| Author |
Thread: Hooking up my first home theater system |
    
New member Username: Duckhawk76
Post Number: 1
Registered: Feb-08
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| Posted on Wednesday, April 09, 2008 - 08:20 pm: |
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Hi everyone,
My first post here, and looking for some help. I have finished a rec room ( 30ft. by 35ft.) and have bought some HT equipment after reading numerous reviews. How is the best way to wire this equipment? I have in wall speaker cables in place and two hdmi cables ran to t.v. thus far. Eguipment is as follows....denon 3805 reciever (add multi-zones later), motorola HD cable box, denon 2845CI dvd changer, xbox, and sharp aquios LC-52D62U t.v. Speakers are all polk audio. RT16 floor standing, RT3 surrounds and CS350-IS center.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Joel |
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Silver Member Username: Jrbay
Livonia Detroit area,
Michigan
USA
Post Number: 108
Registered: Feb-08
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| Posted on Thursday, April 10, 2008 - 12:57 pm: |
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Greetings Joel,
Since your receiver does not appear to have HDMI switching there are several ways to wire this thing. Since you already have HDMI cables I would suggest this:
HDMI cable 1 from the cable box to TV
HDMI cable 2 from DVD changer to the TV
You then need either a digital coax or optical cable from the cable box to the Denon receiver and another from the DVD changer to the receiver and the inputs on the receiver adjusted accordingly.
Hope this helps, |
New member Username: Duckhawk76
Post Number: 2
Registered: Feb-08
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| Posted on Thursday, April 10, 2008 - 09:53 pm: |
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Thanks Jim,
Is digital coax or optical cable the way to go here? Any suggestions on the xbox? The cable that came with is 4 to 6 ft. My lcd is mounted somewhere around 25ft. from entertainment center. Anyone sell these cables in lengths like this?
Thanks for looking
Joel |
Silver Member Username: Jrbay
Livonia Detroit area,
Michigan
USA
Post Number: 112
Registered: Feb-08
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| Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 - 06:05 am: |
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There will be no audible difference between the digital coax or the optical cables but the coax will be cheaper so go with that.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/search.asp?spcDB=10236&spcWord=Audio+Cables+%2 D+Digital+Coaxial+Audio&keyword=Digital%20coax
As for your XBox, the simplest way is to plug it into the Denon then run a composite video cable out from the Denon to the TV. From the link above you can buy a 50 foot length of coax to handle this. |
Bronze Member Username: Levelzero
Post Number: 15
Registered: Aug-07
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| Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 - 10:59 am: |
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Joel,
If I found the correct Denon receiver you should have 5 Digital Optical Inputs correct? If this is the case, you can use the provided dongle for component video and use the digital optical wire to run into your receiver. That's the way I have mine set up.
*If you have the xbox elite besides the HDMI cable you should have an extra dongle to connect the digital optical wire to the receiver.
With 5 optical inputs and 3 devices, you can go all optical if you want and have the 2 coax ports as backup. With my receiver, I have the motorola DVR, PS3, and 360 hooked up using digital optical. I have only 3 digial optical ports, and 1 coax which I have the dvd changer hooked up to.
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Silver Member Username: Mccambley
BREEZY POINT,
NY
USA
Post Number: 482
Registered: Jun-05
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| Posted on Thursday, April 17, 2008 - 02:15 pm: |
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My lcd is mounted somewhere around 25ft. from entertainment center.
Joel are all your devices this far away from the TV or just the Xbox? If all your devices are 25 ft away we need a new game plan |
New member Username: Duckhawk76
Post Number: 3
Registered: Feb-08
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| Posted on Friday, April 18, 2008 - 12:47 pm: |
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Hi Casey,
My entertainment center is approx. 15-17ft. from my t.v. It is 25ft. to 30ft. when running cable in wall.
Will this somehow affect my HT system?
Thanks Joel |
Silver Member Username: Cclashh
Post Number: 197
Registered: Jan-08
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| Posted on Saturday, April 19, 2008 - 06:19 pm: |
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Q. Does HDMI accommodate long cable lengths
Yes. HDMI technology has been designed to use standard copper cable construction at long lengths. In order to allow cable manufacturers to improve their products through the use of new technologies, HDMI specifies the required performance of a cable but does not specify a maximum cable length. We have seen cables pass "Standard Cable" HDMI compliance testing at lengths of up to a maximum of 10 meters without the use of a repeater. It is not only the cable that factors into how long a cable can successfully carry an HDMI signal, the receiver chip inside the TV or projector also plays a major factor. Receiver chips that include a feature called "cable equalization" are able to compensate for weaker signals thereby extending the potential length of any cable that is used with that device.
With any long run of an HDMI cable, quality manufactured cables can play a significant role in successfully running HDMI over such longer distances
Q. How do I run HDMI cables longer than 10 meters?
There are many HDMI Adopters working on HDMI solutions that extend a cable’s effective distance from the typical 10 meter range to much longer lengths. These companies manufacture a variety of solutions that include active cables (active electronics built into cables that boost and extend the cable’s signal), repeaters, amplifiers as well as CAT5/6 and fiber solutions.
It looks like you are right at the threshold for cable length but you can purchase ative cables that will extend this.
http://www.hdmi.org/learningcenter/faq.aspx |
Silver Member Username: Jrbay
Livonia Detroit area,
Michigan
USA
Post Number: 131
Registered: Feb-08
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| Posted on Saturday, April 19, 2008 - 09:27 pm: |
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More Info:
http://customconnectionsonline.com/faq7.html
http://customconnectionsonline.com/faq10.html |
Silver Member Username: Mccambley
BREEZY POINT,
NY
USA
Post Number: 484
Registered: Jun-05
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| Posted on Sunday, April 20, 2008 - 11:01 pm: |
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As far as the Xbox hook up I like Jims' idea of using coaxil RF antenna cable to run composite video from the Denon after hooking up the Xbox to the receiver. You can get 50 feet cheap at Radio Shack, And a pair of RF to RCA conversion plugs. |
Silver Member Username: Cclashh
Post Number: 198
Registered: Jan-08
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| Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 01:35 am: |
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Just make sure to make the cables the exact same length. |
Silver Member Username: Mccambley
BREEZY POINT,
NY
USA
Post Number: 485
Registered: Jun-05
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| Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 02:02 pm: |
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You only need to send one cable for composite video the audio will just hook up to the Denon. |
Silver Member Username: Cclashh
Post Number: 199
Registered: Jan-08
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| Posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 - 06:44 pm: |
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Sorry, I must have missed something. Why isn't he using component? |
Silver Member Username: Cclashh
Post Number: 200
Registered: Jan-08
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| Posted on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 - 11:26 am: |
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The Xbox can give him 480P on games and movies but he is not going to get this with a composite connection. He has a high def TV so it really makes no sense to have him to use a composite connection. The original Xbox does support high definition. The resolution on games can go as high as 1080i and to do this he needs to use component.
http://www.epinions.com/content_212511395460 |
