So been saving up and spent my trusty pennies on the Samsung Samsung HW-Q950T and connected it as follows:
Method 1
HDMI 2 (ARC) to Soundbar HDMI (ARC)
HDMI 1 from soundbar to Virgin Media Cable Box
The TV ARC from the soundbar works perfectly when watching via a Firestick which is in HDMI 4 but if i turn off the Fire Stick, the Soundbar does not have any sound via TV ARC when watching Virgin Media.
So the only way to watch is to switch the Soundbar to HDMI1...not a problem for me, but definitely an issue for the wife and kids. - Essentially it's not autoswitching.
Plus, if i watch tv with tv speaker sound, an off putting white light is constantly flashing - id rather use the soundbar for special occasions to keep the wow factor.
Method 2
I did amend the set up as follows:
HDMI 2 (ARC) to Soundbar HDMI (ARC)
HDMI 3 from TV to Virgin Media
Now suddenly TV ARC does exhibit sound on the TV via the soundbar and when the soundbar is turned off I still get the TV signal with no visible issues.
However it appears the speaking is out of sync.
I imagine using method 1 is the way to go, but tje lack of auto switching and it not liking me using tv speakers is frustrating
