in order to get audio to the surround sound speakers. What type of cable you need depends on the model number of your TV and the model number of your H/K receiver.
Hi Chris, I have a Samsung 7 Series TV, and I’m trying to use my firestick while using my home theater system. The system I have is a Philips Blu-Ray Disc Home Theater HTS 5100B. I cannot use my firestick at all if the Theater system is turned on. I have the optical cable installed from the system to my tv, but the system only has one HDMI port on it, so I can’t plug the firestick into the back of it while also connecting the system to the TV. Is there any other way I can get it connected to the TV?
Hi Scott, you’re in the same boat as the hundreds of other folks who’ve commented on this – you have a blu-ray player system that has surround sound for the blu-ray disks, and you want to use it as a full-on component-based home theater system. Like everybody else, you’re going to have to fudge to make things work. Your Philips system’s online manual (https://www.download.p4c.philips.com/files/h/hts5100b_f7b/hts5100b_f7b_dfu_aen.pdf) says it has an optical audio input (item #8 on page 8 showing the backside), and it sounds like you already have an optical cable from TV to the Philips system.
Likely you just haven’t made the source setting changes on your TV and Philips system to get sound from the TV. You’re using your TV as an ersatz receiver, since it has multiple HDMI inputs (and an optical digital audio output). You plug the Firestick into the TV, and set the TV input source as the HDMI where you’ve got the Firestick plugged in. That should display the Firestick video on-screen and send audio out the optical cable to the Philips system. On the Philips system you have to switch input sources from the blu-ray player to the Aux (or maybe D-In source) see page 9, item #3 for the remote. The source button gets pressed repeatedly until you switch to the right source coming from the TV. Page 16 shows you where to connect the optical cable on the Blu-ray player (from the TV, which is serving as the DVD Recorder shown in the picture).
You say you can’t use the Firestick at all if the blu-ray player is turned on, but likely you just don’t have the right sources selected for the TV and blu-ray player. Your TV should send digital audio from whatever’s playing on-screen out the optical cable. If you turned on the blu-ray player but didn’t change the source to AUX, then of course it isn’t going to work, the blu-ray player is trying to send video from the blu-ray player (and its audio to the speakers).
A problem you might run into is HDCP (copyright protection). The powers that be (our legal system) have put a bunch of laws in place to fight digital piracy, so all equipment that can play copyright protected content has circuitry that is supposed to ensure you can legally play the content. You may have to play with plugging and unplugging the Firestick and/or the optical cable to hopefully force both the Firestick (through the TV) and the Philips blu-ray player to authorize the playing of protected content. It’s a mess, but it’s what we’re stuck with.
Also, some TVs may not do a good job of routing the audio (and the HDCP signaling from HDMI sources to the optical output. If nothing you can do will work, you’ll need an audio extractor box that goes between the Firestick and the TV (still using HDMI) that also has an optical output port. You’d then change the optical plug from the TV to the extractor box to get audio from the Firestick to the surround sound speakers. Such as this $35 box: https://www.amazon.com/Tendak-Switcher-Selector-Extractor-Splitter/dp/B01HM1RP6G.
Hi Chris,
We have the same problem.
We have the Sony DVD Home Theatre System DAV-HDX576WF.
Is there a fix to use the Firestick with this sound system?
My husband said there’s no HDMI outlet on the back of the sound system.
Thank you.
Hi Zita, thanks for giving me the model number of your home theater system. Your husband is right, that system does not include a general purpose receiver that can take input from other HDMI sources. Like so many others who’ve commented on this article, you need a way to extract the digital audio from the Firestick so you can send it to the surround sound system. You didn’t say but I’m assuming you have a TV that has HDMI input ports so you can plug the Firestick into one of those and watch the Firestick video.
Since you didn’t tell me your TV model number, I don’t know whether that has a digital audio OUT port. If it does, all you need is a digital audio cable (such as this one https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Digital-Optical-Audio-Toslink/dp/B00NH11H38 or this one https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Digital-Audio-Coaxial-Cable). It looks like your home theater system can take either a coaxial or an optical digital audio cable, so just get the one that works with your TV. Connect the digital audio cable from the TV’s digital audio OUT port to the TV/Video Digital IN port on the Sony home theater system. See page 28 of your Sony manual (online version available at https://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/user-manuals/davhdx576wf-sony-parts-manual).
If your TV doesn’t have a digital audio OUT port, you’ll need to buy an extractor box like this $20 box: https://www.amazon.com/Expert-Connect-Extractor-Coaxial-Optical/dp/B01M1H4X7N plus the optical cable above. You’ll plug the Firestick into the HDMI IN port on the extractor box, plug an HDMI cable from the extractor box’s HDMI OUT port to one of the TV’s HDMI IN ports. Then connect the digital audio cable from the extractor box to the matching port on the Sony home theater system.
If your TV has an optical port or if you use the extractor box, use an optical cable. If your TV has a coaxial port, use a coaxial cable.
Right now I have a Sony surround blu ray receiver with roku tv box plugged in the back of reciever. Works great but I want to get the new fire stick instead for the voice remote and better menu on playstation vue. Can I plug the fire stick in the same way to get surround like I currently have? Thanks.
Hi Michele, thanks for your question! The answer is yes, as long as your receiver has a spare HDMI jack on the back, you can plug the Amazon Fire Stick into it and get the sound you want. The Fire Stick supports 5.1 (up to HDMI Passthrough at 7.1). See https://www.amazon.com/All-New-Stick-Remote-Streaming-Player/dp/B00ZV9RDKK for the specifications.
If the receiver is in a cabinet, you might want to get a short HDMI extension cable and place the Fire Stick alonside the receiver instead of plugged directly into the backside of the receiver.
Hi Chris, I am owning Onkyo HTS-3500 and My fire stick also is not working from receiver, I need to connect only through TV. could you pleas help.
Hi Anto, without any details on how you connected things and more specifically what’s happening (or not happening) you’ve seriously handicapped me. For instance, what brand and model number of TV do you have? Not knowing that I don’t know if the TV is equipped with ARC (audio return channel) which would be needed to get sound from the HDMI inputs (on the receiver, such as one in which the Firestick is plugged into). I also can’t tell because you didn’t tell me: are you seeing video but no audio, audio but no video, or neither audio nor video? Are you choosing the correct HDMI input on the Onkyo system (the one where you connected the Firestick)? Or have you connected the Firestick to the TV (not the right way to go)?
I’m assuming you connected your TV’s HDMI IN port and the Onkyo receiver’s HDMI OUT port with an HDMI cable. I’m also assuming that everything else works fine, you can play video from another component source (plugged into an HDMI IN port on the Onkyo receiver), and the video shows on the screen and audio plays out through the receiver’s speakers. And I’m assuming that you’re using the TV’s remote control and have set the TV’s input source to match the HDMI IN port from the Onkyo receiver, and that you are using the Onkyo remote control to choose the HDMI input source matching the Firestick port so you are sending that signal to the TV. The Onkyo remote control also controls the volume to the surround sound speakers.
I’m hoping you plugged the Firestick into one of the available HDMI IN ports on the back of the Onkyo receiver. I’m also hoping that you connected the Firestick’s power adapter to a wall outlet and the MicroUSB port on the Firestick. And hoping that you are using the Firestick’s remote control to to control the Firestick.
If my assumptions and hopes are correct and it’s not giving you video (and/or audio), then the problem may be with HDCP (HD copyright protection). To fix this, (with everything turned on and set to use the Firestick) unplug the Firestick from the back of the Onkyo, count to 30 and plug it back in. That should force the Firestick to exchange HDCP authorizations with the Onkyo receiver. You may need to unplug the HDMI cable from the TV for a 30-count, and then plug it back in so that the TV and Onkyo receiver can exchange HDCP authorizations. At that point, you should be able to see and hear Firestick video on the TV and audio through the Onkyo receiver’s surround sound speakers.
If by chance your TV does not have ARC, then you may see the video but can’t hear anything from the surround sound speakers. For that you’ll need to connect a digital optical (or coaxial) cable from the TV’s Optical (or coaxial) OUT port to the Onkyo receiver’s Optical (or Coaxial) IN port.
Hi Chris, I have a Panasonic (rather old) SA-HT75 home theatre and a Hitatchi Smart TV. With my Amazon Fire TV stick plugged into an HDMI port on the TV, the sound will only come through the TV speaker which, compared to the home theatre, gives poor quality sound. There is a second HDMI on the TV but I use this to connect my sky+ digital satellite TV box. Is there a way to get the fire TV to play its sound through the Home theatre system?
Hi Neil, and thanks for your question! Unfortunately your Panasonic receiver does not have HDMI connectivity, so you can’t hook up your Fire Stick directly to the home theatre receiver. If your Hitachi Smart TV has audio out ports, you could connect those with a right/left audio cable. Run those cables from the TV’s audio out (might be labeled Monitor out) ports to the TV Audio In ports on the back of the Panasonic SA-HT75 receiver. This lets you play TV sound through the home theatre system.
Please note the audio coming out of the TV through those cables isn’t going to be as good as a modern receiver could produce, but the audio will certainly be better than what comes out of the TV speaker – simply because the Panasonic speakers are better quality. The good news is that this will allow any sound coming from the TV to go through your home theatre system. Meaning, if your sky+ TV box doesn’t already have a cable running from it to your Panasonic receiver, then you’re going to be able to improve the satellite TV sound as well – a Two-fer!
All you need is a standard audio cable, with two RCA male jacks on each end, one for the left and one for the right channel. See page 8 of your manual for a diagram. If you don’t have the manual, you can view it online at ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/hometheater/om/sc-ht95_en_om.pdf.
Hi Chris, many thanks for your response and advice. My TV doesn’t have Audio out ports but it does have a 3.5mm jack port for headphones (which can be changed to line out in the TV menu) so I’m going to try a lead which goes from this to the audio connections on the home theatre.
Neil
Glad to help Neil, I hope the headphone jack to RCA jacks cable gives you better sound than you’ve been getting through your TV. Cheers!
Hi Chris! This is so helpful–thanks for all you do! I have a question, I have an older Sony Surround Sound system that has some usb ports as well as the colored analog inputs on the back of the receiver. Which type of converter would I need to use for to get my Firestick to work through the Surround Sound?
Darlene
Hi Darlene, happy to help if I can! Unfortunately I can only give wild guesses without knowing more detail about what you have. If you can give me the model number from the Sony system, and the brand and model number of your TV, then I can help you more specifically.
I’m assuming you’ve got the Firestick plugged into an HDMI port on the TV, and want to get the Firestick sound to the Sony system. That’s dependent on what type of connector jacks you have on your TV – the jack(s) might be called “Audio Out”, or “Monitor”, or just a headphone jack. Like Neil, there is no ‘converter’ you could use, but you just need the right cable to run from your TV to the Sony system. If your TV has a “TOSLink” or “Fibre Optic” output and your Sony system has a similar input, then that cable would give you surround sound from the TV to the Sony system.
If you only have the ability to use an analog cable (either headphone-to-RCA or RCA-to-RCA), the sound quality won’t be as good as your Sony system is capable of producing, since the digital audio put out by the Firestick is converted to analog audio being sent to your Sony system.
The USB ports on the Sony system are only for connecting digital audio inputs (like an iPod or MP3 player). Unfortunately, none of your equipment (TV, Firestick or Sony system) is a true computer per se, so the USB ports and jacks can only do what the manufacturer designed, which is for electrical power (in the case of the Firestick), or for audio inputs (in the case of the TV if it has a USB port and the Sony system’s USB ports).
Are you sure those are USB ports on the back of the Sony system? USB ports are flat, rectangular shapes with a wafer in the slot. HDMI ports are similar, but without the wafer and with notches cut into two corners (along the long edge). If those ports on your Sony system are HDMI, then you can plug the Firestick right into it, and then connect your Sony to the TV with another HDMI cable (from the Sony’s “Output” to one of the TV’s “Input”).
Hey I’ve got a Yamaha receiver (not sure if model number) I’ve got my fire stick plugged into the rear of the receiver hdmi port but the only sound I get is through the tv. Any ideas how I can get surround sound?
Hi Randl, unfortunately, all I can give you are what I can glean from the Amazon Firestick support forums. A complete diagnosis would mean checking out the problem in-person (checking all physical connections, as well as TV, Receiver and Firestick settings).
Looking at the Amazon Firestick support forums, I see this is not an uncommon complaint/problem. The solution Amazon says to start with is unplugging the Firestick’s power source (the electrical wall wart connected to the Firestick’s micro-USB port) and then plugging it back in.
You should not have the Firestick’s USB plugged into the receiver or anything other than the wall wart it came with (Amazon’s recommendation).
The next thing to try is unplugging the TV from electrical power and then plugging it back in. That seems to solve it for some folks.
After that, you can try plugging the Firestick into a different HDMI input port on the Yamaha receiver – keep trying them all till you find one that gives you sound as well as video. Some receivers have certain HDMI ports pre-configured for a specific type of signal (like direct video only).
Also, check on the Firestick’s audio menu that digital audio is turned on. You can also try resetting the Firestick (through its menu) – either of these could solve the problem.
Lastly, from the Firestick’s menu (Home screen), go to Settings > Display & Sounds > Dolby Digital Output and make sure Dolby Digital Plus is set to OFF.
If none of these work for you, then you need to contact Amazon’s Customer Support at 1-888-280-3321. They will probably lead you through all the above, and once they see it didn’t work, they may offer to exchange your Firestick for a new/refurbished one. Especially if you’re nice to them (hint!).
Guess I’ll have to call customer support. I tried all the fixes above and didn’t resolve the problem. Thanks for all your help.
Sorry your issue isn’t easily resolvable. I hope Apple can help you.
Hello Chris,
Happy Holidays, Question I’m trying to watch my fire stick in my home theater but of course if plugged into the projector I get visual but no sound. How can I get both? I do have a Yamaha receiver with HDMI slots. PLEASE help.
Happy holidays to you Ruben! I think your Yamaha receiver has to take the Firestick, and then you need to have an HDMI cable from the receiver’s output to the projector’s input. Then the video signal can go to the projector and the audio signal can get pumped out through the speakers attached to the receiver. If you have the model number of your receiver, I can look up the manual for it and see if there are any settings that need to be changed to make this happen (I’m guessing it’ll be automatic).
Hello Chris,
i have my firestick plugged into the hdmi 3 port on my onkyo TX-SR506. I get picture but no sound. hdmi 1 has my cable box plugged in for the time being, until canceled. hdmi 2 has xbox one plugged in. i also have 2 optical ports that my cable and xbox are using. Do i need to configure something on the receiver for my hdmi 3 to play both video and sound? or do i need to do something else. I’m usually pretty good at this stuff but I am stumped.
Hi Matthew, here’s the online manual for your Onkyo receiver (at http://www.intl.onkyo.com/downloads/manuals/pdf/tx-sr506_576_manual_e.pdf). Perusing it I see that page 21 of the manual (at the bottom) says “On the TX-SR506, audio signals received by the HDMI IN jacks are output only by the HDMI OUT (pass thru). HDMI sources are not output by the speakers connected to the AV receiver.” This is confirmed on pages 28 & 29. Unfortunately, some of the less expensive receivers on the market have this limitation, and it’s been driving Firestick users crazy.
Since your receiver only has two digital audio input options and they’re both being used (by the cable box and Xbox), the only way you can get audio from the Firestick to the receiver speakers is by adding and using a converter box that sits in-between the Firestick and the inputs on the receiver. Amazon has one for $30 at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KBHX072. The nice thing about that one is that it has both analog (RCA red and white) ports and an optical port.
Once your cable subscription has ended (or whenever you want to make the switch), unplug the HDMI 1 cable from the cable box and plug it into the converter box output. Unplug the optical cable from the cable box and plug it into the converter box. Plug the firestick into the converter box’s HDMI input and you’re good to go, using the Cable/Sat input option on your receiver just like you were watching cable TV. From the Firestick you’ll get 5.1 sound out of the receiver’s speakers and video on the TV.
