Family room audio set up

anthony.j · 11-29-2006, 02:50 PM

I'm having our family room set up for a simple 5.1 system in a house thats being built right now. There's a fireplace in one side with the tv nitch above it.

I talked to my low voltage guy about laying out some speaker wires which can be done easily. Now the audio and video system will be in a rack beside the fireplace. Not knowing what TV and system I will be getting, I wanted to run a blank pipe which I could use later on to run some video and audio cables going to and from my TV. My or should I say our problem is we don't have enough wall space to run the blank pipe since its a very tight space such that if we push it, we could only put an inch pipe the most.

He suggested that we run now the most common audio and video cable for the tv, anything more than that would have to be on the side using cable management.

Now, I need suggestions on what are those most common or standard cables should I buy for him to put in?

corona13 · 11-29-2006, 03:07 PM

HDMI, component, composite and S video are most common. You may not even need the component, composite and S, but it will be nice to have and you can find it cheap. Do not worry about audio cables as the audio will come from your sat/cable box than go to your A/V receiver. No need to run audio cables to your TV. All sources (DVD, CD, Cable/Satelite) will go into your receiver, which in turn will send the audio signal to your speakers. If you buy a DVD player that uses DVI, you can buy a DVI/HDMI converter and switch through your receiver...if you have HDMI switching on your receiver.

If you ever had to send an audio signal from the TV, HDMI will carry audio.

anthony.j · 11-29-2006, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by corona13

HDMI, component, composite and S video are most common. Do not worry about audio cables as the audio will come from your sat/cable box than go to your A/V receiver. No need to run audio cables to your TV. All sources (DVD, CD, Cable/Satelite) will go into your receiver, which in turn will send the audio signal to your speakers. If you buy a DVD player that uses DVI, you can buy a DVI/HDMI converter and switch through your receiver...if you have HDMI switching on your receiver.

If you ever had to send an audio signal from the TV, HDMI will carry audio.

I only have the basic cable set-up....no box...and presuming that I will have the same set-up when I move...where will audio come?

corona13 · 11-29-2006, 05:48 PM

in that case, you'll need to run audio from the TV to the receiver. need to know what kind of TV you have, also, if you want 5.1 surrond sound, you should get a cable box. I'm not sure if your TV will send the 5.1 signal to your reciver or not.

I know its an added monthly expense, but it will improve the sound quality.

If you still go without the cable box, look at the user manual and find out what kind of audio outputs your TV has and if it will send a 5.1 signal. It will be standard RCA, optical or coaxel. Optical or coaxel are best as they will carry a 5.1 signal.

If your TV cannot send a 5.1 signal to your receiver, get a cable box....well worth it. If you can afford a 5.1 setup, you can afford a cable box. Not tyring to tell you what to do or sound snooty, but setting up 5.1 without a cable box is kind of like buying a Cadillac and getting cloth interior.

anthony.j · 11-29-2006, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by corona13

HDMI, component, composite and S video are most common.

do I need component audio and video? can I assemble these wires? I know how to solder and I can get a crimper...

and how many of each?

thanks for taking the time out to answer all my questions...

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corona13 · 11-30-2006, 08:21 AM

component is video only.

you can make your own, I buy mine as I do not have that kind of knowledge. Checkout bluejeanscable.com reasonable, UL approved for your application, and very nice.

one set of component is 3 wires total, you can buy them bundled or seperate.

How many each is a difficult question to answer. You can buy a receiver that has video switching capabilites. you will want HDMI switching. This receivers start at around 400. If you buy a receiver that has video switching, you only need one set. If not, you will need as many sets as necessary to display your sources. One for DVD, VHS, Cable box, etc...

I suggest you buy a receiver that has video switching capabilities.

anthony.j · 11-30-2006, 04:22 PM

sheesshh...it now boils down to whether or not to hide the wires behind the walls with all the common / standard wires and or cables to be run to and from the TV.

Costs to buying the wires will be around $150. What I love about this idea is it will not use cable management stuff later on that surely will be at least $50 extra and its neat! But on the contrary if I just use cable management and just buy the wires I really need then that surely will be less than $100.

So should I hide the audio and video cables to and from the TV or just lay them beside the fireplace crown molding?

homthtr · 12-01-2006, 12:25 AM

You could just run a simple Cat5 from you equipment to your tv and send your component video over the Cat5.

You will need a component to cat5 converter, but it would be one way to go.

The other cheaper way would be to just run three seperate coax RG6 from your equipment to the tv for your component video. You can terminate this with regular F-ends, or Crimp Rca ends.

If you use regular F-ends then all you need is the screw on F to RCA adaptor

We use mini coax for running component video, but I don't know that you can get your hands on it via retail. We buy this in bulk. Simple to put on ends.

This wire is in wall rated and works awesome for component video.

I can get you this if you are interested just private message me.