Cambridge Audio 650BD Audio connections, Analogue stereo, Digital audio, Analogue 5.1/7.1

Audio connections

Do not plug in the mains power lead or turn the unit on until all connections have been made.

Three types of audio only connection can be made between the 650BD and your stereo/AV system:

Note: It is also possible to make an HDMI audio/video connection which carries both audio and video in the same cable. See later section.

However, when making an HDMI connection i.e. to an AV receiver, it is also often preferable to make an additional audio connection for CD and/or SACD/DVD-A playback.

1	Analogue Stereo	In	AV receiver	In
2	Digital Audio	2		1
3	Analogue 5.1/7.1

OR

Phono cable (2RCA-2RCA)

Front left

speaker3

	AV receiver with	Front right
7.1	5.1/7.1 analogue
		speaker
	inputs

	Centre speaker
Surround left	Surround right
speaker	speaker

Subwoofer

Speaker diagram shown for 5.1 channel setup. For 7.1 add two rear speakers.

1Analogue stereo

The analogue stereo outputs should be used for play back of CDs, DVDs etc in stereo through a conventional amplifier or AV receiver with analogue stereo inputs.

Analogue stereo is also usually the best connection method for listening to CDs and other stereo discs for best possible sound quality. It is often a good idea to connect both the analogue stereo outputs (for CD playback) and digital audio outputs (for surround sound decoding) at the same time.

To connect an analogue stereo system to the 650BD, use stereo phono cables (stereo 2RCA-2RCA).

2Digital audio

The digital audio outputs should be used to decode the surround-sound soundtracks of DVDs with an external AV Receiver (Note: Digital output must be set to "RAW" in the Audio setup page). The 650BD sends an undecoded audio bitstream to the AV Receiver for decoding into 5.1/7.1 etc.

Either a 75ohm co-axial cable designed for digital audio or a TOSlink fibre optic cable should be used (only one at a time).

Note: It is also possible to output stereo digital audio from the Digital Outputs for recording on conventional CD-R/MD etc. machines, see section on 650BD setup.

3Analogue 5.1/7.1

The 650BD is also capable of decoding Surround-Sound soundtracks itself and outputting these as analogue 5.1/7.1 depending on the settings in the Speaker setup page in the 650BD setup menu.

For 5.1, connect to an AV receiver or amplified speaker system, use 6 x phono/RCA cables.

For 7.1, connect to an AV receiver or amplified speaker system, use 8 x phono/RCA cables.

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