All, I've been reading the associated equipment manuals for days in anticipation of hooking everything up this weekend. I've also read the numerous forum "set up" threads as well. Bottom line is, I still seek your collective sage wisdom regarding optimal connections.
I'd rather ask now then when I'm covered in flop sweat because nothing's working!
I'm skipping all the various connects I don't expect I'd need to use -
Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR602; 3 comp vid IN, 1 comp vid OUT. 3 Dig Opt INs, 2 Dig Coax INs, 1 Dig opt OUT.
Sat Rec/DVR: DTV HR10-250; 1 HDMI OUT, 1 comp vid OUT, 1 Dig Opt OUT, 1 RCA analog OUT
DVD Player: Onkyo DV-SP302; 1 comp vid OUT, 1 Dig Opt OUT, 1 Dig Coax OUT, 1 RCA analog OUT
HDTV: Sony KDF-WE655; 1 HDMI IN, 2 comp vid INs, 1 Dig Opt OUT, 2 RCA analog INs, 1 RCA analog OUT.
I'm using a Monster HTS 850 power center too.
Email or Forum responses WELCOMED!
GA
* please don't comment about equip...cause it's already bought and paid for! Don't make me actually put bullets in this gun I've got pointed at my head!
Sorry, I don't know what you want us to do. First, what you appear to be asking is a bit beyond the scope of the forum unless there is a very bored installer out there somewhere. Second, there is no "optimal" way to hook up a system. Everything depends on how you want the system to operate. (If that bored installer is out there, please give at least three possible scenarios for hook up and explain the advantages and disadvantages of each set up.)
Whether this cable goes here or there is a function of your choices. How you set the remotes up to operate, possibly with macro commands, will alter the optimal hook up.
If I were you, I would take my owner's manuals to the dealer where the equipment was purchased and schedule an appointment for a few minutes of their time to help you configure the system to your needs. That is part of the service a dealer should provide. (I hope you didn't order this from the internet to save some cash.) Or possibly pay an installer to do the hook up with you providing suggestions on what you would like to see happen. (I hope you didn't order this from the internet to save some cash.)
What's wrong with ordering from the internet to save some cash? I'd trust myself much better than some hs/college kids in a store hooking up my system...sheesh!
" I'd trust myself much better than some hs/college kids in a store hooking up my system."
That's fine, if you can do it, Hank. But if you can't, then you run into problems.
There's no problem with saving a few dollars, Hank. Just don't expect someone else to then do the work you would have paid a dealer to do for you. That's what dealers do and that's why they get a few bucks more for their service than an internet dealer who has forgotten your name by now. If you're concerned about things not working after you're covered in sweat, you might want to pay a dealer to do the install with you suggesting what you prefer as a set up. You'll probably still come out ahead and then you can think what a jerk I am.
I will tell you most dealers won't install something they didn't sell because they don't want to get caught in the middle of the deal if something fails to work when it's hooked up. At that point, it will be up to you to figure it out and you can decide if how much you saved was worth the hassle. If things don't work out, then you'll find out what's wrong with ordering from the internet to save some cash. Good luck!
Griffin Your hookup should be a snap since you have so few systems to be hooked up.
Since you only have two video sources (DVD and Sat/DVR) I recommend you hook these straight into the TV. That way the video don't get ruined by the receiver (unless your receiver has video upconversion - let me know if it does). Since the Sat/DVR has HDMI, hook HDMI to the TV HDMI. Then hook the DVD component video to the TV component input (make sure the HDMI and the component input are two separate TV inputs).
Now the audio part: hook up the toslink (optical) from the Sat/DVR to one of the opt in of the receiver. The audio into the TV is already taken care of via the HDMI.
Your choice of either digital coax or Toslink from your DVD into one of the receiver coax or Toslink (not both). That takes care of the DVD audio. You also want a pair of red/white RCA from the DVD into your TV (same group with your component video) to take care of the TV sound.
This represents the least amount of wires. Done. Free service from me. Who needs a dealer?
