I'm kinda new at this. Just got the x1 system 4 days ago. One of our X1 boxes is in the den. Not the main box. Never trusted the connection of the X1 HDMI video cable directly to the my Harman Kardon 1700 AVR receiver because I knew it would produce good digital ("surround") sound, but that it would -- in my uninformed opinion -- somehow diminish the picture quality ( like changing the HD output from 1080p to 720p or something). So I hooked up an optical wire directly into the receiver from the X1 box, AND an HDMI wire directly from the x1 box to my Samsung HDTV. Always tried to select "surround" on the X1 setup menu, but after about 20 attempts, it kept going back to "stereo" after a "reset" ( the X1 box just decided to restart itself a couple of times). Same thing happened after viewing a DVR recording. After shutting everything down -- as I should have to begin with -- I made HDTV wire connections from both my DVD player and the X1 box into the AVR receiver (2 wires). Then hooked up an HDMI wire from the AVR receiver output into the Samsung Tv. Made sure the AVR Receiver, DVD player and HDTV could all "talk to" each other via their individual "all connect" capabilities. Then the big moment: turn them all on. Voila! Seems to be working like a charm so far! My unsolicited advice -- DO NOT hook up BOTH an optical wire and an HDMI wire from an X1 box into a single receiver. Have a good one ...
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