Elphaba
Stunt Coordinator
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2007
- Messages
- 54
- Real Name
- Gilda
First, thank you all for the help you gave me in choosing things.
I have all my gear here, and I am giddy as a schoolgirl. It's still in boxes. I'll be getting the stand assembled tomorrow and then it will be time to connect everything.
These are what I have:
TV: Philips 42PFL7432D/37
DVD Player: Panasonic DMP BD10A
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V661
Speakers: SCS500.5
I think I have an idea of how to hook things up, but there seem to be like a thousand options and I'm not sure which to take.
Here's what I tentatively had planned on:
HDMI from the DVD Player to the TV.
Fiber Optic Digital from the DVD player to the reciever.
Digital cable from the wall into the TV Coax.
Digital coax from the TV to the receiver.
I think this gives me 1080p from the DVD player to the TV, 5.1 DD or DTS surround sound for BD and DVD, and whatever digital sound is offered on the channel I'm watching for regular cable.
Now the questions:
1. Would there be any advantage to using the 5.1 out from the DVD player to the receiver? If I understand correctly, that's going to be the only way to get the TrueHD sound. If/when I get two more speakers for rear surrounds, I'll have to do the 7.1 analog connections to get TrueHD sound, correct? Is this going to be a big improvement over the regular DD or DTS? If I were to use the 5.1/7.1 connections, would I need any special type of cables, or just regular RCA interconnects? Does the quality of these cables make much difference?
2. Would it be better to go HDMI to the receiver then HDMI to the TV for the DVD to TV connection? The receiver can separate out and decode the DD and DTS sound this way before passing on the video signal to the TV, is this correct?
3. I think I can go HDMI to the TV, then digital coax audio to the receiver, with cable going into the coax and passing audio into the receiver, which would make input switching easy for cable and DVD. Assuming the TV can pass through the digital sound this way (the manual isn't clear), is there an obvious problem with this? It seems the simplest setup in terms of cables.
Assuming I want the best video and sound possible with the most efficient input switching feasible, is there a better way to connect things?
Speaker connections: I got a spool of 14 gauge speaker wire when I got my cables, but it turns out the speakers come with speaker wire in the box, a 20 ft. set for each front, a 40ft. set for the rears, and an LFE cable for the subwoofer. I could save myself a few dollars, enough to get myself another movie, by returning the spool of speaker wire. Probably more than that, as it seems the 50 foot spool probably isn't going to be quite enough. However, when I looked at the included wire, it seems very thin compared to the spool I bought (perhaps half as thick or less, to my untrained eye it looks like 24 gauge). Is the better speaker wire going to make a difference in how the speakers sound? Assuming the included LFE cable is of similar quality (IE, cheap) would I get any benefit from buying a higher quality cable?
Surge suppressor: I got a surge suppressor, and just wanted to make sure I'm not cheaping out and taking a risk. The Best Buy guy tried to sell me a Monster Power think for well over $100, and I said no thanks. My surge suppressor is a Philips (matching the TV appealed to my sense of order). The listed specs are:
Energy dissipation: 4320 joules
Maximum Surge: 6000 volts
Maximum peak current: H-N 72,000; H-G 12,000; N-G 12,000
Response time:
I have all my gear here, and I am giddy as a schoolgirl. It's still in boxes. I'll be getting the stand assembled tomorrow and then it will be time to connect everything.
These are what I have:
TV: Philips 42PFL7432D/37
DVD Player: Panasonic DMP BD10A
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V661
Speakers: SCS500.5
I think I have an idea of how to hook things up, but there seem to be like a thousand options and I'm not sure which to take.
Here's what I tentatively had planned on:
HDMI from the DVD Player to the TV.
Fiber Optic Digital from the DVD player to the reciever.
Digital cable from the wall into the TV Coax.
Digital coax from the TV to the receiver.
I think this gives me 1080p from the DVD player to the TV, 5.1 DD or DTS surround sound for BD and DVD, and whatever digital sound is offered on the channel I'm watching for regular cable.
Now the questions:
1. Would there be any advantage to using the 5.1 out from the DVD player to the receiver? If I understand correctly, that's going to be the only way to get the TrueHD sound. If/when I get two more speakers for rear surrounds, I'll have to do the 7.1 analog connections to get TrueHD sound, correct? Is this going to be a big improvement over the regular DD or DTS? If I were to use the 5.1/7.1 connections, would I need any special type of cables, or just regular RCA interconnects? Does the quality of these cables make much difference?
2. Would it be better to go HDMI to the receiver then HDMI to the TV for the DVD to TV connection? The receiver can separate out and decode the DD and DTS sound this way before passing on the video signal to the TV, is this correct?
3. I think I can go HDMI to the TV, then digital coax audio to the receiver, with cable going into the coax and passing audio into the receiver, which would make input switching easy for cable and DVD. Assuming the TV can pass through the digital sound this way (the manual isn't clear), is there an obvious problem with this? It seems the simplest setup in terms of cables.
Assuming I want the best video and sound possible with the most efficient input switching feasible, is there a better way to connect things?
Speaker connections: I got a spool of 14 gauge speaker wire when I got my cables, but it turns out the speakers come with speaker wire in the box, a 20 ft. set for each front, a 40ft. set for the rears, and an LFE cable for the subwoofer. I could save myself a few dollars, enough to get myself another movie, by returning the spool of speaker wire. Probably more than that, as it seems the 50 foot spool probably isn't going to be quite enough. However, when I looked at the included wire, it seems very thin compared to the spool I bought (perhaps half as thick or less, to my untrained eye it looks like 24 gauge). Is the better speaker wire going to make a difference in how the speakers sound? Assuming the included LFE cable is of similar quality (IE, cheap) would I get any benefit from buying a higher quality cable?
Surge suppressor: I got a surge suppressor, and just wanted to make sure I'm not cheaping out and taking a risk. The Best Buy guy tried to sell me a Monster Power think for well over $100, and I said no thanks. My surge suppressor is a Philips (matching the TV appealed to my sense of order). The listed specs are:
Energy dissipation: 4320 joules
Maximum Surge: 6000 volts
Maximum peak current: H-N 72,000; H-G 12,000; N-G 12,000
Response time: