Setting up Home theater questions (1 Viewer)

[Jay20nj]

Hi couple questions. Im setting up a cable box, blu ray, receiver, and tv. My router is also in same cabinet. I plan to wire the tv and receiver to the router as well. The blu ray and cable box will go into the receiver then to the tv. My 2 questions are:

1. Should i also run an hdmi from the tv back to the receiver so that anything i play from the internet on the tv such as youtube etc can be played through the surround or will that happen automatically with the 1 hdmi?

2. What are good quality hdmi cables to run through the wall? I may be able to get away with 10 foot but it will be very close and hard to access the rear or the receiver. 15 foot would be very comfortable in length. I need to nail this as i had to open up the wall to fish the cables as the tv is above a gas fireplace so i cant change cables once im installed

 

[Jay20nj]

Correction optical output from tv back to receiver not hdmi i meant

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Correct, run an optical cable from the TV to receiver for audio sourced from the TV.

Sorry, can’t help with the cable recommendation. However, anything run in-wall should be CL2 or CL3 rated.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[David Willow]

Check out monoprice.com for cables. No need to brake the bank on them.

 

[Todd Erwin]

I would refrain from using the smart apps on the TV and just get a streaming device like a Roku Streaming Stick+ (under $50). I personally prefer the Stremaing Stick+ over the Premiere mostly because it has dual-band wi-fi while the Premiere is only 2.4 GHz wi-fi. If you plan on using a Universal Remote like a Logitech Harmony, though, the Premiere is the better option since it uses IR remote codes. Also, running optical from the TV back to receiver, on most TVs, only gives you 2-channel PCM stereo audio on the smart apps like Netflix, Prime Video, etc.

As far as HDMI cables go, monoprice is a good place to go as David mentioned, and Amazon Basics are okay (on runs 6-feet and shorter). But as Wayne said, make sure they are in-wall rated, usually indicated by CL3 either on the packaging or on the insulation of the cable itself. If I am remembering correctly, nearly all Rocketfish HDMI cables are both high-speed (4K) and CL3 rated in case you need them ASAP (those are the Best Buy brand).