Jan, I'm a bit surprised as to your response. I thought the purpose of this forum was for the less informed (me) to pose questions to the well informed (you...and apparently Hank).
The fact of the matter is this. For those of us just getting into the HT game, we look to the AV pioneers for advice and guidance. We look to you guys to tell us where the pitfalls and traps are laid.
Can I read the manuals and figure out how to hook this stuff up, most certainly. Perhaps I didn't phrase my question to your liking or, so that you understood my actual intent.
So let me ask again Jan, what do YOU feel is the best way to hook up the components as I have described them? What does your own personal experience (6,255 posts) suggest I might want to consider for ease of operation etc?
Hank's few seconds of posting time will certainly make connecting easier...but, what knowledge / suggestions can you senior forumites provide for those of us less knowedgable?
I have come to the mountain top seeking wisdom oh masters of HT...
Griffin - I guess we all see the purpose of the forum differently depending on what we want it to be or need from it at any one moment. If you are looking for someone to point out the pitfalls of how people go about putting together a system, I partially spelled that out in my response to Hank. My opinion would be ordering off the internet to save a few bucks is fraught with pitfalls. If you're smart enough about what you're doing, you can often avoid the largest pits. If not, then you'll fall right in and you'll have to learn how to get yourself out.
Saving a few bucks is an attractive option, I understand that; but it is, to someone who believes in the old fashioned way of listening to a system and learning the intricacies of how to do it well from those who have put together systems for many years in many combinations, a technique which might get you a "decent" system and then again might not. The go it alone route is always a bit dangerous as far as I'm concerned. But, I guess that depends on what you want out of your system. If sound is all you want, you'll be satisfied with most anything that goes together and works.
If, on the other hand, you say you've listened to the system you want at a dealer and then go ahead and order the equipment off the internet to save a few bucks, I think you've crossed the line of morals and common sense. Morals are up to you to determine for yourself. Common sense goes like this.
This argument is going to start a war, but I see the need for independent dealers who operate brick and mortar shops if good audio gear is to survive. The dealer who opens his doors to someone who only wants to hear what they can't audition from the internet retailer is cutting off their nose to spite their face. A dealer can't stay open when all they do is show the equipment for someone else to sell. If all the dealers who are willing to show product to its best advantage are finally forced out of business, then there's no place to hear what you might want to buy. Some people don't care. It so happens, I do. I see it as a long term proposition.
As far as helping with your hook up, I'm once again going to say sorry, but I don't think I can give you the "best" way to hook the system up. Obviously, as Hank said, it's not that difficult to put this system together. That's not my point. If you bought this system from a brick and mortar dealer, you should expect assistance from them - that's part of why you paid a few bucks more. If the system doesn't work the way you want or there are problems you encounter, now or down the road as the system grows, the dealer is the best source of information and assistance. They will know how the system is hooked together and they can troubleshoot the system with much greater ability with that knowledge. If you paid for retail service, get retail service. It will benefit you in the long run. If you didn't pay for retail service, I can live with that; the deal is done. But, I think people should learn from their experiences. It's a long term proposition.
Here's what I think you should learn from this experience. Either the value of retail service and/or the knowledge that comes from working it out yourself. If you get the retail service, you'll understand why you paid a few dollars more. They should be giving you an education while they ask the questions needed to determine the "best" way to make things work for your needs. That's worth a few bucks to me, particularly if something goes wrong in the middle of the night and you need to understand how things went together. Otherwise, retail service or not, it's best for someone who owns a system to understand how it goes together. If you sit down and figure this out on a piece of paper and then make the system work on your own, that's worth much more than someone on a forum telling you, "put Tab A into Slot B."
This is a hobby, Griffin, and if you were involved in woodworking, making that first chair on your own is better than just following directions from someone who has built a chair a thousand times. If you wanted to learn to cook, making the mistakes on your first few bowls of rissoto would be how you learn to get it right.
