Sound Advice: Receiver's decibel display can be confusing

Q: When I turn up the volume on my stereo receiver, the display says the decibel reading goes down, from like minus 12 to minus 6. Do you think it was wired backward?
A: It is working correctly. When you turn up the volume, the display shows how many decibels of volume remain. So if the display shows minus 12 dB, then you have 12 decibels to go before the receiver is operating at its max. In a home audio receiver, you can go into the positive, but if the system is set up correctly, 0 dB on the display will duplicate the playback volume you would experience in a movie theater.

Last week I described the different connection possibilities when using a soundbar with an HDMI ARC or eARC input. This week I will discuss my sound and picture quality findings using a 75-inch Samsung Q90R television with a Samsung HW-Q90R soundbar. Both were purchased in late 2019, were Samsung's top-of-the-line in their respective categories and still perform well.

Samsung televisions use the Tizen operating system. One of the reasons I have spoken favorably about Roku is there are channels available that I could not find on Tizen, so I purchased a Roku 4K Ultra streaming box.

I started by connecting the Roku Ultra box to one of the soundbar's two HDMI inputs. I then streamed content from Disney Plus, Hulu and Netflix using both the TV and the Roku, comparing the sound and image quality. I was surprised that using the television to stream the channels provided notably better picture quality, with deeper color and a sharper image. If I did not have both available to compare, it is unlikely I would have found fault with the Roku, but in comparing them back to back, the difference was apparent.

I then connected the 4K Blu-ray player to the TV, using the HDMI ARC connection to send the audio from the television to the soundbar. Previously I had to switch the Roku and the disc player cables because the soundbar only has two inputs, and my satellite box was using one of them. By connecting the player to the TV and routing the audio back to the soundbar, I could avoid this switching.

The picture looked the same, but the sound quality took an unexpected nosedive compared with connecting the player directly to the soundbar.

My current configuration has the Roku connected to the television and the disc player and the satellite box connected directly to the soundbar. Whenever I use the TV to stream content, for the few channels I don't get with Tizen I use the Roku box. This provides the best possible picture and sound quality in all situations.

If you have a soundbar or receiver with multiple inputs, try connecting your disc player directly to the audio component and the TV and compare to see what provides the best sound quality.

Send questions to Don Lindich at donlindich@gmail.com. Get recommendations and read past columns at soundadvicenews.com.