Before I Go Insane......

[marcmac]

Hey all,

How I have all my components working is a miracle. Now I'm going to go spoil it all by getting an HDTV. Here is my existing equipment and questions:

Yamaha receiver
Panasonic DVD recorder
CD player
Comcast cable box
TV
Speaker system (subwoofer and two satellite speakers)

Here's what I'll be adding:

HDTV
DVR

Here's what's important to me:

1) Taking what's on the DVR and recording it to disc using the DVD recorder
2) Ability to listen to the TV and DVD recorder/player through my sound system.

The Questions:

1) How do I hook everything up without a) going insane, b) crying, c) pulling out hair, or d) all of the above
2) What TYPES of connections are best for maximal audio and video quality? Right now I think I'm using cables from back in the 1970's while listening to Emerson, Lake & Palmer. I'm not quite sure of even the types of connections I have on my receiver but I'd like opinions on S-video, optical, etc. I don't even know what HDMI is.

Sorry for the long post. Although I'm excited about the new HDTV, I'm dreading the installation and will probably be found sometime on Monday morning, passed out drunk on my living room floor, surrounded by cables, user manuals and empty bottles of Crown Royal.

Thanks in advance!

 

[majorloser]

.....passed out drunk on my living room floor, surrounded by cables, user manuals and empty bottles of Crown Royal.

Good to see I'm not the only one

If possible, could you tell us a little more about your equipment.

• Is your cable service HD?
• If not, are you going to upgrade?
• Is your receiver a surround sound unit or just 2-channel? (model?)
• Are you buying an external DVR or getting the one with the cable service?
• Are you planning on adding any other HD sources? PS3? Xbox360? Blu-Ray? HD-DVD?

To do what you're asking is not really difficult nor expensive. I could just use a little more info about what equipment you have and plan on getting.

 

[marcmac]

Thanks Major.

I currently have digital cable service. After looking at this a little further, I am going to get a DVR from Comcast and forego the traditional cable box. My receiver is not a surround sound. The brand is Yamaha. Sorry, I don't have the model number. I'm not planning to add any other components at this point.

Thanks again! Much appreciated.

 

[jliedeka]

I can offer a couple of suggestions:

* Get an HDTV with more than 1 HDMI and component connections. Since you don't have a surround receiver, I'm guessing it doesn't do a lot of advanced A/V switching. You'll need to switch your video sources with the TV so connect all video stuff to the TV using the best available connection.

* I'm not sure about your options for recording from the DVR to the DVD-R. You may have to pass an analog signal or component plus fiber depending on what connectors the DVR and DVD-R have. If they both have HDMI, that might be easiest but there may be digital restrictions management (DRM) that prevents that from working.

Jim