If you want to use the Firestick now (and still have the cable box hooked up), you’ll need a temporary connection. Still using the converter box, you’ll plug the Firestick into the converter box HDMI input. Plug an HDMI cable from the converter box’s output to the receiver’s HDMI 3 input. Get yourself a pair of analog audio cables and plug them from the converter box to the unused VCR/DVR input jacks on the receiver. Then, using instructions starting on page 39 of the manual, assign HDMI 3 to VCR/DVR. Watch and listen to the Firestick using the receiver’s VCR/DVR input option. Please note this only gives you 2-channel stereo sound.
Sorry you have to spend money ($30 for the converter box and possibly for a extra cables), but your model of receiver simply can’t handle the type of connections you now need. If it was me, I’d ditch the cable box right away and go right to using the inputs it was using for the Firestick (still need the converter box). That way you get 5.1 sound from the Firestick, and don’t have to make any changes to the receiver settings.
One last thing: your TV speakers will be outputting sound from all your sources. If you don’t want that interfering with your 5.1 sounds system, turn the TV speakers down all the way. I’d guess that’s already the case you’ve been doing for the cable and Xbox sound.
Hi Chris, I have Fire Stick w/ Alexa plugged into Samsung tv– HDMI #3….How do I get sound through my very old Yamaha receiver R-V905?….Receiver has no HDMI slot….Thanks…….Earl
Hi Earl, your situation is similar to Neil and Darlene’s (in the comments above). Since your receiver can’t do HDMI, your only choice is to use either the headphone port or audio out ports (if your TV has one) and run an analog audio cable from that output on the TV to one of the receiver’s input ports. Your sound quality will only be the standard stereo (no 5.1 or surround sound).
Looking at the manual for your receiver (http://download.yamaha.com/api/asset/file/?language=en&site=usa.yamaha.com&asset_id=35276) the diagram on page 14 shows the audio inputs are clearly marked in the box labeled “AUDIO SIGNAL” and you can use any of the two vertical set of RCA input jacks (marked “IN”) that aren’t already being used by another component. Just remember whichever set of audio input jacks you use, and use that input option when setting the front “INPUT” knob (just to the left of the volume knob).
If your Samsung TV has RCA audio output jacks, you can use simple RCA cables like these ones at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/C2G-Cables-40465-Value-Audio/dp/B0019MCI94
If your Samsung TV only has a headphone jack, you can use a headphone-to-RCA cable like this one at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Generic-Audio-Video-Cable-Extension/dp/B00004Z5CP
Chris, I used RCA cable and it worked…Thanks much….But I guess there’s no way to get 5.1 dolby? If not,,,, stereo through receiver beats the heck outta tv speakers.. Wouldn’t u agree? Earl
I agree, almost all the TV speakers out there are pretty poor. You could get 5.1 sound out of your Firestick, but only if you added more equipment to your setup:
For a little money, you could use the same solution I suggested to Matthew – a converter box. The one I saw on Amazon ($30 at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KBHX072) would work if your receiver’s digital optical input is free. What you’d do is connect the Firestick to the converter box, and connect an HDMI cable from the converter box’s output to the TV input. Then connect an optical digital cable from the converter box to your receiver (one of the ports in the backside labeled “DIGITAL SIGNAL” – see page 16 for a diagram in your online manual).
If you have other components connected to your receiver – specifically DVD/LD (a DVD player) and TV/DBS (a cable box), then you may have to jigger connections around in order to get what you want, since the optical inputs on your receiver are tied to those two input sources. And since you’re limited to only two digital input sources, if you have more than two, you’ll have to make choices on what sources you want to use, or add still another box to your setup.
That other box would be a digital audio switcher, such as this one for $22 from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/DotStone-TosLink-Digital-Switcher-Surround/dp/B01IP8IQOU. That would let you have more than two digital audio sources to play through your receiver, but you’d have to remember to switch between what you want to hear (it comes with a remote).
There is one box that does both, here’s an example at Amazon for $33: https://www.amazon.com/Switcher-Selector-Extractor-Splitter-Supports/dp/B00Q2D0AV8. This works great if you have multiple newer components going to a TV and an older surround sound system. You’d use that converter box to switch between your input sources instead of the receiver. It comes with its own remote.
Chris, The sound is actually coming through all 6 speakers….Just not Dolby…..What a difference….Thanks again…
Happy to help! I’m betting your receiver takes the 2-channel input and spreads it out to all the speakers. You still only get left & right sound (versus 5.1 which is six different channels of sound), but it’s a huge improvement over the TV speakers.
Chris, both opticals are being used on receiver…But there is an optical on back of Samsung tv…Would this be of any use to get 5,1 to work with Stick?……thx
Hi Earl, sorry, but the optical on the back of the Samsung TV is for connecting to a Sound Bar or receiver. If your receiver (which runs to the 5.1 speakers) had an optical input you could run an optical cable from the TV to the receiver and get 5.1 sound out of the Firestick. But since both your optical inputs are already being used on the receiver, there’s no joy there. Sorry.
Chris, the DotStone audio switcher u recommended:::::Do u just plug optical into unit and let other ends dangle? thx…..
Chris, disregard last question about Dotstone…I realize I’d need another box to go with Dotstone, right?
Hi Earl, I don’t think you need another box. Re-reading your situation, I think this is it:
1. You have a Samsung TV with the Firestick plugged in, and an available digital optical out port (usually marked “Digital Audio Output”).
2. You have a Yamaha receiver with two optical input ports already in use by other equipment.
3. You want to get 5.1 sound from the Firestick to the receiver.
Your video situation is covered, so you don’t need to do anything new for that. In order to accomplish #3 above, you need the Dotstone audio switcher box and one or two more digital audio cables to complete your setup. Here’s what you do:
1. plug a digital audio cable from the TV’s digital output port to one of the Dotstone’s input ports (Input Port 1)
2. Unplug one of the digital audio cables from the receiver’s input ports (let’s say TV/DBS) and plug that into another of the Dotstone’s input ports (Input Port 2).
3. plug another digital audio cable from the Dotstone’s output port to the input port on the receiver that you freed up in step 2 (TV/DBS).
To watch and listen to the Firestick in 5.1, set your TV to use the Firestick’s hdmi port (HDMI 3), and set your receiver to use the digital input from the port you used in step 3 above (TV/DBS) – the same setting you used to use to play that other component. Make sure the Dotstone is switched to the same input source as the cable coming from the Samsung TV (Input Port 1).
If you want to watch and listen to the component you originally had plugged into the receiver, just switch the Dotstone from Input Port 1 to Input Port 1, and change your TV to the same signal as that component (you don’t need to change the receiver).
To use the 3rd component (the one still plugged into the receiver (DVD/LD port), use the same switching on the TV and receiver that you used before – nothing’s changed for that one.
Does that all make sense?
Chris, it makes sense….Just gotta get 2 more optical cables…Thx again
You’re welcome Earl, I think the switcher and the extra optical cables are going to be your least-cost solution to use your existing equipment and get 5.1 sound out of your Firestick. Good luck!
Chris, I followed instructions u gave me, but Firestick can only be heard in “pro logic”; not 5.1 Dolby… Only the DVD, which is playing through same optical outlet can be heard in 5.1…Any suggestions? Thx………Earl
Hmm, if you have a 5.1 signal coming in, then there’s no audio difference between Pro Logic and 5.1 Dolby – they both put out the same 5.1 audio signal. Pro Logic is a method that spreads 2-channel sound to a 5.1 (or 7.1) system. If 5.1 audio signal is coming in, it’s passed through and Pro Logic circuits don’t do any processing.
So I’m guessing that there’s something wrong in the setup. Are you still using the RCA type audio cables to connect the TV to the switchbox? You have to use an optical cable in order to pass 5.1 sound.
I apologize, but it’s hard to guess what’s going on when I don’t know anything other than what you write down. For instance, I don’t know what other components you’re using. So let’s start over. First, can you tell me what all your equipment is by verifying/correcting what I’m guessing at below?
I know you have a Samsung TV with three HDMI inputs and an optical output port.
the Firestick is plugged into HDMI3
What’s plugged into HDMI1? A cable TV box?
What’s plugged into HDMI2? A DVD player or Xbox?
What’s plugged into the optical port? nothing?
For ‘what’s plugged into’ I need to know what other component and jack label if I didn’t guess right.
I know you have a Yamaha R-V905 receiver and both optical input ports have components plugged in.
What’s plugged into DVD/LD? The cable TV box?
What’s plugged into TV/DBS? The DVD player or Xbox?
I’m guessing that everything you’re trying to do with this setup has both an audio and video component to it. Meaning you want to watch video from some source and hear the audio in 5.1 coming out the receiver’s speakers. You might also have a CD player plugged into the receiver, but CD’s only put out 2-channel sound so the best you’ll get out of that is Pro Logic sound. And you might listen to the receiver’s built-in radio tuner – for the most part that’s only 2-channel sound as well.
If my guesses are correct, I think you’re trying to use your old receiver as a home theater controller. Since your TV is newer, the TV would do a better job at controlling everything. Let me propose a different solution that might be a lot simpler for you:
1. Leave all components plugged into the TV HDMI inputs.
2. plug an optical cable between the TV and the Receiver’s TV/DBS. Unplug the other optical cable. Return the Dotstone box (Amazon has a great return/refund service).
3. Set your receiver to the input for TV/DBS and leave it there.
4. When switching video/audio sources, use the TV’s remote control to switch between HDMI1, HDMI2 and HDMI3.
Your TV becomes the main switcher between sources, and your receiver plays whatever audio comes from the TV (turn the TV speaker down and just use your 5.1 system for audio). All you control with the receiver’s remote is the volume. Whatever input source you use, digital audio will go to the receiver. Please note though, not all content is 5.1 – many older programs and movies only have 2-channel sound in their source, so you can’t get that full surround sound experience.
But whatever audio comes from the TV will be brought into the receiver. If 2-channel audio – Pro Logic will kick in. If 5.1 audio – you’ll hear 5.1 sound.
Sorry I led you down the path of a separate switching box, I assumed whatever you had plugged into the optical ports on the receiver weren’t associated with the TV and now I’m suspecting they are.
Chris,, I found my problem..I had to go into Firestick ” audio settings” and click Dolby Digital over HDMI…..I’m a happy man!! Thanks for all ur help
That’s great to hear, congratulations! I’ve been working on another Firestick article and I’ll add your audio settings tip to it, thank you! Happy holidays
Chris, To be more precise:::Click settings > Display and Sounds > audio > Dolby Digital over HDMI
Great, thanks! Hat tip to you!
Hi Chris, I’m having the same issue as Darlene with a Sony STR-SE501. I tried running the red and white to the AUX ports on the receiver but nothing happens. In the TV ports on the receive I already have red and white cables running to the Directv receiver. Output only comes from the TV when playing the firestick.
Hi Banks, Sony’s link to their online manual doesn’t work, but I found an alternate at http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/4227987441.pdf.
I’m assuming you have the Firestick plugged into the TV, so sound only comes from the TV. If those red and white jacks are connected to an output set of ports on the TV, then they would send audio signal to the AUX ports on the receiver. I’m guessing that since you’re not getting any sound, the ports on the TV are for input, not output.
Lots of TV sets have multiple input offerings but few output offerings (at least for audio). You may only have a headphone jack output port on your TV, in which case you need a cable that has a headphone jack on one end and red/white RCA jacks on the other end. Like this one at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Generic-Audio-Video-Cable-Extension/dp/B00004Z5CP. That, of course only gives you 2-channel sound (but your receiver might send that to all the speakers in your 5.1 system).
If your TV has an optical output port, then you could use an optical cable and plug it into the “DIGITAL IN” ports on the back of your receiver. Page 8 of the manual has a diagram that shows you the hookup from TV to receiver. With that type of connection, you’ll get 5.1 sound out of the Firestick as the audio signal passes through the TV, out through the optical port (which is digital) and into the optical port on the receiver. Your receiver would then process the digital signal and send 5.1 audio out to the speakers.
Hello Chris – my situation maybe similar to another commenter above. I have an old pioneer Elite VSX – 80TXV. It has two HDMI inputs with my cable and DVD/Blue Ray hooked up to them. The audio for the tv and dvd are using 2 of the 3 optical inputs. The 3rd one is unusable as the dust shutter is broken and it will not hold the cord anymore. It appears that per page 66 of the manual to hear HDMI components you need to make separate connections for audio. As the firestick doesn’t have separate audio connections I can only get video when i unplugged the DVD and plugged in the firestick to the HDMI input that the DVD was in. Based on your knowledge is this a correct assumption of my scenario? If so if there is a solution and how would I go about implementing the solution? I currently play pandora through an app on my DVD and send the component outside to two speakers on my patio so would like to do the same with firestick and prime music if possible also. Thanks in advance for you help – Scott
Hi Scott! Yes, I think your assumptions are correct. Your receiver can only pass video & audio signals from HDMI inputs to the HDMI Out (to the TV). Since the Firestick has no alternate audio outputs, you’ll never get sound through the receiver speakers that way.
But since you’ve got a cable running from the TV optical out port to the receiver’s optical in port, anything your TV can play should be able to be output through the receiver. If your TV has HDMI input ports, then you should plug the Firestick directly into the TV. That way you don’t have to switch plugs around. Your current setup to play TV sound (on the receiver) would work just as well for the Firestick. The same multi-room option you use to play the DVD signal (Pandora) to the patio would work for the TV (Firestick/Amazon Prime Music) signal. Press the Multi-Room on/off button to turn on the patio speakers, press Control and use the jog dial to select the TV audio input signal (from page 46/47 of the manual I found online at http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pio/pe/images/portal/cit_11221/315642735VSX80TXVOperatingInstructions.pdf).
Thanks Chris – great website by the way. Will refer lots of friends and family here. A couple of quick questions/comments based on your reply:
— we currently have the optical audio cable running from the cable box to the receiver (due to length of cord I think). So we could just plug the optical audio cable from the tv to the receiver and should be ok with no input changes on the receiver? I think we did this because of length of the cable but assuming I can go to any electronic store and get a longer optical audio cable. The TV is a Panasonic Veira Cast 65 inch Plasma and it says it has a digital audio which I assume is optical as it has a dust shutter.
— if we plug the firestick into the TV HDMI (2 or 3) with the fix above – I am assuming we would need to change the input on the tv to HDMI 2 or 3 to be able to see the video and hear the audio of the firestick through the receiver? All of our tv audio/video and DVD audio/video currently runs through HDMI 1 as that is the output HDMI connection on the TV from the receiver. We use a harmony one remote so just a click on the activity to turn on TV/DVD etc.
— I believe there are limitations on the receiver from sending the signal from the TV out to zone 2 on the patio. I can’t recall why (fine print on the receiver manual I believe – which is cumbersome!) but we had to plug/unplug some connections (I believe couldn’t send HDMI to zone 2??) to make it work when we hooked it up a long time ago and never ended up doing it to get the TV to zone 2.
Tweeter (remember those guys – hooked us up initially) and when we moved I did it myself. So it may not be hooked up properly!
Thanks for all your help.
Thank you Scott! Happy to help and will welcome new readers!
So I think your situation is currently: on the receiver you have two HDMI inputs and both are in use – one by the Cable TV box and one by the DVD player. You also have two working optical audio inputs on the receiver, and both are in use – one by Cable TV and one by the DVD player. Your receiver’s HDMI out is going to the TV’s HDMI input. That means you’re using the receiver to switch inputs between Cable TV and DVD.
Adding the Firestick to the mix, you can’t use the receiver to handle all switching – no spare HDMI and the Firestick has no optical output. So you’ll have to plug the Firestick into an available HDMI input port on your TV, and then use the TV remote control to switch to using Firestick or receiver, and use the receiver remote to switch from cable TV to DVD. Remote hell. And, you’d still have no Firestick sound through the receiver.
