Tech help
 

I have a couple questions I was going to post and I wasn't sure where. If I am in the wrong forum, please feel free to move...

I have a four year old Samsung LED TV. I have Xfinity cable and internet with the X1 platform. I have a BluRay player hooked up to it as well as a WD My TV Live, and Amazon FireStick. My surround sound is through a basic 5.1 Yamaha receiver/speaker setup I got at BestBuy in a hurry. I have a couple problems. Most of the peripherals are hooked up through the receiver.

1. Too many remotes. I can handle separate remotes for the Blu-Ray, WD TV, and Amazon Firestick. But I have the silly cable company remote, the Samsung TV remote, and the Yamaha remote.

2. Turning on the system is complicated and frustrates almost everyone who tries, particularly my wife. You use the cable TV remote to turn on the cable box and sometimes have to hit a separate button for the TV. Then, you have to turn on the power to the receiver. For whatever reason, when you turn the system off with the cable remote, all turn off.

I try to use the HDMI 1 input for most things. But when you use the TV interface to get through Netflix, the sound is through AV1 rather than HDMI 1 and I don't think the surround is working right. I suppose I should just use the Netflix on the Blu-ray, FireStick, or WD TV?

Also, when I turn on the TV, after a few seconds, the sound cuts out. I have to press HDMI 1 again in order to get sound. It's aggravating.

Finally, depending in which order the components were turned on, i can use the cable remote to adjust the system volume using AnyNet. Other times, doing that only adjusts the TV volume, which I try to keep at zero since I have the Yamaha speakers.

Is there a simple solution? Does it have something to do with CEC settings (which I cannot find) or ARC?

Would it be easier to buy a universal remote that would be able to control all my devices? I've heard the RF remotes are good, but rather rare.

Thanks in advance!

Sounds like you have a few different issues. I think a good Universal remote (that's programmable and takes macros to turn on/off everything) is your best investment to clean it up. I have the URC UR-7 and love it. It's now discontinued, but you can still find it on some websites. I think I paid around $30 for it (7-8 years ago).

Two Words: Logitech Harmony

I had been looking at these. Which model do you recommend? I remember they used to have an RF model which was rated highly, but I do not believe they make it anymore.

We just got a Harmony 650 and it works pretty well.You'll like the macros. You program it through your computer (connected to the remote with a USB cable), and it's pretty easy.

I'll second or third that suggestion.