Pass The Popcorn

One of the features we like about our RV is the above-average entertainment setup. It's equipped with a 50" 4K TV and an in-cabinet AM/FM/CD/DVD player with two zones of speakers - 4 in the ceiling and 2 outdoors. We thought this setup would be perfect for those days when leaving 'home' just isn't in the cards.

Since night #1 & when watching OTA (Over The Air) or Local Cable (sometimes available - ABC, NBC, CBS & Fox) channels the audio would only play through the TV speakers which, to be frank, are pitiful and within a few weeks I was fed up with lackluster audio. There must be a solution!!

Being familiar with home/vehicle AV I was convinced the player would have the necessary connections. Researching the owners manual I located a section discussing ARC (Audio Return Channel) - I consider myself fairly well versed in AV setups, but this was new to me so I hope this post helps someone.

• In short, ARC will send audio from the TV, via a HDMI cable, to a sound bar or audio receiver which, in theory, should allow for simpler setup and fewer cables.

Hmm...does my TV support this? After sifting through the stack of manuals, it seems the TV manual was missing and, surprisingly, I was unable to locate one online - off-brand TV (Summit..??) - and the on-screen menus do not mention ARC anywhere. Bummer...

At this point I am assuming the TV does not support ARC so time to move on. Knowing what audio connections are available on the player I set out to find what audio connections are available on the TV; grab the flashlight and pull the TV out - fortunately the TV is mounted to an articulating arm allowing ease of access to the rear of the TV - and look what I found!!!

The Audio Out on the left was what I was looking for, but look at that label in the middle - HDMI 1(ARC). Yes!! The TV seems to support ARC; let's find out...

Move the player's HDMI cable from HDMI 4 to HDMI 1(ARC)...Done!

TV On -> Player On -> Aux/ARC selected on the remote

Drum roll...................Volume Up................Woohoo!! Success!! Ah, it is glorious. Finally, decent audio and has been working flawlessly since.