Let me propose a possibly novel solution: Let your TV be the video/audio switcher. Plug the Firestick into HDMI3, Cable TV into HDMI1 and DVD into HDMI2 – these are all on your TV. Plug a single optical cable from the TV’s Digital Audio Out to the receiver’s Digital Optical In (say, TV/Sat). Set the receiver to play audio from that single optical connection (the digital signal will pass through from the TV’s HDMI inputs to the optical cable to the receiver so you get full 5.1 sound from each source). Don’t use optical cables from either the cable box or DVD player.
Now to switch between cable TV, DVD and Firestick, use your TV remote control to switch from HDMI1 to HDMI2 to HDMI3. You won’t have to change the receiver setup when going from one to another since it’s getting all three audio feeds from the TV. You can also use the Viera Cast service built into the TV and its audio will also go to the receiver.
Basically, all audio from all input sources will go out through the optical cable from TV to receiver, transparently (whatever you see on the screen will have matching audio sent to the receiver).
I think your TV’s manual is at ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/television/om/tc-p58v10_en_om.pdf. You’ll probably want to enter the TV setup and change the labels for HDMI1, HDMI2 and HDMI3 so they correspond to what’s plugged into them (cable TV, DVD and Firestick).
As to the patio speakers, with all audio from all sources going to one optical input on the receiver, it should be much simpler for you to turn on and off the patio speakers – they’ll play whatever’s playing on the main speakers.
As to the Harmony One remote, you may want to reprogram it so that it recognizes your new setup. It uses software on your computer, the online manual is at http://www.logitech.com/assets/44645/13/harmonyone-user-guide.pdf.
I think this setup will give you the simplest solution to be able to watch content from three different sources without having to fumble with multiple remote controls. Your
Hi Chris – thanks for the quick response. You are correct on my current hook up between the DVD, Cable DVR and TV. So if I were to hook an optical audio cable from receiver to TV (unplug as currently installed from cable box to receiver) would I not be able to plug the fire stick into the HDMI port on the TV, switch the TV input to the respective HDMI port and see the fire stick video and hear the fire stick audio through the receivers connected speakers?
Yes, exactly! Your TV will passthrough the digital 5.1 sound from the Firestick (or anything plugged into an HDMI port) to the optical output. Since the receiver will be getting 5.1 sound incoming through the optical cable, it can pump out that rich surround sound to your speakers.
Excellent – thank you! That is probably the easiest solution at this time. Can deal with the patio zone 2 stuff later is it’s winter time and wont be out there for a bit! So do the following:
— unplug optical audio from cable DVR to receiver. Plug optical cable from TV out to receiver in. I shouldn’t need to change any receiver settings and still would also be able to hear cable TV etc through the receiver?
— to watch/hear firestick through receiver – just change input to proper HDMI that firestick is plugged into and shouldn’t need to change any receiver settings as optical audio cable is still in same optical in on receiver as “tv/satellite”
— DVD should continue to work as it currently does as it is hooked up via a different audio optical in?
Thanks for all your help – Happy Holidays!
Happy to help and hopefully this is going to be the easiest way for you to get good audio out of your Firestick without having to do a lot of switching on various components.
– Yes, to the optical cable (from TV to receiver) – you’ll get full digital 5.1 out of the firestick going into the receiver and out through your speakers.
– Yes, to setting the receiver’s input to the same input port you plugged the optical cable into. TV/Sat is the best option, just choose that on the front panel and you’re good to go.
– You could keep the DVD setup as is, but that means to play DVD you’ll need to change the TV’s input (from the Firestick to the HDMI the receiver’s plugged into), and then change the receiver to the DVD option on the front panel. The other option is to move the HDMI cable for the DVD player from receiver to TV. Do the same with the HDMI cable for the cable box. Then when switching from Firestick, DVD and cable tv, you just change the TV input setting, leaving the receiver always on TV/Sat. One less thing to change around.
In the Spring, you can keep everything as it is, and just turn on the patio speakers (see page 33 of your manual for how to do this if you need to). Whatever you’ve got playing on the TV will then go to the Patio speakers. Plus, you can switch the receiver to AM/FM or CD and play that through the patio speakers.
Happy holidays to you too!
Hi we have an ONKYO RT-R557 receiver. We can get picture when we plug in the stick but no sound. Is it possible?
Hi Amy, sorry it took me a bit to find the right receiver (your HT-R557 (not RT-..) receiver is part of the Onkyo HT-SP904 Home Theater system). I found the manual online at http://www.onkyousa.com/Downloads/manuals.php and confirmed that your older system only passes HDMI signals through the HDMI inputs to the HDMI output (to your TV).
Your receiver doesn’t have the capability to send video from the HDMI input to the tv AND send the audio to the receiver’s speakers. You’re going to need to adjust your setup. You’ll need a digital optical cable to connect from your TV’s Digital Optical (Audio) Out port to the receiver’s Digital Optical In port. I’m assuming that your TV has an Optical Out port (and an available HDMI in port).
Here’s what you do: Plug your Firestick into an available HDMI input port on the TV. On the TV, select that HDMI port to display the video. On the receiver, choose the input source that matches where you plugged the optical cable in – either Digital In Optical 1 (DVR/VCR) or 2 (CD). Then you’ll get the 5.1 sound out of the receiver’s speakers.
I have a Bose solo 15. Can’t figure out how to plug my firestick into it. Please help! Thanks you!
Hi Jeanne, that’s because you don’t plug the Firestick into the Bose system. Your Solo 15 is only designed to work with audio, not video. It only connects to audio sources like your TV.
So you have to plug your Firestick into an available HDMI port on your TV. Then select that HDMI input on the TV, and you should see video on the TV. Audio will be pumped out from the TV to the Bose system depending on what cable(s) you used.
1. If you used a digital optical cable to connect from the TV’s Optical Out port to the Bose’s Optical In port, you’ll get 5.1 channel sound.
2. If you used a coaxial digital cable to connect from the TV’s Coaxial Audio Out port to the Bose’s Coaxial In port, you’ll get 5.1 channel sound.
3. If you used analog audio cables (two RCA-type plugs usually one red and one white), then you’ll get stereo 2-channel sound
You can find instructions for hooking up and setting up at http://worldwide.bose.com/productsupport/en_us/web/solo_15/page.html which also has a downloadable manual.
Thank you sooooo much. Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Glad I could help, happy holidays to you too!
Hi Chris,
I have a Sony STR-DG910 receiver and have plugged it in to the back of it, but the Amazon fire stick landing page doesn’t show up on the screen. Is there something else I should do?
Thank you!
Hi Janai, sorry for the delay in responding, our system flagged your comment and put it in the spam drawer. I just checked and retrieved it so I can help you.
I found your receiver’s manual online at https://docs.sony.com/release/STRDG910.pdf. It shows that you should be able to use the receiver with your Firestick to play video through the HDMI cable that goes from the HDMI OUT port of the receiver to the HDMI IN port on your TV.
For why you’re not seeing the Amazon FireStick on your TV, here are some guesses. I can only guess because I don’t know what your setup is, what cables are connected to what components, and what each of those components are (other than the receiver you told me about).
Did you follow the setup instructions for the Firestick? Is there a USB cable plugged into the side of it connected to electrical power? Some Firestick models don’t have this.
Is it possible you have different cables connecting your TV to the receiver? If you are using component video cables, then the HDMI signal won’t pass through, you have to use an HDMI cable from receiver to TV to get video from the Firestick.
Do you have the receiver set to the same HDMI port into which you plugged the Firestick?
Do you have multiple other components that are plugged into your TV? If so you have to change the TV’s input setting to the same HDMI port that connects your receiver.
Lastly, make sure the TV and receiver are both on (not in standby mode).
If you can give me the brand and model number of all your other components, and the cables (by type of cable) and which ports are connected on both the sending and receiving end of the cables, I can help you more specifically.
Amazon also has some troubleshooting steps at https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201452570
Hi, I have an issue that I cannot find a solution for. I have a TV that does not have any audio outputs, only audio input. The surround sound receiver does not have an HDMI port, and it is not connected to the tv in any way, it is connected directly to each individual component. For example, the surround sound receiver is connected to the satellite receiver and that is how I get the sound for the TV, and connected to the WII or Playstation to get sound through each of those components. There is no optic cable port on the tv, only from the satellite receiver to the surround sound receiver. Do you know of any solutions for this set up?
Hi Dena, So the TV has 4 HDMI inputs but no digital audio output, right? You have HDMI cables running from each of your components into HDMI1, HDMI2 and HDMI3 (and the Firestick plugged into HDMI4) on the TV? And your surround sound receiver has no HDMI at all, but does have digital audio inputs (either Toslink or coaxial cable) that are being used by three cables run from the Satellite TV, Wii and Playstation? I’m guessing here but if that’s your situation, you may or may not have an available digital audio input port on the surround sound receiver. Whether you do or not determines which solution you choose (from the two I’ve outlined below).
With that situation, you have to use the TV remote to change the TV between your components, and also use the surround sound receiver’s remote to switch between components, matching your video and audio choice. Without knowing the brand and model of your surround sound receiver and exactly what cables are plugged into what ports on your TV and surround sound receiver, I can only make guesses. You’ll have to determine for yourself what type of audio connections are available on your receiver. Regardless, you’re going to need some sort of box for the Firestick that can separate the audio from the HDMI, send video to the TV and audio separately to your receiver. Here are two possibilities:
1. If you have an available digital audio input on the surround sound receiver, then a simple HDMI audio extractor box will do, such as this one: https://www.amazon.com/Tendak-Extractor-Optical-Toslink-Splitter/dp/B01N8Q79CS for $30. Don’t forget the cables you’ll need, a Toslink or coaxial (digital audio) cable, and likely another HDMI cable.
You’d plug the Firestick into the extractor box’s input, plug an HDMI cable from the box’s output to HDMI4 on your TV, and plug the Toslink or coaxial cable from the extractor box’s output to your surround sound receiver’s input. Remember you have to figure out whether your receiver uses Toslink or Coaxial cable for the audio input. You’ll get 5.1 Dolby audio from the extractor box into your receiver.
You’ll still be switching both TV and surround sound receiver between components to watch and hear what you choose.
2. If you don’t have any available digital audio inputs, you may have to use a HDMI audio extractor/switcher box, such as this one: https://www.amazon.com/Tendak-Switcher-Selector-Extractor-Splitter/dp/B01HM1RP6G for $40. Again, you’ll need to make sure you have the appropriate cables for your receiver, most likely an additional HDMI cable. This would take over the switching of all your components so you only have one TV input and one surround sound receiver input (instead of one for each component).
In this case, you’d plug all your components into the switcher’s HDMI ports, and run a single HDMI cable from the switcher box’s output to the TV’s HDMI1, leaving the rest of the HDMI ports empty (on the TV). You’d also remove the existing audio cables from Satellite TV, Wii and Playstation and run one single digital audio cable (Toslink or coaxial) from the switcher box to the surround sound receiver. You can probably re-use one of the digital audio cables you already have, and have two spares. I’m assuming your Satellite TV, Wii and Playstation all use HDMI plugs.
Now instead of changing your TV and your surround sound receiver between components, you’ll leave your TV always set to HDMI1, and leave you surround sound receiver set to whatever input port you use for the digital audio cable from the switcher box. To change between components, use the small remote that comes with the switcher box. HDMI video will go to the TV, and 5.1 Dolby digital audio will go to the surround sound receiver, and whatever component you select will play on both TV and surround sound receiver.
If your situation is different, please give me more exact details about your receiver (brand and model number), and exactly what cables you have running from each component to both TV and receiver.
Hi I can’t get surround sound to work with my Amazon fire stick any ideas ??my home theatre system is the Sony bdv-e2100 any help would be
Hi Col, thanks for your question! Fyi, your online manual can be downloaded from: http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/bdv-e2100
Looking at that manual, your system has no HDMI connectors on it. So you’d connect the Firestick to an HDMI port on your TV (as well as all your other components).
In order to get audio from the Firestick or any component to the Sony system, you’ll run a digital audio cable (optical/Toslink) from the TV’s audio out to the TV (Digital In Optical) jack on the Sony system.
As you use your TV remote to switch between components (Firestick, cable TV, Etc.), whatever component you selected on the TV will have it’s audio ouput (in 5.1) through the Toslink cable to your receiver.
See page 19 for this, I’m assuming your TV does not have an HDMI jack that uses the ARC function (to return audio to the receiver through the same cable) which is why you need the Toslink cable.
So to watch Firestick, use the TV remote to switch to its HDMI input.
Let me know if this doesn’t make sense or work with your system. I’ll need to know exactly what you have plugged into what ports on each of the components of your home theater system to help you troubleshoot.
Cheers Chris ,I do have 1 hdmi on the home theatre system but don’t have a optical cable option on my tv so I’m still stuck ,any info to resolve this would be appreciated
The HDMI jack on your Sony receiver is to send audio & video to the TV system only (it’s an HDMI ouput jack). I was assuming you have an HDMI cable connecting the TV and Sony receiver, is this not so?
So your issue is similar to one another commenter had, and is a consequence of having older equipment in the face of newer shiny technology. Since your TV has no digital optical output it can’t serve as the switching hub for your various components. So you’re going to have to spend a small amount of money to buy a box that will split the Firestick signal into an HDMI for video to the TV and a digital optical to send the sound to the receiver.
But let me ask you 2 questions:
What other components are you using with your home theatre system, and how are they connected? I would assume you’d want all video displayed on the TV, and all audio heard through the surround sound system, right? So I’m guessing you have cable or satellite TV as well as your new Firestick, and you have the DVD player in the Sony. So then how are you getting the (cable/satellite) TV sound to the Sony? If that’s using the optical port on the Sony, then you would need a central hub to handle switching for your multiple components.
If that’s your situation, then I’d suggest you spend a small amount of money on a combo splitter/extractor/switcher box to plug all the components into. Like this one at Amazon for $40: https://www.amazon.com/Tendak-Switcher-Selector-Extractor-Splitter/dp/B01HM1RP6G. Be sure to have enough of the right kind of cables. You’d plug your HDMI out from the Sony receiver, your HDMI out from the cable/satellite TV box, and the Firestick into the switcher box (with one spare for future components). Then run one HDMI cable from the switcher box output to the TV, and one digital optical cable from the switcher box output to the Sony receiver. The switcher box has a simple remote to switch between components (cable/satellite TV, Firestick and DVD player in the Sony receiver). You’d always leave the TV on the HDMI input that’s connected to the switcher box. For the Sony receiver, set it on the digital optical input for when you’re watching cable/satellite TV or Firestick, and switch it to the DVD player when you want to watch a DVD. It’s multi-remote handling, but will give you the ability to use the Firestick with your older home theatre system (so it’s a ton cheaper!).
Cheers Chris for your help and advice seems that the splitter connection is the answer ,ill let you know when I get one thanks again
Thanks for your advice!
I have an older Phillips surround sound rcvr with no HDMI ports.
I use optical audio out the TV to the receiver.
I Have been using my laptop hdmi to the TV with no audio problems at the receiver. I plugged the fire stick into the TV HDMI ports and have no sound.
I’ve checked the recommended settings, fires tick and kodi and they seem correct…
Is the audio from the stick handled differently than from a laptop that used to be plugged into same HDMI port?
Also, my TV has 3.5mm stereo audio out. Would that work from TV to receiver?
The 3.5mm output is 2-channel only, you’d miss out on the 5.1 Dolby digital experience with your surround sound system.
Hat tip to Earl (another reader in the comments above), who let me know that you have to change a setting in the Firestick:
Go into the Firestick’s audio settings and select “Dolby Digital over HDMI” so that the full 5.1 signal goes out through the TV and to the receiver. Click Settings > Display and Sounds > Audio > Dolby Digital over HDMI
That should do it for you!
That setting worked perfect thanks!!!!
Hi Chris,
I have a panasonic tv and bluray surround sound and sky+ box. My tv has 2 hdmi ports. No. 1 is sky No.2 the bluray. I have swapped the blu ray port 2 to my firestick and only get sound through tv. My blu ray is connected to my sky + with red and white audio cables to get surround from sky. I tried putting these into back of tv and I got nothing at all from firestick or sky. How can I play sky+ and firestick through surround sound?
