Took the splurge & bought a new TV

Tullphan

Diamond Member
Jul 27, 2001
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I just bought a LG 50" plasma. It has 3 HDMI inputs, 1 S-Video input, 3 Component video inputs, and an RF antenna input.
My home theatre receiver is a RCA STAV-3990 100W model.
I haven't looked at the new receivers, but this one doesn't have HDMI ports, only S-Video.
I'm currently using Mediacom cable & I assume i'll need to get a cable box for HD programming.
My question is, what all am I going to need to run through my receiver (besides the 5.1 speakers) in order to have a home theatre system?
Thanks.
 

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
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Just run a coax or optical digital sound cable into the receiver from your cable box. If you get a Blu-Ray player, you'll want one that decodes the new surround codecs in the player and has analog sound outputs. Run HDMI from each source straight to the TV for video.

If you want to run everything through your receiver, or your cable box won't output sound through coax/optical with a HDMI cable hooked up, you can use component connections. Your receiver has 2 in and 1 out.

Alternately, you may be able to run the coax/optical from the *TV*. This probably won't work for the new Blu-Ray codecs, though.
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

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You don't necessarily need to run video through the receiver. If you have enough inputs on the TV itself (which it sounds like you do), then you can just run audio to the receiver and video right to the TV.

The downside of this is that when you're switching inputs, you'll need to switch the input on both the receiver and the TV. Depending on how you're setting up your remotes, this may be a bit of a pain.
 

Tullphan

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Jul 27, 2001
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I don't see myself getting a blu-ray player anytime soon.
I'm mainly just wanting to have the ability to listen to movies through my home theatre at my whim...whether it be on a rented DVD or off on of the cable channels.
I haven't picked up the converter box yet, so I have no idea what type of connections it'll have.
 

Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
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The only minuses I can see with your current setup is as yoyo described - the slight annoyance with having to operate two remote controls at the same time.
 

Tullphan

Diamond Member
Jul 27, 2001
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OK...I'm trying to figure out the cable box I got, my receiver owners manual, and all my components.
I got a HD/DVR cable box. Do I just run my HDMI cord from it to my TV, then and hook my audio components (tape deck, CD changer, VCR, DVD) up normally to my receiver?
I remember before I got all this, if I wanted to watch a DVD, I had to have my receiver turned on...probably because I only ran an S-Video to my tv & the audio to the receiver.
My receiver has a "TV/SAT" in. Will I need to connect something to that in order to listen to movies in surround sound? Of course I have all the necessary speakers.
The remote I have for the receiver controls it, the tape deck & the cd changer. I also have a separate remote to the DVD, the cable box (which supposedly controls the TV somewhat) & the TV.
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

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Ok, so TV has
Inputs
3 x HDMI
1 x S-video
3 x component
1 x RF antenna

You probably want to hook up the cable box to an HDMI input on the TV and run digital audio (optical or coaxial) to one of the inputs on the receiver (the TV/SAT input is probably good).

The DVD player should be hooked up to the TV via HDMI or component or s-video (whatever it has) and a digital audio cable should run to the receiver (optical or coaxial).

For the VCR, you might end up having to use the RF antenna input on the TV unless you have composite video on the TV. Red/White analog audio cables can run from the VCR to the receiver.

For the CD changer and Tape Deck, you'll probably end up just doing Red/White analog audio cables to the receiver.
 

Tullphan

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Jul 27, 2001
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OK...I have the HDMI cable to run to the cable box to the TV. I have a combo S-Video/Optical cable. The DVD player has analog, component, S-Video, & digital (both coaxial & optical). The VCR is old & cheap...strictly analog.
How can I rig this so I can listen to movies either through the receiver or just the TV?

Link to the TV.

Link to cable box manual.
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

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Lots of inputs / outputs on that cable box, eh?

I think having the audio routed to the both the TV and the receiver should be avoided in favor of always using the receiver for audio, but if you want both, it should be able to be done.

Cable Box you should hook up like "setup A" (without the RF cable between cable box and TV)
HDMI to TV
Digital coaxial or Digital optical to receiver

With these connections I believe you'll be able to use the TV's speakers or mute the TV and use the receiver for audio.

If that doesn't work, you might have to hook up analog audio as well (like "setup B" except without the DVI adaption or RF cable between cable box and TV)


For the DVD player

Hook up component to the TV
Hook up stereo analog audio to the TV (making sure you're plugging into the audio input associated with that video input)
Hook up a Digital coaxial or Digital optical cable from DVD player to receiver


For the VCR it might end up a bit different...
Does the TV have analog audio output?
Maybe run composite video and stereo analog audio to the TV and then run audio out of the TV back to the receiver?


 

Tullphan

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Jul 27, 2001
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I didn't see any type of analog outs on the TV.
So you're saying it'd be best to listen to the TV through the receiver at all times?
I was looking at "setup F"...your thoughts on that?
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

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Yeah, I would just listen through the receiver all the time. If you have nicer sound than the integrated TV sound, then why wouldn't you want to use it?

Setup F is kind of messed up. I think that's there for people who do not have enough inputs on their TV or receiver for all these devices, so they chained them all together. For example, there's no reason to run the DVD sound through the cable box since you can run it straight to the receiver.

Setup F looks like a great way to get really confused. I think just running each source's video to the TV and audio to the receiver makes more sense and will be easier to get right.

The only reason I would think that you might want to do something like that is if you didn't have enough inputs on your devices or if you wanted to be able to record cable on VHS tapes. Since you have a DVR box, you're not going to use the VCR to record cable anymore, right?
 

