• Happy holidays, folks! Thanks to each and every one of you for being part of the Tom's Hardware community!

[SOLVED] Connecting projector with soundbar with HDMI

Jan 7, 2021
5
0
10
Hey there,
I bought "Epson Home Theatre TW5650 Wireless 2D/3D Full HD 1080p 3LCD Projector" few days back and also bought "Sony HT-S500RF home cinema bluetooth soundbar". Not having deep knowledge about these products I started to connect them and realised that I couldn't.

Now let me explain my setup, I have fully concealed wiring in my house and have projector mounted on top cealing and sound bar sitting below projector screen. The only cables connecting both is a HDMI.

Now, the soundbar has only one HDMI(ARC) port and projector has two HDMI port out of which, one is MHL and other is simple.

My question is, can I connect my soundbar to my projector with HDMI? Or do I have to follow any other procedure?

I do not have any ways to put more cables as the home wiring is already done and concealed. If you were in my shoes what would you do?

Need some serious suggestions, please help.
Thanks
 
Solution
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

No you can't, you will need the connect the (ARC) HDMI to a sound source like a TV or an Amplifier that has an HDMI that handles ARC relaying. The MHL port is so you can hook the projector up to a smartphone(with the right cable, ofc).

If you were in my shoes what would you do?
If that was a literal question, I'd say, I'd have done my research prior to spending and I'd have also held up the wiring work before I purchased anything. It's with this in mind that you'll see how people who set up home theater system's take their time and get the details right to not hinder the experience. As it stands you're already kind of upset seeing how the option for the audio is somewhat limited now.

FYI...
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

No you can't, you will need the connect the (ARC) HDMI to a sound source like a TV or an Amplifier that has an HDMI that handles ARC relaying. The MHL port is so you can hook the projector up to a smartphone(with the right cable, ofc).

If you were in my shoes what would you do?
If that was a literal question, I'd say, I'd have done my research prior to spending and I'd have also held up the wiring work before I purchased anything. It's with this in mind that you'll see how people who set up home theater system's take their time and get the details right to not hinder the experience. As it stands you're already kind of upset seeing how the option for the audio is somewhat limited now.

FYI, before you get angry, I'm an architect by education and I'm somewhat of an audiophile so before I think of doing concealed wiring, I make sure my details for the wiring are spot on with some room to spare, in terms of amperage, wattage and OHM's(resistivity), then I make sure that the devices I'll need will operate off of the cables that I plan to install. So if you will, managing wires and the home theater are more of a hand in hand process to get to that sweet spot.

You could cut your losses and just operate the audio off the mini stereo connector however, you're only going to get Stereo on a 5.1 surround sound setup...which is a waste of resources. You could use a breakout box whereby you get an optical output but the adapter costs more to get somewhat of a surround sound experience.
 
Last edited:
Solution
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

No you can't, you will need the connect the (ARC) HDMI to a sound source like a TV or an Amplifier that has an HDMI that handles ARC relaying. The MHL port is so you can hook the projector up to a smartphone(with the right cable, ofc).
Hey, thanks for the quick reply.
So, I cannot connect these two products with a HDMI cable. So is there any other method(wireless) to connect? Like some adaptor? Remember, soundbar is bluetooth capable. What'd you think?
And I read somewhere that buying apple TV might solve this problem. Will it?
 
A couple of questions ... what is it that you're wanting to play (blu rays, streaming files, tv)? Also, thinking of the concealed wiring ... you have only one hdmi cable going to above the projector screen? Where does the other end of this cable come out ... at the projector, at a home entertainment cabinet? How many hdmi cables are going the the projector and where does the other end of it/them come out?