Hi Natalie, thanks for your question! First things first, if your TV is set to the HDMI that the Firestick is connected to, and you’re getting a blank screen but you hear sound through the TV speakers, you should first try rebooting/restarting the Firestick. You can reboot the Fire TV by holding the SELECT button and PLAY button on your remote for 10 seconds. You can do this even if you are looking at a blank black screen, and you should do this with the TV on. If that doesn’t work, try unplugging the Firestick from the TV, then unplugging the TV. Wait a few seconds and plug the TV back in, then plug in the Firestick. Turn on the TV and then if you still get no picture, restart the Firestick one more time.
Some Firestick users have reported this type of problem, and it’s related to the HDCP protection (copyright protected content being delivered by your Firestick) features of some brands/models of TVs and audio equipment. It mostly happens when you switch devices in the same HDMI with the TV still turned on. Meaning the Firestick is thinking it’s connected to a non-HDCP compliant device. Rebooting the Firestick and resetting the TV (by unplugging it and plugging it back in) usually solves the immediate problem.
But your last sentence is larger than that problem. I’m guessing your surround sound system has no HDMI input ports (or does and they are “passthrough only”).
I’m only guessing as to help you based on what you’ve told me, it’s going to be very imprecise. If you can tell me: What is the brand and model of the Blu-Ray surround sound system you’re using? Also, what components (brand/model number) do you have connected with what types of cables to which other components. That will let me know better how to advise you (I can look up manuals for your components online).
So you have the red/white RCA cables from the Sky+ box to the surround sound system – that’s not giving you true surround sound. Those cables only provide 2-channel stereo sound, and your surround sound system is faking the rest (vastly inferior to true 5.1 Dolby sound). Also, with the Firestick plugged into the TV, there’s no way for the audio signal to get to the surround sound system without another cable.
If you’re willing to live with the manual plugging aspect of switching components, then all you need is a digital audio cable running from the TV to the surround sound system. That’s only if your TV has a digital audio output:
And your surround sound receiver has a digital audio input jack that matches the TV’s audio output jack type. Then purchase the appropriate cable and connect the TV’s digital audio out to the surround sound system’s digital audio in, and you’re in business. The digital audio cable will send 5.1 Dolby audio to the surround sound system.
But that’s only part of the problem. You’re also stuck with the problem of only having two HDMI input ports on the TV, and three components (Sky+ tv, Firestick and the Blu-Ray disk player on the surround sound system). You certainly don’t want to buy a new TV (with more HDMI ports), or a new surround sound system (with HDMI ports), so you have to add another piece to your home theater setup.
That piece is a switcher box that you can plug all your components into, and that can then send the video to the TV and the audio to the surround sound system.
I’m assuming your surround sound system has a digital optical audio input port, so you’re going to need a switcher box, a digital optical audio cable and probably one more HDMI cable. Here’s my suggestions:
1. a combo splitter/extractor/switcher box like this one at Amazon UK for under £32: https://www.amazon.com/Tendak-Switcher-Selector-Extractor-Splitter/dp/B01HM1RP6G,
2. an HDMI cable to go from the switcher box to your TV like this one at Amazon UK for under £5 at Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B014I8SIJY, and
3. either an optical or coaxial cable to go from the switcher box to your surround sound system. One or the other (not both):
a. optical like this one at for under £4 at Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Home-Audio-Video-Accessories/AmazonBasics-7GSW-Digital-Optical-Toslink-Cable-Feet/B00NH11H38
b. coaxial like this one at for under £8 at Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Home-Audio-Video-Accessories/C2G-Velocity-Digital-Audio-Cable/B0020MLAL4
For #3, get the cable that fits the input port on your surround sound system.
Once you have these three pieces, turn everything off. Plug the HDMI cable from the Sky+ box into the switcher box. Do the same for the surround sound systems’ HDMI output. Also plug the Firestick into the switcher box. You have one spare HDMI input for adding something else later. Now run the new HDMI cable from the switcher box’s output to the TV’s HDMI input. Run the digital audio cable from the switcher box’s output to the surround sound system’s digital audio input. That’s all the physical connections you need.
The switcher box comes with a remote, which you’ll use to switch between components. Leave the TV set to use the HDMI input that you plugged in from the switcher box. Leave the receiver set to the input port you plugged into from the switcher box (except when playing DVDs or Blu-Ray disks). Now you’ll get video to the TV from any of the components, and matching audio (in 5.1 Dolby where available) through your surround sound system.
The only fly in this ointment is your Sky+ box. I don’t know if it sends audio signal through the HDMI output. If it does, you’re in great shape. If it doesn’t, then we may have to re-think a solution that works for you.
Hi Chris, I wonder if you can provide me some advice please re the best way to connect my Amazon fires stick to a specific amplifier. System is a Pioneer SC-LX81 AV receiver connected to Pioneer Kuro KRP500 media box and monitor.
I’ve connected the fire stick into hdmi 3 on the rear of the LX81 and when selecting that source via the remote, it drops off hdmi and reverts to analog signal with no picture or sound source. After many hours of altering settings I have finally got it to work, to do so I power up the amp, media box and monitor, select hdmi 3 with the fire stick disconnected then reinsert it into the hdmi 3 port at the rear of the amp. I remove the FS power cable and reboot it to talk to connect to the system and provide full sound and picture quality.
My issue is the entire system is built in wall to wall so I’ve placed an 1mtr hdmi extension cable to bring the firestick to the front of the unit.
Is there another setting on the lx81 that dedicates that port 3 to deliver hdmi only, or would I be better going in Hdmi via the media box with a audio link then from media box to amplifier. Sorry for the protracted content, as I’ve spent days working with this and wish to rebuild the units to their desired positions.
Kuro Krp500 – SC-LX81 A/V amp – Denon Transporter 2500bt Blu Ray – Virgin cable Media box – Sony RDR HXD 970 – all running through hdmi.
Kind Regards Peter – Portsmouth, Hampshire (UK)
Hi Peter, thanks for the detailed info on your setup. In answer to your specific question, there is no setting I found for the SC-LX81 that deals with HDMI 3 output switching. Your receiver’s online manual I found at http://docs.pioneer.eu/Manuals/SC_LX81_ARB7393_manual/ and your Kuro flatscreen TV manual I found at http://www.tv-manual.com/manuals/pioneer/Pioneer_KRP-500A.pdf. Page 95 of the receiver manual shows how you can set HDMI to route audio either through the HDMI (passthrough to the TV) or to run audio through to the surround sound speakers. Note f talks about only making that change when the receiver is on standby. and I see on page 16 that there’s a control for HDMI 2 (refers to page 98) that has an HDMI Out(all) switch, but that doesn’t sound like your issue.
A lot of folks have posted on various support forums having trouble with the Firestick and HDCP protection. It sounds like that’s the reason you have to do the various unplugging and plugging of components. I’m thinking your receiver isn’t properly identifying itself to Firestick as an HDCP-compliant device (to the Firestick’s satisfaction), forcing you to go through the gyrations you describe as you switch from device to device.
If this is the case, I’m thinking the simpler solution would be to plug the Firestick into the KRP500 media box, and run a Toslink cable from the media box back to the SC-LX81. That way the Firestick is always connected to one device (the media box) so it gets its HDCP validation one-and-done.
To watch Firestick, you’d switch the media box to the Firestick’s HDMI port, and switch the receiver to the audio input source where you plugged that Toslink cable (into the receiver). To switch to your other components, you’d switch the media box back to the receiver’s setting, and use the receiver to switch among other components. Here’s where a programmable remote can really help you (like the Logitech Harmony Elite system).
I can’t guarantee this will work for you, but if you haven’t tried this alternative it’s worth a shot. Certainly easier to do the remote/cable/power plug juggle every time you want to use the Firestick.
By the way, HDCP is short for High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection, and is a standard built into the HDMI signal protocol (and other digital communication protocols as well). I found a very nice description of the problem at How-to Geek (http://www.howtogeek.com/208917/htg-explains-how-hdcp-breaks-your-hdtv-and-how-to-fix-it/). If you still experience HDCP problems with your media box, then you could try using an extractor box like they describe. In other comments above I’ve given similar advice for an extractor or splitter box that (as an incidental consequence) will bypass the whole HDCP compliancy hot-mess that we have with digital rights management.
Hi Chris, thanks for your very quick response, the links re HDCP you attached made interesting reading, especially as many of the products are supplied by Amazon.
In essence, I will have a play with the controls in the first instance as I believe the amp is probably not accepting the firestick via its digital connection, maybe due to a conflict to recognise and encode the version for HDCP.
Alternatively I will try the direct input to media box as I know I get the picture quality but not the full sound, so perhaps the Toslink cable into the amp will sort out the full surround sound. Admittedly once I have it working it remains to do so without issue even when swapping between HDMI 1 Sony and HDMI 2 Virgin Media.
I appreciate your comments and advise and wish to thank you for your great service and informative website. I shall pass your details to my Hi-Fi supplier (Audio T) as they have been equally supportive in trying to assist me.
I will post the update in due course as its back to work for me soon.
Have a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.
Regards Peter
I have a bose 321 surround and it will not work with the Westinghouse tv we just purchased. Please help so I don’t have to return everything.
I meant it will not work when I attach the fire stick to all of it
Hi there. I purchased a tv for my aunt – Westinghouse HDTV as well as a fire stick. When watching cable, tv etc the sound comes through her bose 321 surround sound however when watching the fire stick the sound is only coming from tv speakers. Currently she has the fire stick in the tv. She also purchased an optical coaxial that she connected from tv to bose.
Any help would be appreciated. Thank u!!
Hi Kristen, thanks for your question! Sorry but there are several Bose 321 systems out there, if you can give me the model number that will help. Also, the model number for your Westinghouse HDTV. And exactly what cables you have plugged into which ports (by name) on both TV and surround sound receiver. Without that I’m really just guessing.
So guessing, I’m looking at the online manual for the Bose 321 Series II home theater system, it’s at https://assets.bose.com/content/dam/Bose_DAM/Web/consumer_electronics/global/products/speakers/3-2-1_series_ii/pdf/og_en_321_series2_321gs_series2.pdf and shows the system has digital audio inputs (both optical and coaxial). So I’m going to assume that you’ve got one or other of those ports connected with a cable coming from the back of the HDTV (the digital audio out port).
If you also have the cable TV and any other components also connected to HDMI inputs on the TV (same as the Firestick), then the problem likely rests with the setup of the Firestick. A previous commenter (Earl) noted:
Go into the Firestick’s audio settings and select “Dolby Digital over HDMI” so that the full 5.1 signal goes out through the TV and to the receiver. Click Settings > Display and Sounds > Audio > Dolby Digital over HDMI
Once that’s done, then audio from the Firestick should flow out the digital audio cable to the Bose system. But you’re not done…
On the Bose receiver, assign the digital audio input to one of the input sources (see page 49 of the above manual). It’s set to none by default, so you have to change it to TV, CBLSAT, or AUX – whichever one is not already being used by another component. On the menu, choose Media Center > Optical Source and choose an unused source option.
Once that’s done, if you can see the Firestick picture on the HDTV, and your Bose is set to the audio source you assigned the digital output to, you should hear the Firestick sound from the Bose speaker system.
Hi chris,
I have a BenQ W1070 with an amazon firestick.
I would like to purchase a Sonos soundbar to stream movies.
I would also like to not connect the project to the soundbar for audio and don’t know if this is possible.
I current run an aux cable from ‘aux out’ of the benQ to my amplifier. I would like to ditch the amplifier and speakers with all the wires and just run a wireless video and audio system.
Thanks!
Ethan
Hi Ethan, thanks for your question. First off, your projector cannot serve as a receiver. The manual I found online (at http://www.benq.us/product/projector/W1070/downloads/) doesn’t even talk about audio coming from an HDMI source. So you’re gonna have to have some sort of box to extract the audio and also a way to get that audio to your sound system. You can get a simple audio extractor box like this one at Amazon for $30: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KBHX072. That requires an HDMI connection to your projector, and a digital optical audio connection to your Sonos Soundbar.
For reference, I’m looking at the Sonos Playbar manual, online at http://www.sonos.com/documents/productguides/en/PlaybarGuide_EN.pdf).
I get what you’re saying about wanting to go wireless for audio and video, and that’s possible but not without some additional equipment. The problem with wireless is that timing is everything. The video signal has to match the audio signal or you get the wonky delay (lips moving but voice sounding a bit late, usually).
Benq makes a wireless kit but it’s +/- $350 (BenQ Wireless Full HD Kit WDP01, see it at http://www.benq.us/product/accessory/wdp01/). Does that break your budget? You’d still need the audio extractor box as well. Assuming you’ve got the cash to set this up, here’s what you do:
1. Place the WDP01 transmitter box and the extractor box near the Sonos Playbar. Connect the WDP01 receiver to your projector.
2. Connect the Firestick to the extractor box. Run an HDMI cable from that to the WDP01 transmitter’s HDMI input. Run a digital optical audio cable from the extractor box to the Sonos Playbar.
If the above breaks your budget, you may need to rethink things. A long enough digital optical audio cable could run from the projector shelf to the Sonos Playbar, then you could just need that and the $30 extractor box to make things work.
I don’t know how to hook up surround sound to my amazon fire stick and I have an Onkoy tx-sr605 surround sound system
Hi Naia, see the comment thread above from Matthew Rawlings, he has the same system as you. Short answer, you can’t plug your Firestick into the Onkyo TX-SR605 and get video to the TV and audio to the surround sound speakers.
What you could do is connect the Firestick to your TV, run a digital audio cable from the TV’s output port (if it has one) to the input port on your Onkyo receiver, and then get audio sound to the surround sound receivers. Don’t forget the Firestick setup:
Go into the Firestick’s audio settings and select “Dolby Digital over HDMI” so that the full 5.1 signal goes out through the TV and to the receiver. Click Settings > Display and Sounds > Audio > Dolby Digital over HDMI
And don’t forget that you need to assign the digital audio input on your Onkyo receiver to an available input source (see page 42 of your manual, the online version is at http://www.intl.onkyo.com/downloads/manuals/pdf/tx-sr506_576_manual_e.pdf).
If your TV doesn’t have a digital optical out port, then you’d need a digital audio extractor box to go in-between the Firestick and the TV. Amazon has one for $30 at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KBHX072. That gives you a digital audio out port to send the audio through a digital audio cable to the receiver.
Hi Chris, thanks for your website! My issue is I have a Yamaha HTR 6130 5.1 and am aiming for Dolby surround on my projector. I’ve tried putting the Firestick (2016) in the HDMI on the receiver port for my Blu Ray and get no sound. I tried in my DTV/CBL port and get no sound. Only the projectors built in speaker gives sound. It appears this receiver only does “passthru” but I want to be sure and ask if I get a converter box as you show, will I get digital surround or analog? What if I tried to split the HDMI out from the Blu Ray, would that work?
Hi Eugene, thanks for your question! Your home theater system manual is online at http://download.yamaha.com/api/asset/file/?language=en&site=usa.yamaha.com&asset_id=8581. Page 14 says that your HDMI inputs (on the receiver) do not output sound through the surround sound speakers, but only [as a passthrough] to the TV output.
So yes, you need something to split the audio from the Firestick. I don’t know what brand/model Blu-ray player you have, but I doubt it has an HDMI input for the Firestick. If you give me the brand and model number I can verify that for you.
So I’m guessing here, but you probably have the Blu-ray player connected to the receiver’s DVD HDMI port for the video signal, and also with a digital audio cable for the audio. You’re probably running an HDMI cable from the receiver’s output to the projector. I don’t know what other components you have except you mention a projector.
If all you need to do is extract the audio from the Firestick, get an extractor box like this one for $32 from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tendak-Optical-Extractor-Converter-Splitter/dp/B017B6WFP8 and also get a digital optical audio cable (SPDIF/Toslink). You might need another HDMI cable too (if the one that came with the Firestick is too short).
Plug the Firestick into the extractor box’s HDMI input, plug the HDMI output cable to the Yamaha receiver’s input (DTV/Cable since the DVD has the cable from the Blu-ray player), and plug the digital optical audio cable from the extractor box’s SPDIF Out to the receiver’s DTV/Cable optical in port.
