Checklist (1 Viewer)

[Chris KAudio]

Help me figure out what I'm missing:

DVD Player ---> Receiver (using optical digital audio cable and component video cables)

VHS ---> Receiver (using analog)

XBOX ---> Reciever (using HD AV Pack)

Satellite Receiver ---> Receiver (haven't gotten yet, but I assume it would be component)
- what can I do if my reciever only has 2 places for component? I have an HK 230.

Finally, Component cables and analog cables running to TV from receiver.

-Chris (sorry I am new to this)

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Here is an issue:

Your VCR - run video straight to the TV. If you run a single video cable to your receiver, you then must run a single video cable from the reciever to the TV. Your receiver will not convert the Composite video to component.

Are you just hooking this up? Read my thread on Hooking up your new AV reciever. It has several tips to make your life easier.

It's very important to:

- Start in the morning with no time pressure
- Give yourself 1-3 hours for a full hookup. (The last start-to-finish system I did for a friend took about 90 minutes. This was with no trips to the store)
- Dont be upset if you have to make several runs to Radio Shack/Best Buy during the install. It is very common to have cables too-short or too-long.
- Follow the guide in the "Hooking Up" thread. Its very important to do speakers/test, VCR/Test, Sat Reciever/Test, DVD player/Test, XBox/Test. Otherwise it will be a frustrating experience.

Note: for the Xbox - while the Advanced AV pack is great for $20 - it really is not well built for HD signals. While I usually stear people away from Monster, the Monster HD cable is the only one I found that looks like it was buit by someone who understands about HD video cables. It will cost you about $60, then you have to budget $40 for the optical cable - but this is really the right way to go. Hint: eBay often has the HD cable for about $25.

Hope this helps.

 

[Chris KAudio]

Thanks Bob, you have helped a lot. One question, do you recommend buying cables from ebay or radioshack?

 

[Ted Lee]

the rat-shack cables are decent quality, but i found that they really "clamped" onto the rca connections. they're very difficult to remove, plus they're a little stiff. performance-wise, they're fine.

for about the same price, i like the AR cables (from best buy) better....

also, check out monstercable.com - they have schematics which may be useful.

http://www.monstercable.com/hookup_l...sg/default.asp

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Ok. My personal opinion is you should buy cables based on how sensitive the signals are. This means:

Video Cables: For Progressive/HD sources - Buy custom component cables that use broadcast-studio quality coax and connectors. These things start at about $50 and rival the $220 Monster cables.

For Standard Video sources (VCR, CATV, non-HD sat reciever): The AR Pro brand or Radio Shack is fine. (Note: Check the custom-cable sites for prices on these as well - it may not be a huge price difference.)

Note: I really like the L/R/Video bundles to help cure cable-clutter.

Audio Cables: The coaxial-digital cable is just a video cable. A budget $15 cable from Radio Shack or the AR Pro brand sounds the same as a more expensive one.

For analog interconnects - go budget

Speaker Wires: start with good, basic 12 ga speaker wire. IMHO this is all you ever need for a movie-based system.

But speaker wires do have a influence on the sound so if you are 'into' music, later you can audition custom speaker wires to decide if the sound-change matters to you.

Subwoofer - This is the lowest of the low so nearly any cable will work. I spent $12 for CATV coax (pre-terminated) and some "F-to-RCA-Male" adaptors at Radio Shack and made my own 25 ft subwoofer cable.

So to summarize:

Custom video cables for all progressive/HD sources
Budget cables for standard video and analog audio sources
Cheap cables for subwoofer and coaxial-digital.

Where to buy? Well... if you can put all your components into a rack and measure the lengths you need, places like eBay are fine. But it's really handy to just be able to run out to the 'Shack or Best Buy for the odd cable.

Note: The Monster XBox cable is a lot cheeper on ebay.