Now, if you put this system together and there are problems, I think you'll find plenty of assistance on the forum. If you can explain how it went together. If you direct us to another thread where the instructions exist, you'll probably not get much assistance. We get distracted easily and going back and forth wears us out.
So, here's my opinion of the forum's responsibility to Griffin as he tries to put together his audio system. We are here primarily to help you learn about the hobby you've chosen. You are better served if you learn from your own experience. You learn more if you can figure out the simple stuff yourself and ask for assistance with the harder stuff based on what you have already learned. The more you learn, the less assistance you will require and the more assistance you can be to the next noobie. It's a long term proposition.
Give it a try on your own, if you don't have retail service available to you. It's not that hard with this system. If you want the best advice I can give you at this point, here it is. Each output you use will go to an input. Each input "thinks" of itself as the only input available. You can always split an output; you should never combine an input.
The problem like with any of this stuff is there usually isn't one "best" way to setup a system. Plus if you don't know enough to put a system together yourself you won't know if the dealer you are looking to buy from really knows what they are talking about. Plus depending on the area you are in the dealers may not be very good at all, and be very limited in how they help you. It really depends on what you have and what your looking for. I will gladly help people figure out what they want. But I can't do it for them, and I can't know exactly how they want to do it.
Since you only have 2 video sources you can send them directly to the TV. So the HDMI out on the receiver to the TV HDMI input. Now for the audio, what I would do is just take the digital audio out from the sat receiver and dvd player, and send those to the AV receiver.
Another thing you might consider is having the HDMI out sent directly to the tv, but then have the DVD player, and Sat receiver componet cables sent to the AV receiver. Then have the AV receiver send a component video to a single component input on the TV. That way when you switch the source on the receiver the tv picture will change to what the AV receiver is on. Where as if you don't do it that way, you will need to switch from HDMI input to component video input any time you go from one source to the other. There is no one "best" way to setup your system. Try a few different ways and see which you like the best.
Griffin - I know it doesn't appear to be so, but I'm not trying to brush you off completely. Do your hook ups and let us know how things went and whether you have any specific questions. You have similar but different options from Hank and Paul. Let us know how it works out. As I said, I would begin with a piece of paper and an idea what I want the system to accomplish.
Jan, First of all let me state that I appreciate your comments.
I have to say that I really don't understand the "brick and mortar" versus "internet" discussion as it appears to have veered away from my original posting. Without knowing you, I sense that you may have a vested interest in the retail trade?
To your theory of "learning by doing": My son started driving a year ago. I didn't tell him to read the owner's manual and the driver's ed book, toss him my keys and then tell him to be on his way.
Instead, I've spent several hundred hours with him behind the wheel, offering him tons of suggestions and recommendations based upon my years of driving experience.
Sure, I could have let him wreck a few cars (wood bowls / risotto), but what really would be gained by this (at this stage of his young driving career).
Instead, I took the approach of allowing him to research on his own AND to gain from my (and other's) significantly advanced driving skills / experience.
I think Paul and Hank's responses were more to the point of offering suggestions and trying to provide setup "options" to me as a beginning enthusiast.
This is all I was after...not a lecture about retail versus internet shopping.
"First of all let me state that I appreciate your comments."
"This is all I was after...not a lecture about retail versus internet shopping."
Seems you've covered a lot of territory between those two sentences, Griffin.
I see from your other post you got your system working. Congratulations!
Sorry if you feel I wasted your time, Griffin. I see hooking up a system as a bit of a different learning experience than driving a car. You're unlikely to do serious, life altering damage or kill someone while hooking up a DVD player. And it is a solitary endeavor for the most part, unlike sharing the rules of the road with a thousand other people. Finally, since I can't literally sit at your elbow while you make the connections, I would say your analogy would be similar to your son asking me to teach him over the internet how to drive on ice. There is a "best" way to do that task.
As I said, this should be a learning experience. Whether or not you wanted a lecture on the value of internet shopping, there it is. Hank opened the door and I walked in. Take from it what you wish and leave the rest.
Enjoy your system. If you have problems, I will try to help.