If your setup includes a cable TV box, then your DTV/Cable inputs are already in use, so you’ll need a switcher box to handle your components. Instead, get a switcher/extractor box like this one for $40 from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tendak-Switcher-Selector-Extractor-Splitter/dp/B01HM1RP6G along with the digital optical cable and maybe an extra HDMI cable. Hook it up similar to the single extractor box above. You’ll plug the Blu-ray player and your Cable/TV HDMI cables into the switcher box, and use the switcher box remote to change your input sources, leaving your receiver and TV settings on the DTV/Cable setting.
Thanks so much Chris! That worked and am good to go.
Chris,
I have an LG HD TV with HDMI ports, as well as a Yamaha Natural Sound AV Receiver HTR-5860. I am ditching DirecTV for streaming services, and I am thinking about getting Amazon Fire TV. My question has to do with the actual setup of the Fire TV through the receiver and TV, and also if I will still be able to get surround sound through my TV when watching local channels (via digital antenna). I will be purchasing a converter box to hook into the receiver, but what other equipment would I need?
in short, how would this particular receiver work for both Amazon Fire TV and local channels interchangeably? Thank you for your help.
Hi Jon, thanks for your question! I found the receiver’s manual online at http://download.yamaha.com/api/asset/file/?language=en&site=usa.yamaha.com&asset_id=35193
Your receiver has no HDMI ports on the back, so it can’t handle the Firestick. The Firestick will have to be plugged into the TV. You didn’t say what model number of LG TV you have so I can’t know if it has digital audio outputs.
If it does, then you can run a digital audio cable (the receiver has both coaxial and optical input ports, see page 16 – you’d connect the Firestick to the TV, then run a digital audio out cable from the TV to a digital audio input port, similar to how the diagram shows how to hook up a DVD player. This same cable will deliver Dolby sound to the receiver from any of the HDMI inputs on the TV, so if your digital antennna delivers 5.1 sound to the TV, it will be passed onto the receiver.
If you set the Firestick control to deliver Dolby sound over HDMI, then it should be pumped out the digital audio cable to the receiver’s input, so you can get surround sound from the speakers, originating from the Firestick.
I’m not sure what you mean when you say you’ll be purchasing a ‘converter box’, is that to bring in the TV signals from the digital antenna to an HDMI input? If so, make sure your converter box does 5.1 sound. Many cheap converter boxes only pump 2-channel sound out and then depend on your receiver to fake a surround sound environment.
If your TV doesn’t have a digital audio output, then you’ll need a splitter/extractor like this one for $32 from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tendak-Optical-Extractor-Converter-Splitter/dp/B017B6WFP8 and also get a digital optical audio cable (SPDIF/Toslink). You might need another HDMI cable too (if the one that came with the Firestick is too short). You’d probably plug all your HDMI components into this switchbox and let it handle switching between input components.
Chris, thank you, I think that this clears everything up. Apologies for not mentioning the model of the TV. I did check last night, and can confirm that the TV has the HDMI inputs, coaxial inputs and the digital audio output. Since it has that, I won’t pick up the converter box so that I can utilize the digital audio outputs in the TV and receiver. Thank you again for your help!
Chris, are there any disadvantages to adding Kodi to FireTVstick? Thanks
Hi Earl, thanks for your question! The Kodi/Firestick issue came up in my Firestick Frenzy article at https://positek.net/firestick-frenzy/#comment-10852, which brings up probably the biggest disadvantage of side-loading Kodi software onto the Firestick – it’s not supported by Amazon. I noted that I’d seen others use it successfully with the Firestick’s bigger brother (the Fire TV). The OP (Ed) sounded like he got it working with a Firestick, except for no audio, which may have been due to the issue you solved (hat tip to you!).
There’s some chatter on reddit about using Kodi on a Firestick, and a number of online guides about how to install it and use it. Your question is focused on disadvantages though, so here are the biggest ones I see:
1. It’s not officially supported by Amazon, and future firmware updates to Firestick could remove any Kodi compatibility and/or force you back to square one and setup Kodi from scratch again.
2. The Firestick doesn’t run stock Android OS, so there may be occasional glitches and performance issues could arise. Plus, it takes some tinkering to get it working right, so not just anyone can do this, it takes a little bit of skill and familiarity with the ‘inner workings’ of consumer technology.
That said, Amazon has an e-book with instructions on how to set it all up. It’s free with my Kindle Unlimited subscription, so I took a look. Unfortunately it’s not very well written. I found a much better tutorial (with pictures!) at http://www.wirelesshack.org/how-to-install-kodi-on-the-new-updated-fire-tv-stick.html. I haven’t followed this myself but the article was only written a month ago, so it should still be current.
Chris, I hooked up KODI to my Amazon Fire Stick through one of many online detailed videos..It took quite sometime to do it, but it works…Kodi deals with “add-ons”; which give u many types of viewing..Wow, Can’t believe how many new / current movies I can see..And most are in Dolby….
Glad you got it working, Youtube videos are so helpful! Kudos to you for being able to figure it out.
I found that if you are into 3rd party kodi addons than it is better you jailbreak firestick so that no one can track your activity ? I have jailbroken firestick with https://www.kodivpn.co/jailbreak-firestick/ this guide via ES File Explorer.
Personally, I’m not a fan of jailbreaking devices. From what you are saying, you want to jailbreak the Firestick for general privacy reasons, not for a specific functionality that Firestick doesn’t give you. Using a VPN just for Firestick ignores the majority of your internet use (e.g., computer, tablet, smartphone). So the solution you suggest is very narrow in scope.
If you want to prevent someone from tracking your activity, use a general-purpose VPN. My favorite is Nord VPN. You can run that on your router and protect your entire network, or just run it device-by-device, your account lets you have six logins at the same time.
I am getting a fire stick and will be using it a Panasonic smart tv and Pioneer VSX-1020-k receiver. Would the fire stick be plugged directly to the receiver (and if so, how will the video stream to the tv)?
Hi Marlo, thanks for your question! Looking at the online manual for your receiver (at http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/StaticFiles/Manuals/Home/VSX-1020_OperatingInstructions0928.pdf, page 14), the HDMI inputs all will send video to the HDMI output (connecting to your TV), and audio to the receiver’s speakers, so you can plug the Firestick into any one of the HDMI ports on the receiver. Use the dongle that came with the Firestick so you can lay the Firestick on top of the receiver.
You’ll connect an HDMI cable from the receiver’s HDMI Out port to one of your TV’s HDMI inputs. Connect all other components directly to the receiver and use the receiver’s remote or the front-panel controls to switch between sources that get sent to the TV.
Don’t forget to go into the Firestick settings and verify this: Hat Tip to Earl for this tip – be sure to go into the Firestick’s audio settings and select “Dolby Digital over HDMI” so that the full 5.1 signal goes out to the receiver. Click Settings > Display and Sounds > Audio > Dolby Digital over HDMI.
Hi Chris. I am one of those poor souls who can only get satellite internet and only 10 gigs per month at that. I bought the firestick to use the mirroring feature so I could download movies onto my kindle and then play them at home using the mirroring feature on my firestick. Mirroring feature works fine. My problem is we don’t use a TV we use a projector mounted to our ceiling. We have a Sony receiver unit model number STR-DH740 with 5 HDMI input slots. I’ve tried plugging the Firestick into one of the HDMI (ex:game) inputs and I can get sound but no picture. When I take it and plug into a TV it works fine so I know it’s an issue with our setup. Advice please I’m guessing we have an old receiver unit. Thanks in advance.
Hi Robin, thanks for your question. Your situation is similar to Eugene’s above. So my first question back to you is, how is your receiver hooked up to your projector? What you should have is an HDMI cable that runs from the back of the receiver (the HDMI port labeled “TV Out – ARC”) to an HDMI input on the projector.
If you don’t have your receiver connected to the projector, that’s the reason why you can only get sound from the Firestick. Your solutions are:
1. plug the Firestick into a splitter box and plug the splitter box into the projector, then run an audio cable from the splitter box to the receiver.
2. plug the Firestick into the receiver and run an HDMI cable to the projector
3. use a wireless video transmitter (like this one for $190 at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00630WKGI) and use it to send video from the receiver to the projector.
Your least-cost solution is a cheap HDMI cable that runs from the receiver to your projector. Such as this 15′ one (https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Rated-Wall-Installation-Cable/dp/B014I8TOTC) or this 25′ one (https://www.amazon.com/Cablelera-Speed-Ethernet-Black-ZC5599MM-25/dp/B00A6FBOSQ). Both those are under $10US.
If you can’t run a cable from receiver to projector, then option #3 is your only workable solution (to get video to the projector and audio to the surround sound speakers). The problem with using wireless to send the video signal to the projector is a combination of potential interference and signal delay (lagging).
For the interference problem, different wireless signals compete with each other, since they often have to use the same band of the radio spectrum. That includes cordless telephones, Wi-fi networks, video/audio transmitters, and even microwave ovens and some cordless phones. Unfortunately, you can’t know the extent of the problem (it may be small or none) until you buy and install the video transmitter/receiver setup and try it out.
For the lagging problem, it’s annoying to see someone on screen speaking but hear their words just a fraction late. That’s why wireless video transmitter/receiver setups are expensive, to try and mitigate those real-world issues. They often have controls that you can adjust to delay the video signal just a bit so the audio and video sync up.
Your receiver isn’t that old, since it has HDMI ports. I found the online manual at http://s3.amazonaws.com/szmanuals/79c94c9239325f676ab0d3692d9282ba. Page 24 clearly shows that the HDMI input ports (1-4) can send the video signal to the HDMI TV out port and send the audio signal to the receiver’s speakers, so there’s no problem there. Some older receivers can’t do that. So there’s no problem with your existing equipment working with the Firestick, it’s really just a matter of getting the video signal from the Firestick to the projector (via HDMI cable from the receiver or a wireless setup). Your budget and physical room constraints are going to be the deciding factor.
Hi Chris. I have a Panasonic TC-P50x1 TV and a Yamaha RX-V365 receiver. Is there any way I can get surround sound out of these (I realize they’re older tech) with the Amazon FIre Stick? I would really rather not spend the money on a new receiver if possible. I also have a Panasonic DMP-BDT220 blue ray player if that would help somehow.
HI Brad, thanks for your question. Your receiver’s online manual (at http://download.yamaha.com/api/asset/file/?language=en&site=sg.yamaha.com&asset_id=31180) shows (on page 11) that the HDMI input ports do not output sound to the receiver’s speakers, but are pass-through only to the connected TV. So like many of the commenters on this article, you are more likely going to connect the Firestick to an HDMI port on the TV rather than the receiver.
Assuming you have the Firestick connected to an HDMI port on the TV, then get yourself a digital optical cable (SPDIF/TosLink) and connect it between the Digital Audio Out port on the TV, and the Digital Audio In port on the receiver. Set the TV to play the Firestick (HDMI 1 or 2), and set the receiver to play the audio from the digital audio input. That gets the 5.1 sound signal from Firestick, through the TV and cable to the receiver and surround sound speakers.
Thanks so much for your speedy reply, Chris! I have done exactly as you ask, I do get a signal through the optical cable to my receiver, but it only outputs in stereo (or “straight” as my receiver identifies the signal) not 5.1. Am I doing something wrong?
Hi Brad, you probably need to go into the Firestick control settings and change it to send the Dolby signal out.
Hat Tip to Earl for this tip: be sure to go into the Firestick’s audio settings and select “Dolby Digital over HDMI” so that the full 5.1 signal goes out through the TV and to the receiver. Click Settings > Display and Sounds > Audio > Dolby Digital over HDMI
Chris, you’re a genius! That did the trick, now I don’t have to return the Firestick, I like it so much more than the sluggish menus in my blu-ray player. I can’t thank you enough.
hi chris i have a sony hd tv with four hdmi ports connected to a sony home theatre system (bdv-e4100) with bluray connected firestick to hdmi 2 but only get sound out of tv.tried stereo cable from tv headphone jack to back home theatre two audio inputs.but when playing films etc through tv have to turn home theatre off to get sound out of 2.1 systems speakers.would like to get 5.1 surround.any help please.thanks jim
Hi Jim, thanks for your question. Your Sony receiver’s manual is online at http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/4446734161.pdf. Since your Sony system doesn’t have HDMI input jacks, I’m assuming the Firestick is plugged into HDMI 2 – of the TV. Something plugged into the TV is only going to send sound out through the TV’s speakers unless you have another connection. The stereo cable you tried is, of course, 2-channel only (that’s what stereo means).
There’s no way to get 5.1 surround sound out of the Firestick/TV and into the Sony system unless you connect the two with a digital optical audio cable that runs from the matching output jack of your TV to the Sony system’s matching In jack (see page 19 of the manual). That’s an optical digital cable, aka an SPDIF or TosLink cable (but not a Coaxial digital audio cable, your Sony system uses optical not coaxial cable types). You can buy one online at amazon.com or go to a local home theater or big box store like Best Buy. Just ask for a digital optical cable in approximate length you need to reach from the TV to the Sony system.
thanks chris i forgot we have a virgin tivo box as well.running otical lead from virgin to home theatre system.tried putting the optical from hts to tv works but sound keeps going off when changing channels any help please.ta jim
Hi Jim, you say the sound keeps going off when changing channels – are you talking about changing channels on the TIVO box, or changing video sources on the TV from the Firestick to something else?
Can you tell me what output jacks are connected to what input jacks to connect all your equipment? Such as:
1. TIVO HDMI out to TV HDMI1 in
2. Firestick HDMI to TV HDMI2 in
3. TV Optical out to receiver Optical in
Do you have other components besides a TV, surround sound receiver system, Firestick and TIVO? If so, how are they connected to your system?
If you have your TIVO HDMI out plugged into your receiver’s HDMI in and your receiver’s HDMI out to the TV’s HDMI1 in, that could cause a problem. The same audio signal coming into the receiver from the TIVO is being sent through to the TV and then back again to the receiver via the optical link. So your receiver might get …confused… as to which audio signal to process and play out the surround sound speakers.
In general, you’d be either using your receiver to switch audio and video signals for all your components, or you’d be using your TV to do that and let the receiver only get audio from the TV (via optical digital). When you try to do both, you can run into trouble. This can be due to the whole digital rights management mess we have:
When you connect a component to your system, the component, receiver and TV all have to trade and verify HDCP protection credentials. If there’s any disconnect in this process and any one of these not get a solid verification, then they will refuse to play the content. That is built into the HDMI digital signal.
In that case, your only solution is to set all your inputs and outputs to what you want to watch, then turn everything off and turn it back on so that new verification data is exchanged.
thanks for quick reply i hope this helps.FROM TIVO BOX HDMI STRAIGHT TO SONY TV.FROM SONY 5.1 HOME THEATRE SYSTEM HDMI TO TV CONNECTED NEW OPTICAL CABLE FROM TIVO BOX TO HOME THEATRE SYSTEM.FIRESTICK WILL ONLY COME OUT OF TV SPEAKERS WE DID CONNECT OPTICAL TO TV FROM HOME THEATRE SYSTEM BUT SOUND KEPT GOING OFF WHEN CHANGING CHANNELS WITH REMOTE OK
Hi Jim, no need to shout 😉 So when you say “changing channels with remote” I can’t know whether that means changing the TIVO channels or something else because you don’t say which device you’re using (other than a random remote control). Since I can’t see what you have, I can only extrapolate from what you write.
I will tell you that without that digital optical cable going from the TV to the home theatre system, the Firestick’s audio has no way to get to the surround sound speakers. Your Sony Home Theatre system is really only a partial home theater system since it can’t take any other video inputs and the optical digital audio input was intended for use to send sound from the TV to the surround sound system.
I’m going to guess that your setup is identical to that shown at the top of page 20 of your manual (online at http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/4446734161.pdf). Note the arrows which show the direction of the signal.
