Alright guys. I thought I was pretty tech saavy, but my new Home Teater set-up is driving me nuts. What is the best way to hook up a:
Samsung 32" LCD Flat Screen KEF HTIB Digital Cable
My biggest problem seems to be that my receiver does not have component in and out; just one set of component hook-up. Also, my cable box does not have an optical digital out. Am I stuck with analog sound and S-Video? Do I return the KEF system; I just don't want to deal with all the wiring necessary for a 5.1.
You're right, if your cable box doesn't support a digital connection (coax or optical), then your only option is analog, but if you don't want to set up 5.1 in the first place, why does it matter to you whether you connect your cable box with analog or digital audio? You likely won't hear much difference with only two speakers.
Now, for component, I'm not sure what you mean by "My biggest problem seems to be that my receiver does not have component in and out; just one set of component hook-up." Does it have component connections or not?
Finally, it sounds like you're saying the best video connection you can get from your cable box is s-video (which is likely if it doesn't support digital audio), so why does it matter whether your receiver switches component video?
"Only the hi-def cable boxes will give you digital connections."
That's not true.
I have a standard definition DirecTV TiVo (Hughes) hooked up via a digital connection. My father-in-law had his SD Timer Warner box hooked up with a digital connection as well, before he upgraded to the HD model.
I'm sure there are other SD cable/satellite boxes that support digital audio as well.
My receiver does have component, but the setups I've seen said that component should go from cable box to receiver, and then from receiver to tv. This can't happen if the receiver has only one set of component hookup. Also, I bought HDMI cable, but my box only has DVI. Whats the difference.
Right now I just have RF from cable to TV and analog from cable to receiver. Can I do any better?
That still doesn't make sense. Your receiver can't do anything with a component input if it doesn't have a component output (may be labelled as "component out" or "monitor out").
HDMI carries audio as well as video. I honestly can't tell you which is better among component, HDMI and DVI, as I haven't really looked into it (my TV only supports component).
You only need one of the 3 though. If you use DVI for video, you don't need a component cable. Do you have the model number of your HTIB? I guarantee you if it has a component input, it has a component output.