Newbie DVD/Receiver/Cable Box connections ? (1 Viewer)

[Ron_B_S]

Hi,
I have purchased my first receiver (Sony DE485) and surround sound speakers to hook up to a new DVD player, a VCR and an old TV. The receiver has inputs labeled for DVD, video 1 (VCR), and video 2 (cable box). I have a question on hooking up the DVD player and the digital cable box to the receiver to get the best surround sound. I am new to digital cable hookups. The DVD player has (1) digital coaxial jack and (1) digital optical jack. The cable box has (1) digital coaxial jack. The new receiver has (1) digital coaxial jack (generally specified for DVD) and (1) dig. optical jack (specified for video 2 - currently the cable box). I currently hooked up the DVD player using the dig. coaxial jack to the DVD coaxial jack on the receiver. I have the cable box connected with rca cables. Since the DVD uses the dig. coaxial jack, I have no place to plug the dig. coaxial coming from the cable box (which does not have optical jack). I am sure I could plug the dig. coaxial from the cable box into the DVD labled jacks on the receiver and plug the DVD player into video 2 and use dig. optical connection. However, the inputs would be mislabeled on the reveiver display and remote. I have several questions: How much does having a digital cable connection from the digital cable box to receiver help? What are advantages of connecting using optical vs. coaxial (manual recommends coaxial)? Should I reverse the connections between DVD and video 2 so I can have a digital connection from my cable box? Should I call the cable co. and see if they have a cable box with optical jacks? I am basically looking for suggestions on the best way to hook up components. Any help is appreciated. The surround sound seemed really weak with only rca cables connecting to the cable box. One last question, are rca audio cables needed if you are using a digital cable? Thanks.
Ron

 

[Garrett Lundy]

One last question, are rca audio cables needed if you are using a digital cable?

No. You only need one audio output per component.
My suggestion for hooking it all up.
Reciever Inputs:
DVD: The cable box. You can easily connect the coax-digital to your cable box.
Video 1: VCR
Video 2: DVD. You can connect your DVD player via the optical connector.
Confusing at first? Yes, but it allows everything to hook-up with a minimum of wires and fuss.

 

[Ron_B_S]

Thanks!

 

[GregLee]

But you may get some DD 5.1 on premium digital channels. Doesn't your receiver have a set up procedure so you can designate the devices the two digital audio inputs are associated with?

 

[Ron_B_S]

Possibly, I am going to check that. However, the connection labeled for DVD shows up as DVD on the lighted display on the front of the receiver. I am going to see if that is changeable. The remote would also have to be remapped. It is not much of a problem for me if they are labeled incorrectly. Less confusion though is better for wife and daughter...Haha