For Home Theatre w/ Apple TV 4K and HomePods

Do you have the legacy large HomePod 2018 speakers, or the HomePod Minis 2020?

The audio for the HomePod speakers is through the Apple TV box directly, and has no specific requirements for the TV or internet.

Apple TV 4K wants at least 8 Mbps internet connection for 1080p content (25 Mbps for 4K HDR content).

The HomePods are network devices, connecting to your Wi-Fi, not directly to the Apple TV, nor TV.

Set up home theater audio with HomePod mini or HomePod and Apple TV 4K - Apple Support

If you want, you can use HomePods even for TV sources, by connecting the Apple TV 4K (2nd generation) to the ARC port of the TV, if the TV has HDMI-ARC. Use HDMI ARC or eARC with your Apple TV 4K (2nd generation) - Apple Support

I have Verizon Fios

I don’t. From what I read, I believe “Fios” is a term for bundled internet access, telephone, and television service. It is a Fiber Optic Service (any combination), not a product/device. ‘Fios TV One’ is a HDMI cable box, in general terms.

I want to know if I replace the Apple TV w/ an Apple TV 4K, will I be able to set up the pair of HomePods for surround sound to watch TV using Fios, and to watch things also from the Apple TV 4K.

HomePods work with Apple TV, and other Apple devices that can output to AirPlay speakers. They do not work directly with TVs or third party set-top boxes. You may not like that, but that is the simple answer.

As previously mentioned, you can use HomePods for non-Apple TV sources as well, by connecting Apple TV to the ARC/eARC port of a TV. That is how you would use them with Fios. Without ARC/eARC on your TV, this construction is not possible. So find out if your TV has HDMI-ARC. The HDMI port would mention this. The manual would mention this. Find an online manual if needed, or contact the manufacturer. You may not like that, but that is the simple answer.

If so, what is the setup? Where does the sound connect between boxes - I suppose it's out from the Fios box and in to the Apple TV 4K, and from there using airplay to the HomePods.

____________________

Edit: Verizon does have a Fios TV Home app for Apple TV. That would eliminate the cable box, if I understands it correctly. And that makes it easier, as all is contained on the Apple TV box.

I don't think my older TV has HDMI ARC or eARC. And I don't want to have to remove it from the wall to find out, or to change the hookup if I don't need to.

That’s alright. It is optional.

I guess where I'm confused is whether or not the TV has to be a part of the sound setup for movies and TV. This confuses me: "If you want, you can use HomePods even for TV sources."

For content coming in to Apple TV to be displayed on the TV, that sentence is not applicable.

For content coming in from antenna or cable box or other HDMI device, not through Apple TV apps, it might be an interesting additional feature to use HomePods audio that way. As said, it is optional. First get regular Apple TV use working as intended.

Here's what I want to know: Can I use only my new Apple TV 4K, and HomePods (I have two Legacy Large HomePods, not mini's), and have it set up for surround sound to watch movies and tv?

Yes, for content that is coming in through apps on the Apple TV box.

Set up home theater audio with HomePod mini or HomePod and Apple TV 4K - Apple Support

Well, as a test, I set my stereo pair of HomePod minis as the default audio output for my Apple TV 4K, then turned off the TV system (Control Panel > Sleep).

I told Siri, listening via HomePods, to play "Out on the Weekend radio" (I have Pandora set as my default music provider installed on the HomePods). The music played as normal on the HomePods and the TV remained alseep. I turned on the TV and the music continued playing until I started playing video on the ATV4K, at which point the music stopped and TV's audio stream played via the HomePods (in perfect sync with the newscaster's lips as a matter of fact :-). For good measure, I restarted both the ATV4K, and separately via the Home app, the HomePods. Same proper behavior after the restarts.

Regarding the surround sound, I assume you realize that most all music and TV news is simple 2-channel (stereo) sound format. Since the HomePod minis don't do surround sound yet (if ever), that wasn't part of my testing. Your original 2018 HomePods should do Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound formats (also DTS 5.1 & 7.1), but only when your source audio is encoded that way :-). Mostly only movies and modern TV series. The latest HomePod user guides talk about it. See https://support.apple.com/guide/homepod/use-homepod-with-apple-tv-4k-apdd878f126c/homepod.

Keep us posted!

@jackfreedom76 wrote:

[...]

I wonder if there's a way to route the sound from the cable box to the Apple TV, or does it have to go through the TV set?

[...]

That's where ARC/eARC comes in (through the TV). It stands for [enhanced]Audio Return Channel - meaning that the ARC-enabled HDMI port on your TV (well, a newer TV) will not only accept incoming audio/video from your Apple TV 4K, but it will also send (return) audio back to the Apple TV 4K from other AV sources (to be played on your HomePods). Normally, the [e]ARC-enabled HDMI port on a TV is connected to an AV Receiver or soundbar. Since Apple made it possible to turn HomePods into "TV speakers" via the ATV4K, they added the [e]ARC capability so that all AV sources could also play via the HomePod.

Try it out with your Apple TV device and HomePods to see/hear how you like it. Then get a new TV :-). The UHD/4K resolution is a nice upgrade. While you're free to spend thousands, you can pick up a really nice 55-65" name-brand TV for under $500 these days.

Glad to hear you're hearing things clearly now through your HomePods :-).

Also, kudos for choosing a quality 2-channel amplifier and speakers for stereo music! Unfortunately, modern movies rarely sound very good in stereo since they focus on perfecting the surround experience with the dialogue mostly coming through the center channel. As a result, dialogue tends to get lost amid background music and sound effects with movies played in stereo (particularly if your ears are as old as mine).

Although the HomePod minis aren't currently doing "surround sound", I believe their "computational audio" feature does actually process all of the available channels in the audio stream... I'm guessing here, but a stereo pair of HomePod minis, when setup as the default audio output for the ATV4K, is really impressive with the clarity of movie dialogue amid music and sound effects -- at all (reasonable) volume levels! So, I'm assuming that at least the center channel audio is going into the mix :-).

In fact, I'm pretty confident that a pair of HomePod minis will out-perform any soundbar in the same price range. Even with the cost of an Apple TV 4K device factored in, they would give most soundbars priced under $400 a run for the audio money. I guess this Apples and oranges comparison (sorry) would produce howls on most audiophile forums, but at least this reviewer seems inclined to agree :-).

I'm sure your pair of original HomePods sound excellent for movies and music... while I wouldn't really expect an additional pair of minis as "AirPlay speakers" to add much to the experience, I would be curious to hear your impressions. Are you talking about a really big space? Now if they were acting as rear channels in unison with your other HomePods... If I were Apple's Product Marketing Manager for HomePods I would be pushing hard to enable 5 or 7 HomePod SKUs to participate in surround/immersive home theater setups (complete with a groovey audible calibration process to give buyers that warm and fuzzy feeling of being totally dialed in :-).

Have fun with the rest of it and choosing a new TV.