Need help on new home theater setup.... (1 Viewer)

[ChristInBen]

Hey guys,

I'm brand new to the home theater scene and I'm going to setup a home thatre system in my house which I purchased as an early Christmas present for my family, so I would really need all your expertise in helping me setup my stuff to get the video and sound I want.

So here's my equipment:

- 42" Sharp AQUOS 1080p LCD TV (LC-42D62U).
- Yamaha HTR-6030 Receiver with YHT-280 Home theater package (Includes 5.1 speaker/subwoofer system).
- Logitech Wireless DJ Digital Streaming Music System.
- LG LDA-831 1080p HDMI Up-converting DVD player.
- Rogers Pace 551 HD Digital Set-Top Box with HDMI.
- Panasonic VCR (To be most likely connected through composite cables, however, I'm looking for a VCR with an S-Video connection).
- I want to purchase a PS3 later on to use as a PC as well as a gaming system as I plan to dual-boot it with Linux.
- PC to be connected sometimes through a VGA to component cable connection or a DVI to HDMI connection.

The last two are optional as I don't have them right now, but let's continue as they do exist right now.

So basically, I'm planning to wall mount the TV and also wall mount all the speakers except the center channel.

In regard to connection wise, I plan to pretty much go through the TV for everything that is a main component (as the receiver doesn't have an HDMI connection), and just wire an optical cable from the TV to the Receiver for sounds.

So I plan to do this:

Rogers HD Box - HDMI (TV)
DVD - HDMI (TV)
VCR - Composite (TV)
TV to AVR - Optical
Logitech Wireless DJ - RCA

When I purchase a PS3 and hook up my computer, I shall make the following modifications:

PS3 - HDMI (TV)
PC - VGA to Component or DVIto HDMI (TV)
Pace Box - Component (TV - as I only have two HDMI ports on the TV).

So, will I be able to watch 1080p video and still get 5.1 surround sound on both the DVD player and Digital cable? Or do I need to run optical cable from the DVD player and the Pace Box in order to achieve this? Plus I only have two optical connections on my AVR. Please let me know.

Thanks so much,

Ben.

 

[JohnRice]

Your first step is to ask before you buy the hardware.

Oops.

Your main problem is that you usually can't use a TV as a source switcher. Typically the digital audio out is only for the TVs digital tuner. You probably really need another receiver to do the switching properly.

 

[ChristInBen]

Well, it was a package deal I got and it was a really good price so I went for it. As for the optical problem, God willingly my TV's optical output will transfer all the sound out (5.1) to the receiver, and if not, I'll have to buy separate optical cables for the DVD, HD Box, and the PS3 when I get one, and run them individually to the receiver for sound. However, I'll still need to use the TV for video (HDMI especially) switching because I don't have it in the budget to purchase another receiver when my receiver right now supports everything but HDMI. Thanks for your help dude!

Ben.