Cable box to TV, etc.

[newb]

Purchasing first receiver and 5.1 sound system to connect to my stereo CRT monitor. The monitor has composite inputs, co-ax inputs and stereo outs.
My cable box has optical, s vid, and composite outs along with coax out.
My question is how to best connect the TV, receiver, Cable box and DVD player together.

I looked over the connection article here and it seems to say:
1. Coax from wall to cable box, optical from Cable box to receiver(digital sound)+RCA cables to receiver for analog sound.
2. Composite from cable box to receiver and coax from box to TV for when receiver is not on.
3. Composite or HDMI from DVD to receiver.
4. Composite out to TV for highest quality TV can handle and when receiver is on.
Is this the best setup I can have with my available gear? Any help is appreciated

 

[cyber_blob]

Coax from wall to cable box.
Composite video out from box to monitor
Optical audio out from box to AVR

Analog audio can be superior to optical if it is done right. But if you only have one red cable and one white cable, you are better off with optical audio. Optical audio can support 5.1 surround sound; two channel analog cannot.

 

[mpompey]

Are you connecting your DVD player to your receiver or directly to your TV.

If you connect to your receiver than you can connect your receiver to the TV, and use the Receiver to power the speakers whenever you watch TV. This would mean the receiver has to be on whenever you want to watch a movie.

You may be able to pick up an inexpensive A/V switch from RadioShack that will allow you to connect the composite from the Cable Box and DVD player together at the switch, with a single composite to the TV. You then would just push the desired button for whatever input you wanted to show up on the TV.