home theater setup question....

[AUMM]

So i'm trying to figure out how my home theater system will be setup and need to figure out the wiring because I am going to be passing all the wires through my wall.....

I am trying to hook up a reciever/surround sound, DVD player, cable box, and a gaming system.... from my understanding, everything can be just connected up to the reciever and the reciever should be connected to the TV and it will work.... can anyone tell me if this is correct?

if this is the case then I only need to run 3 wired through the wall right? 2 audio and one S-video..... I dont want to run these wires and find out that i was wrong..... any help is appreciated!!

 

[sygyzy]

Yes that is correct. All to the receiver and one set to the TV. And how can anyone answer your wiring question (2 audio and 1 S-Video) withouth knowing your setup?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Right, everything can run through the receiver.

Where is the receiver in relation to the TV? Usually I hear of people running from the receiver to the different speaker locations with speakerwire, but not usually video connections as the receiver tends to be near the display unless you have an odd room setup or a projector.

 

[AUMM]

sorry, im a noob when it comes to home theater.... i just wanted to know if i need to run more than 3 cables going from the tv to the reciever....( the L/R audio and the video cable)..... so for instance I don't need to connect a video cable from the DVD player to the TV? sorry if its a stupid question...

 

[AUMM]

yeah, i would rather have the video connections running through the reciever that way there would be less cables going throught the wall.... is there a downside to that?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: AUMM
sorry, im a noob when it comes to home theater.... i just wanted to know if i need to run more than 3 cables going from the tv to the reciever....( the L/R audio and the video cable)..... so for instance I don't need to connect a video cable from the DVD player to the TV? sorry if its a stupid question...

If you're connecting the DVD player to your TV through the receiver, you can run a single s-video line from the player to the receiver. Then run an s-video line from the monitor out (or video out or whatever it's called) from the receiver to the back of the tv.
So that's two s-video cables.

For the audio, use a digial coaxial or a digital optical connection from the DVD player to the receiver. You don't need to run audio to the tv.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: AUMM
yeah, i would rather have the video connections running through the reciever that way there would be less cables going throught the wall.... is there a downside to that?

first of all, do you have component inputs on your tv? those would be preferred over s-video

 

[Skiddex]

depending on your receiver, this should work just fine. there will probably be a tv out (video and audio) which will run to your tv and then all your other inputs (dvd, gaming system, etc) will run into the receiver. if you are used to computers, think of your receiver as a big KVM, switching not only video, but audio also. for better sound, use a surrond sound speaker package and coaxial or optical audio cables for surround sound. for any hi def people out there, settings within the receriver my need to be changed for selecting hi def video (component video,hdmi) and digital audio(coaxial, optical) as concurrent signals.

 

[AUMM]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: AUMM
yeah, i would rather have the video connections running through the reciever that way there would be less cables going throught the wall.... is there a downside to that?

first of all, do you have component inputs on your tv? those would be preferred over s-video

yes i do...

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

By the way, why is your DVD player across a wall from the tv? (or am i missing something?)

 

[AUMM]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
By the way, why is your DVD player across a wall from the tv? (or am i missing something?)

it is a flat panel that is being mounted to the wall... so i'm running the wires through the wall and want to minimize the cables being pulled through

 

[Skiddex]

most importantly, is your tv hdtv compatable and are you getting the hdtv package from your cable service?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: AUMM

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
By the way, why is your DVD player across a wall from the tv? (or am i missing something?)

it is a flat panel that is being mounted to the wall... so i'm running the wires through the wall and want to minimize the cables being pulled through

Oh, cool.

So on this tv of yours, do you have a DVI or HDMI connection? In case your tv and DVD player both have that, it would probably be your best bet.

If not, then go for component as the connection if possible.

 

[saahmed]

1.Hook everything up to reciever. Audio and video cables from everything to reciever.

2.Speaker wire from reciever to speakers.

3.Component cables from receiver output to TV input. Edit: Or the best you can do. If your reciever has HDMI or DVI out (most dont yet) and you TV has those inputs, then use those. Otherwise component are ok too.

That should be all you need.

 

[AUMM]

no, the dvd player does not have dvi or hdmi..... so if I hook up component cable from the TV to the reciever.... does this mean that the dable box and dvd player must be hooked up through component cables to the reciever as well?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: AUMM
no, the dvd player does not have dvi or hdmi..... so if I hook up component cable from the TV to the reciever.... does this mean that the dable box and dvd player must be hooked up through component cables to the reciever as well?

Yeah, you'll want to run component from the Receiver to the tv, and then run component from the DVD player to ther receiver and the cable box to the receiver.

 

[AUMM]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: AUMM
no, the dvd player does not have dvi or hdmi..... so if I hook up component cable from the TV to the reciever.... does this mean that the dable box and dvd player must be hooked up through component cables to the reciever as well?