I do note on the bottom of page 50 (and carrying over to the top of page 51) that if your Sony TV has the capability for Audio Return Channel (ARC), then you can get the audio from the Firestick to the surround sound speakers via the single HDMI cable you already have running. If you can give me your Sony TV model number I can look up the manual online and see if it’s capable of that function. If so, then all you need to do is turn that feature on (both the TV and the receiver) and you should get sound from the Firestick to the surround sounds speakers (in 5.1 Dolby) whilst leaving your optical cable connected to the TIVO box.
I note that if you used the receiver’s QuickStart mode, the above setting was turned off, so you’ll need to turn it back on in the receiver’s System Settings.
thanks chris the sony tv a kdl 46″ hx 823 lcd connected to sony bdv-e490 home theatre system.the remote i use is the virgin tivo which comes with box only use sony av remote control for volume on home theatre.sorry cant give you more help.cheers jim
Thanks Jim, the online manual (http://download.sony-europe.com/pub/manuals/eu/4270412151_EU.pdf) shows that HDMI1 is ARC-capable, so that’s the port where your receiver should be connected. And knowing that you’re using the TIVO remote (not the Sony one) to change channels is helpful. I’m assuming from your equipment that you’re in Europe. I’m also going to assume you’re not using a SCART box but are hooking your equipment directly to the TV.
Since you have both Sony Bravia types, (TV and Receiver) the TV sound can and should be always sent via the ARC channel to the receiver. That’s only possible using HDMI1 for the receiver’s output cable.
I’m guessing you haven’t done this already, so you should go through the Sync Menu (button on Sony TV remote) to set the speaker selection to the receiver (the Speakers menu option switches the speaker output between the TV’s internal speakers and connected audio equipment). That sends all audio from the TV out to the receiver, regardless of input source.
I’m guessing you may not have had things hooked up the way I describe. The TIVO box should be connected to HDMI2 on the TV and to the receiver via the digital optical audio cable (since it’s not Bravia equipment). With the correct connection layout and the Bravia setting, you should get surround sound for both Firestick and TIVO channels, Firestick through the Bravia system and TIVO through the optical digital cable.
Also be sure your Firestick is set to match the same audio output (Dolby Digital Plus Automatic is the best, but if that doesn’t work, try each option in turn till you get success).
chris you are a star followed your instructions (i did have wrong set up) your help has made me very happy now got surround sound even with some progs on kodi keep up the good work.thanks jim
So glad I was able to help, it’s often hard to figure out the answer when you can’t see the setup. Your descriptions and model numbers were very helpful!
Hey Chris
I have a Denon receiver and a Samsung TV. My fire stick is connected to the receiver everything is connected and works great, but I want to incorporate Alexa. I want to be able to have the fire stick music visible on the TV, sound through the receiver, and controlled by Alexa. Is this possible?
Hi Leslie, In order to use Alexa with your Firestick, you must have the optional voice remote, and your Firestick must be running Fire OS 5 or above. To use Alexa (which is built into the Firestick so no Echo, Dot or Tap needed), just press the microphone button on the voice remote and start talking.
If you have an Echo, Dot or Tap, none will work with the Firestick, it’s version of Alexa is limited to only working with the voice remote. The Alexa on the Firestick and the Alexa on your Echo, Dot or Tap are completely separate, so you can’t have the Firestick audio pumped out to the Echo for example.
But if you have the TV sound ported to the receiver (and to your surround sound speakers), then you can certainly use Alexa on the Firestick and get anything offered through your TV’s screen and receiver’s speakers. It’s just that the Echo, Dot or Tap have nothing to do with your Firestick/TV/Receiver setup.
PERFECT!!!! I tried for days to figure this out. A simple search, plug and play through the receiver and I’m set. Thanks
Glad to help!
Hi Chris,
Thanks for all the information. I currently have a Firestick, which I would like to connect to my projection tv and Yamaha RX-V540 receiver which does not have any HDMI ports. I have been looking at different options, but not sure which would give me the best picture or sound. Here are the options I have been looking at: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017B6WFP8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A36PN40E750046
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Z7Z2SM6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A312LJ2KQ8N0F0
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T75W692/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A4NCW3PADLF8D
unless you have another suggestion that allows me to connect both video and audio to a non-HDMI receiver.
Looking forward to your feedback.
Hi Gina, thanks for your question! Your receiver may not have HDMI input ports, but it does have digital optical input ports (see page 9 of your online manual at http://download.yamaha.com/api/asset/file/?language=en&site=usa.yamaha.com&asset_id=35423), so there’s no problem getting 5.1 Dolby digital audio out of your setup to the receiver. All you need to do is run a digital audio cable from one of the splitter boxes to your receiver and you’re good to go. Remember you have to buy the appropriate digital audio cable for your setup, the splitter boxes don’t come with one.
That leaves the question of the video signal, e.g., your projector – does it have HDMI inputs? If yes, then the first option would work fine, you’d plug the Firestick into the box, plug an HDMI cable between the box and the projector to get the video from the Firestick to the projector.
The second option is if you have an older projector that doesn’t have HDMI. But please note that the second box only outputs two-channel (stereo) audio, and also a fairly low-quality video signal. If your projector only has a single RCA jack (usually colored yellow), then this may be your only option.
The third option is if your older projector has component video connections – that’s three video RCA plugs, usually colored green, blue & red. This gives much better video quality than the 2nd option, but still limits your audio output to stereo (no 5.1 Dolby digital sound).
So your choice hinges on your projector – what type of video input capability does it have? Feel free to give me the brand and model number and I can look it up online for you. Regardless though, the 2nd and 3rd options you mention cannot deliver 5.1 Dolby Digital sound to the receiver. Once I know what your projector can handle, then I can recommend the appropriate exractor/splitter box that will give the best video signal to your projector and also give the best audio signal to your receiver.
Hey there,
I’m having similar issues. My firestick is connected to my TV and I can’t get it to go through the surround sound. I’ve got a Phillips TV, http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/cpindex.pl?ctn=42PFL3603D/F7&scy=US&slg=AEN
and a sony receiver, http://www.sony.com/electronics/all-in-one-home-cinema-systems/bdv-e3100. Do I need the audio cable for headphones to audio cables? I’d love your help!
THanks,
Stacy
Hi Stacy, thanks for your question and for the links to your equipment! That makes it so much easier for me to help you! Btw, the link to the Sony receiver manual is https://docs.sony.com/release/BDV-E6100_E4100_E3100_E2100.pdf
Yes, you need an audio cable to go from TV to receiver, but not the headphones type since those are only 2-channel. To get the full 5.1 Dolby surround sound from the Firestick to your receiver, you’ll need to connect a digital audio cable from the TV to the receiver. See the diagram at the top-right of page 32 of your TV manual.
Unfortunately, your TV uses a ‘Coaxial’ digital audio cable connection, while your receiver uses an ‘Optical’ digital audio cable connection. So in order to make this work, you’ll need a Coaxial cable, a converter, and an optical cable. Here’s links to the items you’ll need:
1. Coaxial cable: https://www.amazon.com/C2G-Cables-29114-Velocity-Digital/dp/B0002J2B7E ($4 & up depending on the length you need)
2. Converter: https://www.amazon.com/C2G-40018-Coaxial-Toslink-Converter/dp/B0002J2MV4 ($14 includes a power supply)
3. Optical cable: https://www.amazon.com/HSA/pages/default?pageId=C5EB8B1F-43DE-4F3C-A4FF-4F915214F8DB ($8 and up depending on the length you need)
Connect them together from TV to receiver, plug in the converter’s power supply and you’re good to go.
Hi Chris,
I have a Yamaha receiver and a projector. My Firestick will turn on and start playing movies/shows and then suddenly my receiver will turn off. It will do it over and over again after I turn it back on. Sometimes it takes a few minutes and other times it takes a 1/2 hour or so.
The Firestick works perfectly fine on all other TVs that I connect it to. The only problem is when I connect it to my receiver (via HDMI) which displays through an Epson projector.
Any thoughts?
Hi Reymond, that sounds like a sticky problem!
This is just a guess but I’d check the video resolution and size settings on your Epson projector, as well as what you have set for the HDMI input in the receiver that the Firestick is using, and the Firestick’s settings. They should match, meaning you should have all three set to either Auto, 1080i, or 720p. Also the mhz settings should match (60mhz or 50mhz, whatever your receiver and projector are set to, aka NTSC or PAL).
You didn’t give me the model numbers for your projector and receiver, so I can’t look up the manuals online and give you more specific help as to how to make settings changes.
For the Firestick (assuming you’re using the current version), you can go through the menu to check:
Settings > Display and Sound > make sure the size is set to either Auto or the same display setting as your receiver and projector.
Chris,
I have the Firestick in my TV HDMI input. I have a Denon AVR-1507 Receiver. I ran a coax cable from the back of the TV audio out into the audio input for a VCR on the receiver. When I switch to the stick and set my receiver to the VCR on the remote, I still have no audio coming from the TV and Firestick. Any thoughts and thanks in advance.
Hi Merc, your receiver’s online manual (download it from https://usa.denon.com/us/product/HomeTheater/receivers/AVR1507) on page 5 shows the connections on the back. The digital audio input jacks are marked #3 on that list and that’s the port on the receiver you should be using, not a VCR port.
The correct hookup is to plug the cable into the Digital Audio output port on the TV to the digital audio input port on the Receiver. The manual shows that your receiver has two optical and two coaxial ports. It shouldn’t matter which coaxial input port you use, just be sure to set your receiver to match that input (source).
Analog and digital signals are very different and totally incompatible with each other, which is why you weren’t getting any sound. Digital audio sends out a 5.1 Dolby digital sound signal and uses a single cable (usually with plugs and/or jacks colored orange or black), while analog audio sends out simple 1-channel audio and is used in pairs (usually red and white jacks and/or ports) to get stereo sound. The red & white analog audio jacks are often paired with a yellow video jack which also uses an analog signal.
And just to make sure, when you say ‘coax cable’ I’m assuming you mean an audio cable with an RCA plug on each end that you just push onto the jack. Standard coax cable plugs (used for cable tv) screw-in and have a thin copper wire in the center. You can see a picture of the two side-by-side at https://www.kenable.co.uk/images/SE0068606_coax_to_f_connector_kenable.jpg
You didn’t give me the brand and model number of your TV, so I can’t know if it has a digital audio output port. Some TVs only have analog output ports (red and white), so can only deliver 2-channel sound if you use two cables. Those you could connect to the VCR input ports on the receiver and it would work – but not give you 5.1 Dolby digital surround sound.
Chris
Thanks. My TV is a Samsung UN55B8000. It’s a 2009 240mhz LCD. I was using an RCA coax cable but I also tried an optical cable into the TV from the Denon and it did not work either. Thanks for any further input.
Thanks for the model number, Merc! Your TV’s manual (online at http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/201104/20110426135703085/BN68-02322C-01L03-110426.pdf) shows on page 12 that your TV has a digital audio (optical) output, not a coaxial. While you say you tried an optical cable (actually it’s into the receiver from the TV, not the other way around), did you a) setup the input source on the receiver and b) choose that input source to use it?
Fortunately, the TV part is easy, the optical cable is outputting sound as long as your TV input (Firestick, etc.) is displaying video. You can turn the TV speaker volume down (or turn the internal speakers off) so they don’t muddy the audio that your receiver is playing.
The TV manual has two things you need to consider (not too big a deal):
First, the HDMI1 port is for DVI video components, not for full HDMI (see page 37). So your Firestick should be plugged into HDMI2, HDMI3 or HDMI4. If the Firestick is plugged into HDMI1, that’s the reason you can’t hear sound, so put it in another HDMI port on the TV and all should be good (with the optical cable connected to the receiver).
Second, the 3rd note on page 13 is a bit confusing as it sounds like the TV might not pass digital 5.1 audio out unless it’s receiving DTV(air) input. I’m guessing this is just a fuzzy translation (from the original Korean to English), and that as long as the HDMI2/3/4 input uses digital audio, that will be passed to the optical output.
Now your Denon receiver is easy, plug the optical cable coming from the TV into the OPT 2 input port on the receiver. Then the input selection to play audio from the Firestick is just the TV button on your remote. This should give you beautiful Dolby 5.1 audio coming from the Firestick out to your receiver’s speakers.
Chris,
This still did not work. I have my Direct TV receiver into HDMI1 on the TV. I have the firestick on HDMI3 port and the optical out from the Samsung to the Opt2 Input on the receiver. Went to the firestick, turned off the Direct TV receiver and still had no surround sound on any input from the Denon. Did I miss something here or do you have any other suggestions. If not, I can call my AV guy to come out and assist.
Many thanks !
Merc
You might need a housecall, since only a pair of experienced eyes can see exactly what you have and if everything is connected properly and if you’ve correctly set inputs and outputs on your equipment. I’m utterly dependent on the words you write, even if they might be wrong or inadequate in description. For instance, I have no way of knowing if you have the optical cables plugged in correctly, if the Firestick is fully inserted in the HDMI slot, if you turned the Firestick’s audio output off (it should be set to Dolby automatic), if you have the Denon receiver set to use the correct audio input, etc. There’s also the possibility (I can’t know given the poor translation of the Samsung manual into English) that your TV can’t actually pass the Firestick’s Digital audio out the optical port. I don’t even know if you have an older version of the Firestick, or the current one (with voice remote). This is just a small sample of the hundreds of possible variables that could be at play, and I simply can’t ask you the hundreds of questions in order to get a full understanding of your situation.
Sorry I can’t be more help, but there’s only so much I can do with the information you’ve given me.
Gotcha Chris thanks for taking the time. I tried one last time. It’s the brand new stick with voice. Set it to Dolby auto, checked all connections and tried it again. Still no surround. AV guy coming later this week but thank you again for your efforts.
Merc
Hi Chris,
Here is my situation. I recently inherited a Samsung Smart TV. On the other side of the room is a Onkyo HT-R510 receiver that is connected to a Onkyo SKS-HT200 home theater speaker system. kWith the new addition of an Amazon firestick I get great reception of the video. The big question is can I somehow make the firestick work w/the surround system. I am thinking that I need to run a digital optical output from TV to digital optical input to receiver but I don’t want to run a 20 ft cable across the room. Any help would be awesome. Please consider me a tech neophyte. Many thanks.
Hi Todd, thanks for your question. Your receiver’s online manual (at http://www.onkyousa.com/Downloads/manuals.php?source=globalnav). I’m going to assume you’ve got your Amazon Firestick connected to the TV, since your receiver doesn’t have HDMI inputs. The problem stated is that you have to get the video to the TV on one side of the room and audio (Digital Dolby 5.1) to the other side. You have two wired options (both involve running a 20′ cable across the room).
1. With Firestick connected to TV, run a long TosLink/optical or Coaxial digital audio cable to the receiver. Because of the distance, cheap cables simply will not do. For optical, cheaper plastic used to transmit the light can affect workable distance, as well as the strength of the transmitter (in this case your Samsung Smart TV). In either case, you simply have to buy a cable and try it to see, some folks report having no problems while others get minor to significant problems with signal transmission.
2. Connect the Firestick via Toslink/optical to the receiver (with an audio extractor box), and run a long HDMI cable to the TV. Same as above, better quality HDMI cables will preserve the signal quality over longer distances. I include this option only because cheaper HDMI cables will still work, while you have to buy a higher-quality optical cable for #1 above. Your total cost outlay will be higher with this solution (the audio extractor box will run you $15-30).
There are other wired solutions (using Ethernet for example), but the above are the cheapest ways to get what you want. If spending money isn’t a big deal and you don’t want to run wires, then you could transmit either the video to the TV, or the audio to the receiver using a wireless transmitter and receiver.
One of the less expensive options I saw online is $120 at Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Orei-Wireless-Transmitter-Receiver-Projector/dp/B01MRX4WJR). That device connects using HDMI, and requires unrestricted line-of-sight. Even a person walking between the transmitter and receiver will interrupt the signal. Higher-quality devices can run you $340 and more, such as https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GGPSZ1S?psc=1&smid=A2IX3RNQE846HA.
