Total Newbie, Which Cables Will I Need? (1 Viewer)

[Dave_Mu]

I finally got the go-ahead from the wife to set up a home theater... and she is actually excited about it. I've got a little over 2000.00 total to spend, so it will be a modest setup compared to most I read about here, but it is a start.

I've read and read here and I think I'm going with the following...

Samsung 32" HDTV
Pioneer VSX-D811S
Panasonic DVD-RP82
JBL NSP1 II Set
Sony SA-WM40

I have DirecTV and a PlayStation 2 that will come along for the ride... I admit, I still like to play video games.


Keep in mind, I am a total newbie to this... so I need some help. What cables do I need to hook all this stuff up? If you can recommend any budget brands of cables that will do a good job please don't hesitate to let me know that as well.

Thanks

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Hi Dave. Welcome to HTF!
I strongly suggest you pick a saturday morning to do all this. Get your electronics installed, take measurements and then go to the store for cables. (Yes, I know you want to buy them in advance, but... it's better to have them all installed first to get the correct lengths.)
You can buy in advance some speaker wire, wire labels and a surge-supressing power strip.
Cable Concepts
We are going to put the speaker wires down low, pull the power cords to one side and let the interconnects hang loosly down the middle. This makes 3 separate bundles. You can bundle the wires with velcro strips or split-loom tubing, but dont try to make tight bundles. It's not good for the cables or your signals. Loose, but tidy is what you are after.
Rack Layout
- Put the receiver on the bottom shelf. You dont touch it normally (you use the remote). This allows those heavy speaker wires to flow out onto the floor without obscuring the other devices.
- Above the receiver put the CATV/DSS box's. (Once again, you dont normally touch these.)
- On the top shelves put the DVD player, VCR, and the PS2. You want these up higher to you can interact with them without bending over. Leave a shelf open under the PS2 to shove the controllers.
- Go to Radio Shack and get a $3 set of wire labels with the white writeable surface and clear plastic tape in one.
- Look at the back of your equipment and attach a 2 wire lables to each power cord. Put one where it goes into the box, and another right above the plug. Write a letter "A" on both ends of the first cord, then write "B" on the next, and continue on until all the cords are labeled.
- Look at the back of your equipment and note where most of the power cords come out. (left or right) On this side of your rack, install a surge-protected power strip. Plug each device in and gently route/fold the power cords in big loops to that they all go to this side. Buy some velcro "tie straps" from the hardware store or Radio Shack and use this to loosly bundle the cords. Double-sided velcro from the fabric store is another cheap/easy way to do this. Radio Shack also sells "Split Loom Tubing" for cables for a few bucks more. Do not use the plastic Zip Ties or bread-wrapper twist-ties. These will both dig into the power cords over time.
Once you get the units layed out, now you can measure for the lengths of cables you need.
Where to buy Speaker Wire
Plan to use 12 ga speaker wire everywhere. Places like www.partsexpress.com will sell you spools in verious lengths. Get some rough measurements and order enough 12 even to the back. (Yes, you need THICKER wire for the rears, not thinner). Plan to run 3 sets of speaker wire to the rears because that receiver can handle the rear-center speaker. (The wire will be cheap compared to your labor.)
Where to buy Cables
You have some choices. Best Buy and other places sell the AR Pro Series of cables which have a good reputation for a very budget price. Radio Shack has some nice "Mega Cable" bundles that have things like SVideo + L/R audio, or SVideo + optical in a single bundle. This will really help reduce cable clutter.
How to run the video
There are 3 types of video connections you can make. Your receiver will NOT convert one to the other. They are:
Composite: Single RCA cable, usually colored yellow: baseline video quality
SVideo: Single-looking cable with funny 'keyboard' connector: 20% better picture than Composite
Component: 3 RCA cables in a bundle: 25% better video quality
You have a mix of devices to hook up. All of them provide SVideo, and only one offers a component feed. Here is my advice:

Plan to run SVideo signals from EVERY device through your receiver. Then one SVideo cable from the receiver to the TV. Also, buy 1 good Component Video cable and connect this directly from the DVD player to the TV. You will need this for the progressive-scan video.

Running SVideo through the receiver makes the system easy to use. You simply turn on the TV, and leave it set to looking at the SVideo feed from the receiver. Now the receiver remote is the only thing you need to go from DVD to PS2 to Sat.... Yes, you have to turn on the receiver each time - but that IS the way we do it. Get used to it.
But for serious DVD watching, you take the extra step and flip the TV input to see the component feed straight from the DVD player.
How to run the Audio
In general, a coaxial-digital connection is cheaper, more robust than the optical. The optical cable is sometimes called a "TosLink" cable. The coaxial-digital cable is sometimes called a "Video" cable. That's right - it's just a video cable. Your receiver has 2 coaxial and 3 optical inputs so this should be plenty.
To really nail down what you need, you must tell me what type of digital output each of these devices have. Optical, Digital or Both:
DVD Player:
PS2:
DirectTV receiver:
So here is your pre-install shopping list:
- Enough 12 ga speaker wire to wire up all 6 speakers. ($.040/ft or less if possible)
- Wire Labels: $3
- Surge Supression power strip: $15
Here is your post-install shopping list:
Receiver to TV: one long SVideo cable
DVD to Receiver: SVideo and coaxial/optical cable
PS2 to Receiver: SVideo and coaxial/optical cable
DirectTV to Receiver: SVideo and coaxial/optical cable
Receiver to Subwoofer: Pre made CATV coax with "F" connectors, and 2 "F-to-RCA-Male" adaptors from Radio Shack.
Hope this helps.

 

[Dave_Mu]

Bob, I cannot begin to thank you enough! I am going to copy this thread and save it for future reference.

I'm going to plan on using a whole weekend to get everything set up properly...

While I have your attention, can I pick your brain one more time? Can you recommend a fairly affordable remote that I can set up to operate everything with some level of ease?

 

[Eduardo]

If you have the time you may want to look into CAT cables or any of it sister cable companies. They are high quality cables (audio and video) for a reasonable price.
Link Removed

 

[Bill Kane]

HERE are some AV surge protectors to give you an idea, as opposed to OfficeMax or OfficeDepot type of strips.
Partsexpress.com is a good source for TrippLite ISOBAR6DBS.
If one has cabletv or satellite dish coax cable coming into the system, it's best to run the cable thru a surge protector too.
bill

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Can you recommend a fairly affordable remote that I can set up to operate everything with some level of ease?

The One For All Cinema 7. Programable, Has Macro buttons, sells for $19-$25.
www.remotecentral.com is a site dedicated to all kinds of remotes.
I will add on a description of what to wire up in order. Just ran out of time.

 

[Dave_Mu]

Thanks for the info! Thank you, thank you, thank you!