Yeah, you'll want to run component from the Receiver to the tv, and then run component from the DVD player to ther receiver and the cable box to the receiver.

ok, do many recievers come with multiple component inputs or would i need a high end reciever for that....

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: AUMM

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: AUMM
no, the dvd player does not have dvi or hdmi..... so if I hook up component cable from the TV to the reciever.... does this mean that the dable box and dvd player must be hooked up through component cables to the reciever as well?

Yeah, you'll want to run component from the Receiver to the tv, and then run component from the DVD player to ther receiver and the cable box to the receiver.

ok, do many recievers come with multiple component inputs or would i need a high end reciever for that....

Most of this years model ones have 2 or 3 on them, even the really cheap ones.

Have you bought any of this stuff yet?

 

[AUMM]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: AUMM

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: AUMM
no, the dvd player does not have dvi or hdmi..... so if I hook up component cable from the TV to the reciever.... does this mean that the dable box and dvd player must be hooked up through component cables to the reciever as well?

Yeah, you'll want to run component from the Receiver to the tv, and then run component from the DVD player to ther receiver and the cable box to the receiver.

ok, do many recievers come with multiple component inputs or would i need a high end reciever for that....

Most of this years model ones have 2 or 3 on them, even the really cheap ones.

Have you bought any of this stuff yet?

i have everythign but the reciever... i am in the process of getting the tv mounted/ the cables ran through the wall and needed to figure out how things would be connected...

 

[spacejamz]

just to throw this out there (now knowing how difficult it will be to run cables in the future if you need to expand/upgrade)...

you might want to go ahead and buy cables for every connection on the back of your TV and run them through the wall (even if you don't use them right away - just make sure you label them). At the minimum, run 2 sets of component and the dvi/hdmi cable if you can (assumming your tv has them)

are you going to connect an HD cable box or SAT receiver? what about an xbox360 or ps3 when they come out? what type of connections will you use?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: AUMM

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: AUMM

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: AUMM
no, the dvd player does not have dvi or hdmi..... so if I hook up component cable from the TV to the reciever.... does this mean that the dable box and dvd player must be hooked up through component cables to the reciever as well?

Yeah, you'll want to run component from the Receiver to the tv, and then run component from the DVD player to ther receiver and the cable box to the receiver.

ok, do many recievers come with multiple component inputs or would i need a high end reciever for that....

Most of this years model ones have 2 or 3 on them, even the really cheap ones.

Have you bought any of this stuff yet?

i have everythign but the reciever... i am in the process of getting the tv mounted/ the cables ran through the wall and needed to figure out how things would be connected...

What kind of speakers/sub did you get?

 

[AUMM]

Originally posted by: spacejamz

just to throw this out there (now knowing how difficult it will be to run cables in the future if you need to expand/upgrade)...

you might want to go ahead and buy cables for every connection on the back of your TV and run them through the wall (even if you don't use them right away - just make sure you label them). At the minimum, run 2 sets of component and the dvi/hdmi cable if you can (assumming your tv has them)

are you going to connect an HD cable box or SAT receiver? what about an xbox360 or ps3 when they come out? what type of connections will you use?

yeah, thats another concern... it will be very difficult to add cables in the future.... i dont have a HD cable package as of yet... but i do plan on connecting an xbox360 in the near future... thats why i wanted to know if all this can be run thgrough the reciever so i could just have one set of wires going from the tv to the reciever...

 

[AUMM]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: AUMM

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: AUMM

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: AUMM
no, the dvd player does not have dvi or hdmi..... so if I hook up component cable from the TV to the reciever.... does this mean that the dable box and dvd player must be hooked up through component cables to the reciever as well?

Yeah, you'll want to run component from the Receiver to the tv, and then run component from the DVD player to ther receiver and the cable box to the receiver.

ok, do many recievers come with multiple component inputs or would i need a high end reciever for that....

Most of this years model ones have 2 or 3 on them, even the really cheap ones.

Have you bought any of this stuff yet?

i have everythign but the reciever... i am in the process of getting the tv mounted/ the cables ran through the wall and needed to figure out how things would be connected...

What kind of speakers/sub did you get?

it's a sony package.... i forget the model number at the moment... it ran about 250 or so... how much does a reciever that has multiple composite ins run about? i'm not looking to get toooo high end...

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Pioneer 515 has two component inputs
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Pioneer-...atOid/-12949/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

Onkyo 503 has 3
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Onkyo-Su...atOid/-12949/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

 

[saahmed]

I say get a high-end reciever that has a lot of inputs, including HDMI. That way just hook HDMI from receiver to TV. And any upgrade/replacements you simply change on the receiver. But, I guess there arent really that many out there that have more than 3 or 4 inputs. But, I think that would be all you need. DVD, gaming, cable, what else?