Tullphan

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Jul 27, 2001
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Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Yeah, I would just listen through the receiver all the time. If you have nicer sound than the integrated TV sound, then why wouldn't you want to use it?

OK...I went & bought a component video & 2 digital coax cables. How would you hook this mess up?

The only reason I would think that you might want to do something like that is if you didn't have enough inputs on your devices or if you wanted to be able to record cable on VHS tapes. Since you have a DVR box, you're not going to use the VCR to record cable anymore, right?

Yeah...but (and this may seem like a silly question) is there a way to record a show from the DVR to the VHS?


 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

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I hope you didn't pay too much for the cables. Monoprice and Cablesforless are good places to buy from.

If you wanted to record off the DVR with the VHS, then you'd want to run from the output of the cable box to an input on the VCR.

Setup C shows a couple different ways to do that.
You could use an RF cable to go from the output of the DVR
OR
You could use analog audio + a video cable of some kind (probably composite since your VCR probably doesn't have s-video)

Then you could run composite video out from the VCR to the TV and analog audio to the receiver. You'd still want to connect the DVR to the receiver and TV using HDMI and a digital audio cable in order to get HD from it. In this case, you'd have to remember which inputs you have to select to get the best quality. For example, if you wanted to watch an HD program and had the VCR on, you could end up having it work but you might be watching through non-optimal inputs on the TV or receiver.
 

Tullphan

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Jul 27, 2001
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OK...let's put off that recording off the DVR for now.
Since I got the composite cables & the 2 digital audio cables, how would you hook this up?
(BTW...I got a VERY good deal on the cables! ;) )
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

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Before you said you got component (red / green / blue) but just now you said composite (yellow)?

Do you have enough cables to do this?

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Lots of inputs / outputs on that cable box, eh?

I think having the audio routed to the both the TV and the receiver should be avoided in favor of always using the receiver for audio, but if you want both, it should be able to be done.

Cable Box you should hook up like "setup A" (without the RF cable between cable box and TV)
HDMI to TV
Digital coaxial or Digital optical to receiver

With these connections I believe you'll be able to use the TV's speakers or mute the TV and use the receiver for audio.

If that doesn't work, you might have to hook up analog audio as well (like "setup B" except without the DVI adaption or RF cable between cable box and TV)


For the DVD player

Hook up component to the TV
Hook up stereo analog audio to the TV (making sure you're plugging into the audio input associated with that video input)
Hook up a Digital coaxial or Digital optical cable from DVD player to receiver


For the VCR it might end up a bit different...
Does the TV have analog audio output?
Maybe run composite video and stereo analog audio to the TV and then run audio out of the TV back to the receiver?

Oh wait, so now you decided that you don't need to be able to use the TV's speakers? (Using the receiver for all audio is a good idea imo)

(I'm going to bed now)
 

Tullphan

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Jul 27, 2001
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I meant component. It's getting late & i've messed with this entirely too long...hehehe.
My receiver only has 1 digital in. Should I use that for the DVD? If so, how do I (or do I need to) hook the cable box to the receiver?
The receiver also has an optical in, but it's labled "CD". Could I use that for the DVD or cable box?
For the wife's sake, i'd like the option of using the TV audio for "normal" viewing, if possible...with the option of turning the receiver on for surround sound when needed.
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

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The digital coaxial and digital optical should both work the same. You might want to make the decision of which one to use with which device based on the labels the receiver gives you. You're probably going to want to write down on a paper what source is attached to which receiver label since it's not really going to be a CD player etc.
 

Tullphan

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Jul 27, 2001
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OK...I used the optical for the DVD & the coaxial for the cable box.
I've got my choice here of surround speakers that I bought on clearance @ Radioshack years ago:

Optimus Pro-LS1

or

RCA Pro-LX550 (5" honeycomb woofer & linaeum dipole tweeter)

I'm sure they're both low-end, but would one be better than the other?
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

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Just based on the specifications you gave, it looks like the Optimus speakers have very lacking bass performance (as you'd expect from such small speakers).

You could try both of them as mains and listen to some music on them and make your own call though since bass performance isn't everything.
 

ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
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Originally posted by: Tiamat
The only minuses I can see with your current setup is as yoyo described - the slight annoyance with having to operate two remote controls at the same time.

That annoyance goes away if you get something like a Logitech Harmony remote that lets you program all of the power on/power off activities that set all of the audio and video inputs for you.

Personally, I think that a good universal remote like a Logitech Harmony is a must have for any home theater system that has more than 3 components, but that's just my opinion :)
 

Tullphan

Diamond Member
Jul 27, 2001
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Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Originally posted by: Tiamat
The only minuses I can see with your current setup is as yoyo described - the slight annoyance with having to operate two remote controls at the same time.

That annoyance goes away if you get something like a Logitech Harmony remote that lets you program all of the power on/power off activities that set all of the audio and video inputs for you.

Personally, I think that a good universal remote like a Logitech Harmony is a must have for any home theater system that has more than 3 components, but that's just my opinion :)

True, but my receiver's remote is quite complicated.
 

ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
25,134
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Originally posted by: Tullphan
Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Originally posted by: Tiamat
The only minuses I can see with your current setup is as yoyo described - the slight annoyance with having to operate two remote controls at the same time.

That annoyance goes away if you get something like a Logitech Harmony remote that lets you program all of the power on/power off activities that set all of the audio and video inputs for you.

Personally, I think that a good universal remote like a Logitech Harmony is a must have for any home theater system that has more than 3 components, but that's just my opinion :)

True, but my receiver's remote is quite complicated.

So is the remote on Yamaha V2700 receiver... which I've never used. I just downloaded the remote codes to my Harmony, and let it do all of the heavy lifting for me.