Newbie needs help with config (1 Viewer)

[mchoi01]

Hi All,
I need some help... I am setting up a new home theater system, but I want to utilize some parts that I have already...

This is what I currently have...
1/ Samsung A750 52" LCD TV
2/ Old Panasonic DVD/Home Theater 5.1 system, including speakers...

I am looking to hook up the following...
1/ BluRay player
2/ DirecTV HD receiver
3/ VCR

I want to be able to utilize my existing speakers. I know I need to buy a receiver but I am totally unaware of what I need to do to maximize the HD experience. I have heard the term pass-through HDMI, but not sure how that affects me...

I am on a budget, so if you can recommend any good decent receivers that I can purchase, I would appreciate it...

Thanks!

Mike

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Hi Michael. Welcome to HTF!

You need to be careful as some of the panasonic and Sony 'box' systems use fairly non-standard speakers which are not designed to be swapped out. Check the impedance and do NOT use them if the speaker impedance is below 4 ohms.

A line of receivers which has been shocking the industry with low prices and tons of features is the Onkyo TX-SR series. The 505/605 and 705 won 'receiver of the year' in some magazines last year. The current models are just as good so look into these. They start at about $380 and top out about $600.

The other problem: many of the 'box' systems do NOT have spare inputs. See if yours has a spare optical input. If so - you can hook up 1 device and perhaps use a optical switcher to support your 2 disk players.

The VCR .... not good. Can you upgrade that DirectTV unit to a DVR which includes HD recording? My VCR is in the closet after we started using DVR's.

Your entire system will be compromised by that 280 lines of resolution and trying to be backwards compatible with that below-standard def VCR.

But - the Onkyo receivers do offer up-conversion so you can just run a HDMI cable from the Onkyo to the TV and it will handle the VCR.

 

[mchoi01]

Bob,
Thanks for the welcome...

I was also told that I can use my existing system for the sound and be able to connect my BluRay... How does that work? I have plenty of HDMI inputs on my TV, but how does sound get transferred from my Blu-Ray or DirecTV receiver...?

Thanks!

Mike