I follow several blogs including this excellent site to learn as much as I can about the configuration and setup of a networked system. I will be building the system from scratch with mid-level (IMHO) electronics.
Please advise considerations to connect a universal blu-ray player with smart HDTV and upscale AVRs (Denons in two rooms), all of which have equivalent network connectivity.
You may find similar network features in these devices, but there will probably be one that does a particular function better than the others. For example, many devices have Netflix, not all work as well. You'll have to try them and see what features you like on which devices.
What are the alternatives and benefits for the Blu-ray player to be connected to either the HDTV, the AVR, or both? They also have access to the media server with DLNA services.
There is a certain wisdom to using the AVR as the central point to the system, and letting it handle the switching of sources. However, these days with TV's audio return channel over HDMI it's not as critical as it used to be. I'd still probably try wiring every source to the AVR first, then feed the TV from it.
Watch out trying to feed multiple destinations from an HDMI source device. Cheap splitters don't work very well. You should plan on paying $80 for a 1x2 splitter that works properly.