The problem you’ll find going wireless is one of both latency and interference. Latency means the audio and video may not be matched in time – for example the actor’s lips move but you hear the words a fraction of a second (or longer) later. Interference can come from a variety of sources such as cordless phones, microwave ovens, home Wi-Fi networks (yours or your neighbors), etc. The more expensive solutions will be better able to handle both of these problems.
My advice is to bite the bullet and run the wire around the room to connect the two, you’ll be much better off. Buy a high-quality TosLink/optical cable (a 20′ one should cost you $20 or more) from your favorite supplier (such as https://www.amazon.com/TOSLINK-TOSLINK-FIBER-OPTIC-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B000068OEG). You could run the cable around the baseboards (be sure to measure the distance), or up and in the ceiling. Under the carpet is not an option as these cables are delicate and easily damaged by tromping feet.
Hello Chris, I am having an issue with FireTV Stick Audio not coming out. Below is my setup. I have Epson HC2045 projector HDMI going to Pioneer VSX-521K HDMI output. I have FireTv Stick connected as Video HDMI input on receiver. Also, I have BD/DVD HDMI input connected through HDMI to my Samsung HT-J4100 Home Theater System for audio. Now I can see FireTv Stick video on my projector screen but Audio won’t come through my Samsung Ht-J4100 system. Please shed some light on this mess. Thanks a lot for all your help 🙂
Hi LP, thanks for your question. So you have two home theatre systems – that’s a problem right there. I’m assuming you have no speakers connected to the Pioneer receiver. Watch for an article I’ve got coming out this week which will go into more detail, but the problem is that audio and video connections generally go one-way, IN or OUT. Both your Pioneer and Samsung receivers are designed to deliver audio output to speakers via a speaker cable connection. You are trying to get two-way audio using one-way ports.
The HDMI port on your Samsung receiver is an OUT port only. The only way it can send audio OUT is via the speaker connections. Forget about the ARC capability, that only works if you connected the Samsung to an ARC-compatible TV.
Your Pioneer receiver doesn’t have any OUT ports other than the speaker connections and a 2-channel/stereo “Audio DVR/BDR” set of OUT ports. It was never designed to be connected to another receiver. The online manual at https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/StaticFiles/Manuals/Home/VSX-521-k_OperatingInstructions020711.pdf shows the ports on pages 11-18.
You have to connect your equipment in a straight IN-to-OUT path from each component to the other. But your two systems weren’t designed to work together, so they don’t have the right ports.
Here’s the solution using the equipment you have: Connect your speakers to the Pioneer receiver instead of the Samsung receiver. Anything connected to IN ports on the Pioneer receiver will sound through the speakers (and video through the HDMI OUT port to the projector). Now you’re using the Pioneer receiver as it was designed (to be the central hub of a home theatre system) and the Samsung ‘receiver’ as an external component that only delivers audio and video to the Pioneer receiver through the HDMI cable (from Samsung OUT port to an available Pioneer HDMI IN port).
The only fly in this ointment is if your Samsung receiver doesn’t pass true Dolby 5.1 audio through the HDMI to the receiver. It should, but the online manual at http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/201503/20150325142203616/HT-J4100_JM41-ZA_AH68-02798A-00ENG-20150206-Bookmark.pdf doesn’t say for sure, page 14 says that it can play audio through the TV speakers, and you can set the downmixing mode from “normal stereo” or “surround compatible”. I don’t know if the latter setting is true Dolby Digital 5.1 sound or something else. Page 26 of the manual under Digital Output sounds like it does pass the correct audio signal, so I’m hopeful this solution will work for you.
If that doesn’t work for you, then you’ll need a 5.1 speaker switchbox (A/B). Connect your speakers to the switchbox, connect the Samsung speaker outputs to the A terminals and the Pioneer speaker outputs to the B terminals. You can use a switchbox such as this one: http://www.hdtvsupply.com/5-1-audio-switch.html – you’ll also have to get whatever adapters are needed to match terminal connection types.
Chris, thanks a lot for replying to me on prompt matter. I was wondering is there a way to just use my Samsung HT-4100J Receiver and get HDMI Switch with Toslink below is the link:
https://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Prosumer-Extraction-VHD-PRO3X1-Ultimate/dp/B00MSAU8XO/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1488315844&sr=8-7&keywords=hdmi+switch+with+toslink
Will i be able to split audio to come out to my Samsung Surround Sound and Video to my projector?
Thanks again!
LP
Hi LP, yes, you don’t have to use the Pioneer receiver at all. The solution I gave you meant you didn’t have to buy anything. But you can use the switcher box to handle your different input sources.
Along with the switcher box you’ll need a digital optical cable long enough to reach from the switcher box to the Samsung receiver. You can’t do without that cable.
What you’d do is use HDMI cables to connect the Firestick and the Samsung receiver to the switcher box (you have one more HDMI input you can use if you have something else like a cable TV box). Also run an HDMI cable from the switcher box’s OUT port to the projector’s IN port. Finally, run the digital optical cable from the switcher box’s SPDIF port to the matching port on the Samsung receiver.
You’ll use the switcher box’s included remote to switch between sources (Firestick, DVD and one other). The Samsung receiver should play sound from any of those components, in Dolby Digital 5.1.
Hi Chris,
I have a Sony Bravia KDL-52XBR9 that is hooked up to a Sony Multi Channel AV Reciever STR-KS360. I also have a Verizon FiOS DVR box and a Sony Blue Ray/Disc Player BDP-S3200.
When I hook my firestick into the TV HDMI, I have to use the TV speakers to get sound. I’m having a hard time figuring out where to plug in my firestick to get surround sound. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much!!
Hi Christine, thanks for your question. Like so many others who’ve commented on this article, you have your Firestick plugged into the TV, and want to get sound from the Firestick to the speakers that are connected to your receiver. What you need to understand is that most connections are one-way, either input or output but not both. So of course you can’t get sound from the Firestick through the TV and into the receiver unless you have an audio output cable going from the TV to an input port on the receiver.
I’m going to guess you have the FIOS box and BD player plugged into the receiver’s HDMI ports. You may also have a coaxial cable running from the BD player to the receiver. I found your receiver’s online manual at https://www.manualslib.com/products/Sony-Str-Ks360s-4086241.html. Page 19 of that manual shows the receiver’s 3 HDMI inputs, and one HDMI output. You likely also have an HDMI cable going from the receiver’s output to one of the TV’s HDMI input ports – so you can watch FIOS TV/DVR and Blu-ray disks on the TV. I’m further assuming you can hear the FIOS TV and the Blu-ray disks on the receiver’s speakers just fine.
The BD player’s manual is online at https://docs.sony.com/release/BDPS1200_BX120_S3200_BX320_S5200_BX520.pdf. Page 12 of that manual shows there’s a coaxial digital audio output port, so that would go from the BD player to the DVD input port on the receiver. I’m guessing you have that or are just using the HDMI input on the receiver for both video and audio.
You have two options:
1. Leave the Firestick plugged into the TV. You’ll need an optical digital audio cable to go from the TV to the receiver in order for the sound from the Firestick to get to the receiver’s speakers. Your TV’s online manual at https://www.manualslib.com/manual/321060/Sony-Bravia-Kdl-40xbr9.html?page=16#manual on page 16 shows you where the optical output is (labeled digital audio out).
2. Plug the Firestick into the available HDMI input port on the back of the receiver. The three are marked BD In, DVD In, and Sat In. I don’t know which two you are already using for the FIOS and BD player, let’s assume BD In for the BD player and Sat in for the FIOS box. That leaves the DVD In available for the Firestick. Use the short HDMI extension cable that came with the Firestick so the Firestick can sit on top of the receiver instead of sticking out the back.
Option #2 is simpler for you, and then you switch between components (Firestick, FIOS and BD player) using the receiver’s remote as well as controlling the volume. Leave the TV’s own speakers turned down all the way so they don’t compete with your receiver’s speakers.
I’ve read your tips on the firestick being used with old home theaters. I basically did what you instructed before I was fortunate to find you. Yet no luck. My Ht has a hdmi out port and in and out component ports. what am I doing wrong…. Panasonic sa-ht940 mod. Ht
One other note to my Ht dilemma, is that my T.V. has 2 hdmi inputs, a single digital audio output port with also video components inputs and the Ht only has a coaxial outport, a L-R audio component input ,hdmi output, aux. audio component input and video component inputs… Your suggestions will truly be appreciated
Hi Eddie, sorry to have to tell you this, but your surround sound system is only surround sound for the DVD player. You must be plugging the Firestick into the TV and you can get audio from it to your TV speakers.
Your HT940 doesn’t have the capability to take any input other than the 2-channel (analog) stereo audio from the AUX In ports on the back. Page 9 of your manual (see it online at ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/hometheater/om/sc-ht740_en_om.pdf) shows you how to connect an RCA audio cable pair (red & white) from the TV to the HT940.
Your newer TV has a coaxial (digital audio) out port which won’t work with the HT940. There is no way to get Dolby 5.1 surround sound from the Firestick to the HT940 speakers. Sorry.
If your TV has a headphone jack, you could get a cable that’s a headphone plug on one end and red/white RCA plugs on the other end. Connect that to your TV and HT940’s AUX In ports and you could hear stereo audio from the Firestick, but nothing better.
If your TV doesn’t have a headphone jack and you’re determined to get stereo sound from the Firestick to the HT940 speakers, then you’ll need a box to convert the digital audio out signal from the TV to an analog audio signal. Such as this one from Amazon for $54: https://www.amazon.com/Gefen-Digital-Adapter-Converter-GTV-DIGAUD-2-AAUD/dp/B0013LWK3A You’d also need a coaxial cable (any RCA cable will do), and a red/white RCA cable pair.
I have a sanyo tv that I just bought, and I have a rca surround sound system with only 1 hdmi port on the back. The TV has 3 ports, with my old tv i hooked the surround sound into one hdmi and the firestick into another and it worked with rca cables, but I can’t seem to get it to work right with this new tv, any ideas?
Adding the links to my tv and surround sound system if it helps
https://rcaav.com/video/home-theater/
http://sanyo-av.com/product/product.php?id=555
Hi Marsha, thanks for your comment, and the links – that really helps a lot!
The HDMI ports are either IN ports or OUT ports. Your TV should have only HDMI IN ports (three of them) which all work the same (*). Likely the surround sound system’s HDMI port is the OUT port that sends to the TV. You should have the HDMI cable running from the RCA surround sound system to HDMI 1 on the TV. The Firestick can be plugged into either the TV’s HDMI 2 or HDMI 3 port.
Your new TV has a Digital Optical Audio OUT port. In order to get audio from the TV (and the Firestick) to the RCA surround sound system:
1. Buy a digital optical cable, long enough to reach from the TV to the RCA surround sound box. Like this: https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Digital-Optical-Audio-Toslink/dp/B00NH11H38
2. Connect that cable to the back of the TV in the port labeled Digital Audio Out (Optical). Be careful, optical plugs are delicate.
3. Connect the other end to the RCA surround Sound system’s matching input (next to the HDMI output on the back).
That will give you Dolby Digital 5.1 sound from the Firestick (plugged into the TV) to the RCA system’s speakers.
The audio cable pair (red/white) can only do 2-channel stereo sound, not surround sound. Those audio jacks on the TV are IN jacks, so they can’t send audio out from the TV to the surround sound system anyway. According to your manual, the only way to send audio out from the TV is with the optical cable port on the back (or your headphone port on the side).
* HDMI1 has an audio return channel, so if it was connected to a compatible component that sent audio in, it could send that audio back through the HDMI cable. But this is not your situation.
Awesome, thank you so much for your speedy response. I knew it worked okay with my old tv and couldn’t figure out why that wasn’t the case now. Seems like such an easy fix, I’ll get one and try that. Thank you again.
Need some help. I have an old Onkyo TX-SR602 AV receiver that has no HDMI connections. I have a converter box that has a red (L) and white (R) or a optical digital connection as the output. I’m using the optical digital connection for my output. I have my Amazon Fire Stick connected to the HDMI input on the converter box and the HDMI output on the converter box is connected to my T.V. The optical digital output from the converter box is connected to the optical digital input on the back of my receiver. I set the optical 1 to video 1. I turned on my received and video 1 selected and no sound are coming through the speakers from my receiver, only from the T.V. Is there something I’m not doing correctly?
Hi Ron, thanks for your question. Your Onkyo receiver’s online manual is at http://www.intl.onkyo.com/downloads/manuals/pdf/tx-sr702_602_manual_e.pdf. Check page 27 where it states (for audio connections) “If you connect to a digital audio input, you’ll need to assign it (see page 42)” and page 42 says ” By default, the OPTICAL IN1 jack is assigned to the DVD input selector, although this can be changed.”
What that means is that if you have the converter box’s optical cable plugged into IN1 on your Onkyo receiver, you can set the Onkyo to DVD and the audio will play.
The V1 button on your remote only selects the Video1 input option, it doesn’t set the IN1 audio unless you change the IN1 assignment to match. To change the assignment so your optical input IN1 matches the V1 video input, Page 43 shows you how.
If you have other components connected to the receiver, then you should re-assign the video and match the audio sources, to reduce confusion about which components match the buttons.
I should mention that if your TV has a digital optical audio output jack, you could skip the converter box and plug the Firestick directly into the TV. Plug the optical cable from the TV to the receiver. Then no matter which HDMI component you play on the TV, the (Dolby 5.1 digital) audio will flow out through that cable to your Onkyo receiver and to the surround sound speakers. That would simplify your situation quite a bit. If you tell me the TV’s brand and model number I can confirm this by looking up the online manual.
Never mind, I was able to get the surround sound to work on my receiver with the Amazon Fire Stick. By reading your response to someone else’s question it helped me to know that I didn’t need a converter box to make the surround sound work. With the Amazon Fire Stick connected to my T.V. all I had to do was use a optical digital out from the back of the T.V. to the optical digital in on the back of my AV receiver to make it work. Easier than I thought. Like I mentioned before my AV receiver didn’t have any HDMI connections, so I couldn’t connect it directly to my receiver.
Exactly the last paragraph of my answer to you. I think most folks with newer TVs and older audio equipment will find using a digital optical cable to be their go-between and still give them Dolby 5.1 digital audio.
Hi Chris,
We have a Pioneer VSX-820-K AC receiver from 2010 for our AV receiver and surround sound. We have Panasonic TV TC-P42S2 also manufactured 2010 and a firestick. As I read your forum, I believe we’ll need a digital audio cable from the TV but I don’t have a port to connect. I just want to be sure I purchase the correct things the first time. I appreciate your help.
Hi Stephanie, thanks for your comment. Your Pioneer’s online manual is at http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/StaticFiles/Manuals/Home/VSX-820_OperatingInstructions0302.pdf and (on page 23) shows the connections. Your Panasonic TV’s online manual is at ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/television/om/tc-p42s2_en_om.pdf and (on page 29) shows the connections.
It appears you don’t need an optical digital audio cable, most of the commenters above have something less than a full home theatre receiver – your’s is a fully capable home theatre system. Plug all your components (including the Firestick) into the receiver’s HDMI input ports (there are 4). Video will go out from the Pioneer’s HDMI Out which should be connected to the Panasonic TV’s HDMI In (either of the two will work).
Both your TV and receiver have optical digital ports (an OUT port for the TV and several IN ports for the receiver), but it appears that this cable is optional since your Pioneer receiver will pass (from the receiver’s HDMI inputs) video to the TV and digital audio to the receiver’s attached speakers automatically. The digital audio connection is only for components that need it.
You’ll switch between components using the Pioneer’s remote or buttons on the receiver.
You don’t need any other cables except if you want to see the Pioneer’s on-screen display for setup, you’ll need an analog video cable from Pioneer to the TV as well (see page 23 of the manual).
Thank you for your help! I’m really glad I asked and didn’t just order first!
Chris—
Great info, but I want to make sure I follow the correct instructions – I have a bose lifestyle system 5 speakers – I have my firestick on the hdmi of my tv but can’t get the audio to go through my surround sound system. Please help me with specifics so I can get this going. Thanks in advance.
