HT Connections Help (1 Viewer)

[BrianSmithe]

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong forum! I know this has been asked a lot, so sorry if it gets repetative.
Here is my Setup(I'm on a limitied budget, so it's all I can do for now)
Sony STR-DE675 Receiver
(3)CSW M80's, fronts and center
(2)CSW M50's, Rears
Panasonic DVD-RV31(Only optical digital audio, no coaxial)
RCA VCR(Mono for the audio, so only one audio out)
27" Sharp TV(27R-S480) link here
I'm now planning on getting digital cable and was wondering the optimal way of connecting everything.
Right now, I have the VCR connected to the receiver using one RCA audio(mono input on the VCR) and a RCA video to the TV. The cable wire from the wall goes into the VCR, then into the TV from the VCR. The DVD player is connected directly to the TV via S-Video and to the receiver with an optical digital audio cable. I tried to connect the TV and DVD player to the receiver for video but I couldn;t get the DVD player to send video to the TV for some reason. Now, with the addition of digital cable, I need some advice on the best way to hook everything up and have everything work. The digital cable box has an S-Video output as well as a coaxial digitl audio output. If this is confusing or if anyone needs more info please let me know I apprecaite the help!

 

[Neil Joseph]

Welcome to the forum Brian.

I am curious that when you used your receiver as a video switcher, you could not get the s-video to work. We will need to iron out that bug in order to get your digital cable box to work also.

If you disconnect the coaxial cable from the TV and the VCR and connect the VCR to the TV via composite video, and the DVD player to the TV via s-video, see if your TV is able to switch between the different video modes. Perhaps you must tell it to switch to the s-video input, or the composite video input. If that is the case, then when you connect all the video (VCR, DVD, DSS etc) to the receiver, then you must also tell the TV which input you wish to view.

I can only speculate because I am not familiar with the Sharp line of 27" TV's.

Try this. Remember to unhook the TV and VCR's coax so that we know for sure that it works via the composite mode.

 

[BrianSmithe]

I think the problem was that I was using an S-Video cable from the DVD player to the receiver, but than RCA to the TV. My TV is able to switch to Input 1-S-Video for the DVD player then on regular TV it works with the VCR. I will have to try that composite hookup with the VCR. When I do get the digital cable, assuming everything works, what would be the optimal connections for my system? Thanks again for the help!!

 

[Jonathan Smith]

It sounds like you'll want to do something like this...
Video connections:
Svideo from cable box out to receiver in
Svideo from DVD player to receiver in
Svideo from receiver out to TV in

Audio:
optical connection from DVD player to receiver
digital audio coax connection from cable box to receiver
regular RCA Audio cables (the red and white ones) from cable box to receiver (the reason for this connection is that not all "digital" cable stations are really digital, and they don't have Dolby Digital audio)

As far as the VCR goes, I guess you'd want to run the audio to your receiver. I'm assuming that the VCR doesn't have Svideo, so you could run the video RCA cable either through the receiver or directly to the TV. If you don't have any other components being connected with this type of cable, switching it through the receiver really doesn't do any good.

You'll have to play around with your receiver to make it figure out the audio for digital cable. You basically want it to use the digital connection if it is available for the station you're watching and the RCA connection if it's not.

 

[BrianSmithe]

k, thanks. Now, can I mix the 2 audio signals, optical and coax digital audio? Like right now, I have the reciever on Opt mode so the DVD player works with the Digital Audio cable. If I put it on some sort of Auto mode could I successfully use both those signals when switching from the DVD player to the cable and vice versa? Also, my friend has the digital cable box and he never mentioned about the regular RCA audio connection for the non-Dolby Digital channels. I'll have to ask him if you have to do that, but I don't recall him having to do that. Also, the VCR is the only sorce non-SVideo. If I connected the video out to video in on the TV will I be able to record shows from the digital cable and watch VHS tapes?

 

[BrianSmithe]

I just thought of another problem I might have. If anyone can answer either of my 2 questions I would be grateful!
here is the back of my receiverclick here
Now, the digital cable I'm assuming gets connected to the TV/SAT area? If so, then I could do the S-Video from the cable box to the receiver with no problems. Then I would have the DVD connected S-Video to the receiver and run an S-Video from reciver to TV. But for audio, the DVD player is connected via optical digital audio through the top optical port you see(labled DVD/LD), the next optical input is for TV/SAT then the next for MD and the last for MIC/Tape Out. The one coax input is for the DVD/LD. Now, where would I connect the Coax digital audio cable coming from the digital cable box so that when I'm on DVD/LD mode I get the sound via optical digital audio and video on the TV, and then when I switch to TV/SAT(assuming that's where I connect the digital cable) I get digital audio from the coax and video on the tv. Sorry if this is confusing hehe;

 

[Jonathan Smith]

I have never used that receiver, but you should be able to assign the digital audio inputs to a source. For example, even though the only coaxial input says DVD/LD, you should be able to tell the receiver (in one of its setup menus somewhere) that you want that input to be used in conjunction with the TV/SAT video signal. Look for a menu called Input Setup or something like that and mess around with it. Also read the instruction manual for the receiver -- it's good to be familiar with it and I promise you'll learn something you didn't know before.

Unless your digital cable service is much better than mine, you will need the RCA connection for audio as well as the digital. See how your friend's is set up.

Recording on a VCR with digital cable is a pain in the butt. There are several ways to hook it up, and there are tradeoffs for each one. Vince Maskeeper posted something about that within the last week or so, do a search and try to find what he said.

 

[chiante]

you can't assign the digital inputs on that receiver. i took it back and exchanged it for that reason.

 

[BrianSmithe]

BAH, could anyone reccomend a good receiver that does the assigning of digital outputs? I can't get anything now, but for the future when I have more money. Something sub-1000$ would be best hehe. Thanks

 

[Jonathan Smith]

Well, if you can't assign the inputs, you could still try one more thing. Just hook up the cable box to the DVD inputs and the DVD player into the TV/SAT inputs (including svideo and audio connections). That way, the cable picture and the coaxial digital audio will all be with the same source (it will just be called DVD on your receiver), and the DVD player will be called TV/SAT. That would be counter-intuitive, but I think it should work. Maybe you can rename the inputs on the receiver? Many will let you that.

 

[David Ison]

take a look at the pioneer vsx-d811s, 3coaxial&3 opt. digital inputs all assignable./s ,component and composite outputs. dd dts plII and dts neo:6, easily upgraded with a bigger, better amp?(100 watts rated).Just my opinion.

 

[BrianSmithe]

thanks everyone!