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total newbie question - planning for 1st home theatre setup (1 Viewer)

bud659

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keith
I will soon have my 1st ever onkyo receiver and bookshelf speakers and also a 55" Samsung or LG TV. I have researched all the equipment but not the cabling to set this up. with a little embarrasement to ask :D, do these systems use a HDMI cable from the Receiver to the TV? Or from Comcast Cable Box to the Receiver? just trying to coordinate the # of cables I need and the length of cable. thank u
 

gene c

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If it's a newer receiver then you can use hdmi between the receiver and the tv. If it's a high-definition cable box then it should also have hdmi. It's always better to include the model numbers of all equipment involved so we can give more accurate responses. Are you stopping at a pair of bookshelves or are you planning to add additional speakers/sub woofer in the future?
 

David Willow

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I'll add my usual "Don't waste money on expensive cables" post. :D Use the ones that come with the gear, store brand from your local big box store, or go to monoprice.com and order.
 

zhezixi

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bud659

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The receiver I am interested in getting is this one --> http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/ONKTXSR508/Onkyo-TX-SR508-7.1-Channel-3-D-Ready-Home-Theater-Receiver/1.html The speakers wil be Energy Take Classics. The Comcast Cable Box is the Hi-Def version. Currently I have a HDMI cable from the Hi-Def Comcast Box to the hi-Def TV. If the Comcast box plugs into the new Onkyo SR-508, will the Onkyo receiver distort the picture quality of cable TV? Thank u
 

gene c

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No, it won't distort the picture. The 508 doesn't do any video processing so whatever you send into it will come out the other end with the same quality as when it went in. And on't forget a BluRay player. Prices are really coming down and they are well worth the cost :) . Hook up the Comcast receiver (and dvd/bluray player) to the receiver and the receiver to the display with hdmi cables. You will have have to make the appropriate selections in their setup menus and run the Audyssey auto setup and EQ program (see David's link for detailed instructions on Audyssey setup). We can help you with all that stuff whenever you're ready.
 

bud659

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great, my receiver will be 8 ft away from the TV. I now know what size HDMI cable to get and where to purchase. Thanks for the info and offer on the setup. C u.
 

gene c

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Like David said, you don't have to spend a lot of money on cables and wires. I even bought some of these (http://www.amazon.com/High-Speed-HDMI-Cable-feet/dp/B001CHM3VO/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1314836117&sr=1-1 - in 6 ft length) and they work fine. Quality seems very good and I'm happy with them. Monoprice.com and Bluejeancables.com are other places to look. If you go to your local store just look for "High Speed with Ethernet". That's the latest specification. HDMI.org (http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/trademark_logo_pub.aspx) doesn't officially call them 1.3 or 1.4 like the retailers do. But it does use the terms. And completely ignore things like "120hz Certified" etc. It's just marketing crap. I've had a dozen or so receivers and 8-10 different dvd/BR players, etc. run through my house over the last few years and hooked them all up with many, many different hdmi cables of various lengths, size and quality (yes, even a couple of paper thin ones :blush: ) and I never had an hdmi cable problem. They all worked just fine. More than 10 ft and I'd look for one with better shielding and a thicker gauge. Monoprice sells 22, 24 and 28 gauge cables. Thicker cables are harder to route because they don't bend very easily.
 

bud659

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thanks for the info. A couple of threads down show the Onkyo 509 at only $53 more and its a new one compared to $199 for a refurb 508. Does this one distort the HDMI picture quality? is this "Advanced" cable some marketing tactic or is it a good cable --> Amazon
 

gene c

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If you're just passing the video through the receiver then any modern receiver will be O.K. The 608/609 can do video up-conversion, up-scaling, trans-coding, etc. (it all means converting analog video to digital and/or up-scaling 480i, 480P, 720P, etc to 1080P) the 508/509 doesn't. If the 509 has some features you would like to have or if a new receiver is worth $53 more to you than a refurb then by all means get it. Video quality will be the same either way. It difficult (impossible, really) to judge the quality of most things by looking at a picture but for $1.29 even if it turns out to be a dud you're not losing much. The cable itself is supposed to be extremely cheap to make. It's the connectors that really determine the quality of an hdmi cable, or so I've read. If HDMI.org doesn't recognize the term then it's marketing. HDMI 1.3a is the only thing that's usefull (you need 1.4 for 3D). "Advanced", "exclusively designed for", "Supports 120hz", etc. doesn't mean a thing to me.
 

Justagirl

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If your doing enclosed built ins around your tv be sure to built it with a cooling fan for your components or they will over heat and shut down like mine! Thousands of dollars later and I still don't have a nice and neat theater because all my components are outside the $12,000+ built in! UGh...
 

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