How should I set it up? (1 Viewer)

[Paul Mc]

I have a couple of question on which I would like some opinions. I own a Sony S735D DVD player, a Marantz SR5200 reciever and a 32" Sony widescreen TV. What is the best way to connect the system together as at the moment I am caught between two methods;

1. Fully wired Scart to Scart for DVD to TV and a digital coaxial cable for DVD to reciever

2. 6 RCA to 6 RCA for the DVD six channel output to the reciever's inputs, S Video to S Video for the DVD to reciever and an S Video to Scart for reciever to TV.

I realise there are cost implications between the two but I am interested in having the best quality sound and picture.

I am cosidering the IXOS range of cables for my connections. Is it best to keep to the same brand of cable throughout the system?

Thank you for your help

 

[Stefan A]

Hook the DVD player video directly to the TV. Hook the dvd player audio via digital coaxial cable directly to the receiver.

 

[Denward]

Without researching the model numbers you've cited, your option #2 implies that you have 5.1 outputs on your DVD player. This means that your DVD player has a dolby digital and/or dts decoder. I'm pretty sure your receiver also has this decoder. If you connect the 5.1 outputs from your DVD player to your receiver, you will be using the DVD's decoder. If you use a single digital audio cable (optical, aka toslink or coaxial), then you will be using the receiver's decoder. Decoder quality varies noticably from component to component. You should try both methods with good cables to see if either sounds better. If they sound the same, then use the digital connection since it's probably cheaper and you'll have less cable clutter. Make sure you can return your unused cable before you buy both sets. You might also want to experiment between the optical and the coax connection, although in theory there should be no difference since they're both passing a digital data stream.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Paul: Welcome to HTF!
You want a digital connection between the DVD player and receiver because:

• In general the decoding chips in the receiver are better than the ones in the dvd player.
• There is a lot of problems bypassed by letting one box (the receiver) do the decoding & amplification.
• The receiver does a LOT of things like level adjustment, time delays, bass management, LARGE vs SMALL speaker settings, etc., Running analog cables to the receiver will by-pass a lot of these features, or make it confusing as to which box is controlling what feature.

Cable Brands: This can get ugly with the debait of expensive vs generic cables.
I'm in the camp that you should buy an ordinary VIDEO cable and use this for the coaxial-digital connection between the DVD and receiver. The digital signals are highly-insensitve to the cable compare to ANALOG signals.
(No, you dont have to have all cables from the same company in your system. The cable companies would LOVE it if this were true )
For analog connections like the VIDEO signal, I DO recommend name-brand interconnects. But you should spend the money WISELY:
If you have a tube-type TV, 30" or less, go for the more budget names like Radio Shack, AR, lower-end Monster. When you start going Projection or Progressive Video to a HD TV, then you should buy the more expensive cables with the better connectors and higher-bandwidth coax.
I also suggest buying budget cables for the low-quality devices like the VCR, but better cables for the higher-quality devices like the DVD player or SACD/high-end CD players.
And the subwoofer cable: buy budget cables for this. Just make sure the RCA plugs fit snug. Subs seem to be insensitive to the coax, but sensitive to how tight the connectors are.
Hope this helps.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

PS: Is your DVD player the only SVideo device you have? If so, try this:

Run SVideo straight between the DVD player and the TV. Also, run Composite video (Single video cable with RCA plugs) from the DVD player to the receiver. Run Composite video from all other video devices to the receiver, and then 1 Composite video cable from the receiver to the TV.

Now set the TV to "see" the composite video from the receiver and notice how you only need the receiver remote to move between various devices. This makes the system simple and easy to use for the family.

But when you sit down to watch a DVD, take the extra step to grab the TV remote and flip to the SVideo feed for the better picture.

This winds up being both the least-expensive, and easy to use.

Hope this helps.

 

[Selden Ball]

I just thought I'd point out to the U.S. respondants that Paul is in the UK. Most European home video equipment uses a connection standard called SCART. It's a multi-pin connector that can transport RGB, S-video or composite video,

just not all at the same time. Most European TVs support RGB, not the style of component video common in the U.S.

Anyhow, Paul, option #1 should be the best: SCART to TV and digital audio to receiver. You only need to send video signals through the receiver if you have more sources than you have inputs on the TV.

Connect a fully wired SCART cable directly from the player to your TV. Make sure the player and the TV both are configured to use RGB video if possible, else s-video.

Using the same brand of cable throughout isn't necessarliy appropriate. You should use the "best", whatever that is.

However, digital audio over 75 Ohm coax is relatively insensitive to different cable designs. Analog video signals are more easily distorted by bad cabling.

I hope this helps a little.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Thanks for the explination of SCART. I thought it was just another name for Component with a funny connector.