Jim
Hi Jim, thanks for your question. If you even casually peruse through the many comments to this article, you’ll see that if you want specific instructions, you have to give me specific information. I need the brand and model of your TV. Also, there are various versions of the Bose Lifestyle System 5, some are surround sound and some are only stereo systems. I would need the model number of your Bose system. Then I can look up manuals online and give you specific advice.
Since you didn’t provide me specific info, here’s some general guesses as to what you need to do to ‘get this going’:
Your Bose system may have various kinds of INPUT port(s) on the back of the main unit, either analog stereo RCA jacks (these are two RCA jacks colored red and white), or a single digital 5.1 Dolby audio jack (there are two types, optical and coaxial).
The back of your TV may have audio OUTPUT port(s), again either analog stereo or digital 5.1 Dolby.
You would need to have a matching OUTPUT port type on your TV to the INPUT port type on your Bose. Then you could connect them with an RCA cable pair or digital cable (optical or coaxial) and be done. Audio connections can only go from OUTPUT to INPUT.
If you don’t have matching port types, then you’d need a converter box to translate the type of signal (analog or digital) coming from the TV to the Bose system. The type of converter box you need depends on what type of audio OUTPUT jacks your TV has, and what type of audio INPUT jacks your Bose has.
If your TV has no audio OUTPUT port(s), then you’d need to put an audio extractor box between the Firestick and TV. You’d then run cable(s) from that box’s OUTPUT port(s) to your Bose INPUT port(s). The box you buy needs to match the extractor box’s audio OUTPUT type to the Bose INPUT type (again, analog or digital).
One last thought, if your TV only has a stereo headphone port, you could run a cable to connect the headphone port to the RCA stereo input ports on your Bose and get stereo sound (not digital 5.1 Dolby). A cable like this one: https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-3-5mm-2-Male-Adapter-Cable/dp/B01D5H8KO2
That is great info….I’m quite clueless when it comes to all of this – I can tell you that I have a 70″ samsung 4k tv (don’t know the model #) just got it like 9 months ago – and my bose is a lifestyle dvd home entertainment system with the vs-2 video enhancer (whatever that means) but it is surround sound. So with that info can you give me any guidance. Currently my dvd output is through the playstation 3 – when I unplug that output and put in my firestick – you’d think that the firestick would go through the bose like the playstation but it doesn’t work – maybe some of the logic of your blog would work but I just don’t know which one to use
So it’s almost certain that your Samsung TV has an digital optical OUTPUT port, and if your Sony system is surround sound then there is almost certainly a digital optical INPUT port. So all you need to get this going is an optical cable to connect those two and the sound from your TV (from whatever source including the Firestick). Such as https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Digital-Optical-Audio-Toslink/dp/B00NH11H38.
Does your Bose have HDMI INPUT jack(s)? if you are running the Playstation OUTPUT into a Bose INPUT, what types of cables are you using?
Again, I can only guess when I don’t have model numbers.
Hi Chris, I have a firestick I want to use with my Denon AVR-S720W and a projector (haven’t purchased it yet). I want to run the video to the projector via an HDMI cable and the audio to the receiver (this can be done in one of 3 ways).
1) use a HDMI switcher for all video signals going to the projector and the source’s aux audio to the receiver for surround sound (since firestick does not have aux output, i’ll have to use audio output from projector back to the receiver OR
2) “split” the firestick HDMI and send to receiver for surround sound)
3) IDEALLY, plug all sources (HMDI) directly into receiver, and use MONITOR output of receiver to projector for video; use receiver’s surround sound directly.
I’m gonna test the Denon tonight to see if it will split the audio and video off with the firestick plugged in directly to the back of the receiver.
Hi Ken, your online manual (at http://manuals.denon.com/AVRS720W/NA/EN/), doesn’t make it clear that the Denon will pass video to the HDMI Out and process HDMI audio through the speakers, so trying the Firestick out first is your best bet. Be sure to try all the possible HDMI In ports (including the front one) to see if any (or all) will do this for you, which makes things simple.
Unfortunately, some home theater receivers treat HDMI as ‘passthrough’ for audio and don’t process the signal directly from the HDMI Inputs, but depend on the ARC (audio return channel) from the TV to get audio to the receiver’s speakers. I think this has to do with timing so the video and audio more closely match in time. It’s annoying to see lips move on-screen and hear the voice just a fraction of a second earlier or later.
If you can’t get the audio to the speakers with just HDMI cables, then I hope your projector has a digital optical Out port. Then you can run an optical cable back to the Denon to handle all audio from all sources.
Otherwise you’ll need a splitter/switcher box like https://www.amazon.com/Tendak-Switcher-Selector-Extractor-Splitter/dp/B01HM1RP6G, plug all your components into that, and run the optical cable from that (and the HDMI Out) to the Denon’s input ports.
I have an Onkyo HT-S5800 5.1.2-Channel Dolby Atmos Home Theater Package and it runs to my mounted projector. It worked fine the first time and now I can get the sounds from a preview and no picture. I thought maybe it was the HDMI cable, so I tried another cable and still the same result. The projector screen flickers and stays blue. It is plugged into the stream box HDMI port. I have tried it in other ports as well.
Hi Scott, thanks for your question. Your Onkyo online manual is at http://filedepot.onkyousa.com/Files/own_manuals/HT-R494_BAS_En_web.pdf. Since you didn’t tell me the brand and model of your projector, I can only guess what’s going on.
First thing to try, did you shut everything off and turn it back on again? It may be the projector’s settings aren’t switching to the right input, or there’s some other projector setting that’s not correct. Does the projector play sources other than the Firestick?
Also, I’m not sure what you mean by ‘stream box’, it sounds like you have other components?
In order to give you the best help, I’d need to know what all components (by brand and model number) are connected with what types of cables plugged into what labeled ports on all your equipment. You could also send me pictures (upload them from the Ask Your Tech Coach form). Otherwise I’m just going to have only bad guesses. You could also hire a tech to come and look at your system.
Good Afternoon Chris,
First i’d like to thank you for giving everyone here so much useful information. It is amazing that ppl like you still exist to help around the web. “THANK YOU”
Chris, my questions is a little different. I have an 1080P Optima Home Projection Theater, connected to a sony 5.1 surround sound set. My fire stick works perfectly when i installed it to a regular 1080P HD TV. However, when i installed it to the Surround Sound it glitches every few seconds. It does not freeze or pause, it basically cuts the picture for a split second.
What could it be?
How do i fix this? Thanks,
I believe i am having the same problem Scott is having where my protector is flickering.
All other other devices work perfectly fine. Sound is crystal clear except for the flickering of the picture.
Optima HD28DSE
Sony STR-KS370 (surround)
Hi Adrian, thanks for providing the brand and model numbers of your projector and home theater system, and for the kudos! The model numbers really help me to help you. I’m going to assume you’ve got the Firestick plugged into one of the HDMI input ports on the Sony receiver (DVD IN, BD IN, or CATV IN). And that you have an HDMI cable running from the Sony’s HDMI OUT port to the Optoma projector’s HDMI 1 input port.
Are you using a good quality HDMI cable? Cheap cables can be a source of trouble (see page 21 of the Sony manual for their warning (online at https://docs.sony.com/release/HTSS370_EN.pdf). Also, make sure that all HDMI connections are fully seated – it could be that the Firestick isn’t fully inserted into the HDMI port on the Sony receiver.
It may also be an incompatibility of video signal settings being passed from the Firestick to the Sony to the Optima. You should check that all three devices are set to the same video resolution (e.g., 1080p). Your Optima settings (specifically the aspect ratio) should be set to auto (see page 23 of the manual at https://www.optomausa.com/uploads/manuals/HD142X-M-en-US.pdf).
It may also be a problem that happens when you switch input sources on the Sony receiver without powering down the projector. Say you played something to the projector in 720p or 1080i (like a DVD or Cable TV), and then switched to the Firestick’s 1080p output. The projector may not auto-adjust to that different input source format. There are two workarounds you can try:
1. switch the projector from HDMI 1 to HDMI 2/MHL and then back to HDMI 1. That should get the projector to recheck the input video signal setting.
2. turn off the projector before you change input sources on the Sony receiver, then turn the projector back on.
This is a shortfall of projectors in general, in that they set up initially depending on the input signal coming in, and don’t adjust on the fly for whatever changes to that input signal happen.
Another possibility could be that a specific port isn’t working right for the Firestick, so try another and see if the situation improves.
Let me know if any of this helps, thanks!
Hi Chris,
I am hoping that you can help me! I bought the firestick and have it plugged into my HDMI 3 plug on my TV. We are trying to run the sound through our very old receiver and cannot figure it out. The receiver we have is a Kenwood KR-V7080 and it has no HDMI inputs in the back of it. Any help you could give us to try and figure out how to run the sound from the firestick through our receiver would be great!
Thank you
Hi Catharine, your manual (online at http://manual.kenwood.com/files/B60-5341-00.pdf) shows that your receiver has both Coaxial and optical digital input ports (see page 14). I can’t know for sure since you didn’t give me the brand and model number of your TV, but I’m going to assume that since it has HDMI IN ports it must have a digital audio OUT port, either coaxial or optical.
All you need to do is get the appropriate cable and run it from the TV’s digital OUT port to the receiver’s digital IN port. Then set your receiver to play the audio from that IN port. Your receiver has four digital audio IN ports, two coaxial and two optical. Some of them may already be in use if you have other components in your home theatre system, so choose one that isn’t in use (and matches the type your TV has). Here are links to some cables at Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Digital-Audio-Coaxial-Cable/dp/B01D5H8TS4
https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Digital-Optical-Audio-Toslink/dp/B00NH11H38
Hi Chris, the Kenwood manual you attached is actually different from the one I have. The front of the manual I have lists both KR-V8080 and KR-V7080. It does not list KRF-X9070D. The model TV that I have is a Panasonic TC-P46S1. There is a digital audio out port on the back of the TV that looks like optical, but nothing like that in the back of the receiver? Thank you for all your help.
Hi Catherine, sorry, I was thinking that Kenwood’s online manual system isn’t really comprehensive, so I was getting as close to the exact model as I could at the Kenwood.com site. I apologize, I was wrong in assuming the systems were similar. I widened my search and found a manual you can download at http://kenwood.en-manual.com/d-kr-v7080/owner-s-manual.html. Please note this is NOT a Kenwood.com site and appears to be a low-resolution scan of your paper manual. Kenwood.com doesn’t seem to have your manual online, so that’s the best I can see (short of you scanning or faxing me pages from your manual).
It appears that your old Kenwood receiver is capable of outputting ‘surround sound’, but isn’t capable of accepting true Dolby input. Rather, it takes 2-channel analog stereo input and ‘fakes’ surround sound output using Dolby signal processing and the DSP logic Pro circuitry.
Your TV’s online manual is at ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/television/om/tc-p42s1_en_om.pdf and shows (on page 43) a diagram of the audio optical connection from the OUT port on the back of the TV to an IN port on a digital-capable receiver. Since your receiver isn’t digital audio capable, you’ll need to convert the digital optical output from the TV into 2-channel analog audio for input to the receiver. A converter like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Musou-Digital-Optical-Converter-Adapter/dp/B01AWBA8U8 is $15 and includes an optical cable. You’d still need to get a standard RCA red/white audio cable set to go from the converter to your receiver.
You won’t get true Dolby 5.1 digital audio sound (which comes from your Firestick through your TV as far as the converter box), but the Kenwood receiver will take the analog stereo sound from the converter and give you a ghost of the true surround sound you’d experience with a digital-capable receiver.
This is the problem and workaround to mating older electronics (your Kenwood receiver) with newer (your Panasonic TV).
Thank you so much! I ordered the converter, got it today and it works great. Even if it isn’t true Dolby 5.1 digital audio, it certainly sounds better than just the TV speakers. I appreciate all your help!
Dear Chris,
You saved what little sanity I have left. I moved a while back and my TV and AV system were in storage for almost a year. Today, after having been in the house for a few days, I tried to reassemble the FireTV box/AV setup I previously had. Shouldn’t be too difficult, right? Well, the project took on visions straight out of a nightmare until I found your web site. What you said made perfect sense and by golly, I’m listening to Houston Person on Pandora as I type this.
Thank you!!!
Hi Dennis, glad I was able to help!
Hello Chris,
Based on your “UPDATE: Many older receivers cannot send video from HDMI inputs to the receiver’s speakers…”I am trying to figure out if I can use my receiver’s HDMI port(s) for the Fiestick. I have a Yamaha RX-V463. Would you happen to know if the HDMI ports are ‘pass throughs’ of not?
Thanks for any info you can provide.
Hi Jeff, thank you for your question. Your online manual is located at http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/hifi-components/stereo-receivers/rx-v463_black__u/ and shows on page 15 & 67 that you don’t need a separate audio cable. The audio can both pass through to hdmi out and process audio through the receiver to the speakers. Yay!
Awesome that’s great news! I will go ahead and try plugging the firestick into the receiver’s HDMI and give it a whirl. The reason I questioned this in the first place is I had Google Chromecast hooked to one of the receivers HDMI ports and it usually doesn’t work properly until you disconnect and connect it a couple of times. Otherwise the audio and video periodically cut out.? I thought this might be due to the problem you described. Do you happen to know why this occurs? Is it a Chromecast issue maybe?
Again, your help is very much appreciated and thanks in advance.
I bought a fire stick with Kodi and am so frustrated it won’t play through my home theater system. I have a Toshiba TV model # 40E210U and RCA home theater DVD player RTB10223. My TV has 2 HDMI inputs it has the colored ports all in . The only output is digital audio out.
The DVD has HDMI out. Video out (yellow) aux in (red and white).
I can use the Old Roku through the home theater but not the firestick. I tried the optical cord but don’t know how it works, I tried the HDMI 2 avi box and nothing. Help please
Hi Tammy, thanks for your question, and thanks for the brand and model numbers of some of your equipment. I’m guessing that you made a typo on the RCA unit, I think it should be RTB1023. Unfortunately, you don’t tell me how you have things hooked up, so I don’t have enough information to do more than make some guesses.
Link to your TV’s online manual: http://support.toshiba.com/support/modelHome?freeText=2941920
Link to your RCA system’s online manual: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/355598/Rca-Rtb1023.html#manual (RCA doesn’t have online manuals I can find)
I’m going to assume you have the Firestick plugged into one of the TV’s HDMI ports (since your RCA home theater system doesn’t have any way to accept an HDMI or other video input). I don’t know how you got the Roku box to run audio through the RCA system, perhaps you have an audio converter box (possibly what you mean when you say ‘avi box’)?
Lastly, I’m hoping/guessing that you bought your Firestick from someone reputable. The Amazon Firestick doesn’t come with Kodi on it, someone has to install that software. There are a lot of shady resellers out there, and of course, Amazon will not support your Firestick with Kodi on it. If you have illegal add-ons to Kodi, nobody (reputable) will help you. You’ll have to look elsewhere than me for help bypassing digital rights management laws.
So here’s some guesswork information on what you should do to get things working right, assuming the Firestick works correctly.
You need a box that converts digital audio from the TV into analog audio – which is the only thing your RCA home theater system can accept.
1. Plug the optical cable you have into the TV’s Digital OUT port, and plug the other end into the optical IN port on a converter box.
2. Plug red/white analog audio cables from the converter box’s OUT ports into your RCA’s IN ports (those red/white ports on the backside).
This will get all audio from the TV (and attached components) to play through the speakers when you set the RCA system to use AUX. Please note that your RCA system may be a 5.1 surround sound system for the built-in DVD player, but it doesn’t have the capability to handle 5.1 audio from any other source. So your Dolby 5.1 audio from the Firestick will exit the TV through the optical port, go to the converter box and get converted to 2-channel analog stereo that goes to the RCA system. I’m hoping that the RCA system will at least give you sound through all the speakers, but no guarantees – all you’re getting is stereo audio.
Tell me what your ‘avi box’ is (brand & model number) and I’ll tell you if it’s capable of serving as a converter box. Otherwise you need one like this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5SAZ8R for $11.