Cables, (Cabling), A/V setups?!?

[GerryH]

Properly "Cabling" an audio system used to be straightforward - Wow! that has all changed, and evolved.

At least a balance if not a majority of respectful A/V systems now include DVD recorders, (as well as many VCR player/recorders still in use).

Problem is; "most" instruction, (owner manuals), that are provided with the major of component's include only meager, basic examples of how to tackle the task of hooking up, (i.e. cabling), a 'mass' of different inputs and outputs.

If there's not a specialty company near your town , you are left to make-up your own cabling maze - the Achievement test! If sound and a picture come out - "you've passed"! Of course getting sound and a picture from here to there might include 8 or 10 throws of switches, turns of selectors and clicking on at least 3 different remote's... Good grief!

Having set the stage...

Is there anyone anywhere that knows of a book, (or website), diagraming how to properly (or best) cable; from a simple, to a full blown A/V Home theater system.

Some readers will jump up at this point exclaiming: "why, those are in all my stuff Owners Manuals fool". You might look closer... I've actually found 'no' owners manuals or otherwise that diagram's how to best cable a DVD player as well as Recorder. - or, how to approach the cabling of a DVD (or VCR), anolog versus a digital component Recorder & player?

Now. For God's sake I DO NOT want to encourge the obsessed to drag this discussion title off into the event realm of nitrogen filled cables versus rubbing green hi-liters on their CD's to achieve higher areal clarity - please! Spare us.

 

[MDS]

Some manuals are better than others of course but it's true that they rarely have detailed instructions on how best to connect multiple devices - that would be a book in itself (and no, I personally do not know of any such book).

You learn over time how it all works and by understanding the flow of signals through the system you can figure out what works best for you. People can always ask here too because many of us have been through it many times...

 

[BMXTRIX]

I haven't looked to closely at any of these, but I would think that the Amazon selections near the top of the list would be the winners...

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias=stripbooks&field-keywords=home+theater

I do own the older Practical Home Theater, but could only get partway through it myself.

I think the biggest issue you run into is that to accurately cable a system you actually have to have intimate knowledge of all the pieces which are going into the system to understand not only how they work, but what their limitations are.

For example: AppleTV can only output either HDMI or component video at one time, it can't output both at the same time.
Your DVD-R may be rights restricted and may only record certain television shows based upon the copyright flag which is included with the TV show.

Certain cable/satellite boxes only output HDMI or Component video individually, while others output both simultaneously.

The PS3 will output audio on HDMI OR S/PDIF, or analog, but will not do two formats at once. (same with video - HDMI, component, or composite).

So, there really isn't a manual which can accurately go over the different ways in which things can connect together properly and with the myriad - and I do mean MYRIAD of A/V receivers on the market, it makes it even more difficult to accurately describe how a system should be wired together for optimal quality every time.

This is where I think the Internet really comes into play because if after reading some manuals and doing some research you are still confused on some certain points, you can ask.

Better yet, you can ask BEFORE you buy so you don't end up feeling like you got ripped off because what you bought doesn't do the specific thing you want it to do... and it never was capable of doing (as everyone already knows... except you).

It seems that every few days I read a post from someone that says "I just bought this, is it any good?" or "Why can't my brand new product do this? It really should!"

So, while you can pick up some books and look for that one specific setup that matches perfectly your particular set of components, it is far more likely that no book or manual will ever do that.

For those who are willing to do their homework, they can do it themselves and figure things out and then confidently use their system.

For those who can't or have no desire, that is where a good installer and a GREAT remote control can make it one touch easy for you, the wife, and the rest of the family to use a very complex system without any confusion.

FYI: DVD recorders are always confusing. The consensus from the custom installing community is that there isn't one DVD-R that is any better than mediocre. They don't touch the VCR for ease of use and tend to be bloated wastes of money. Especially considering the elegance of the integrated DVR systems from cable and satellite companies.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Properly "Cabling" an audio system used to be straightforward - Wow! that has all changed, and evolved.

At least a balance if not a majority of respectful A/V systems now include DVD recorders, (as well as many VCR player/recorders still in use).

Problem is; "most" instruction, (owner manuals), that are provided with the major of component's include only meager, basic examples of how to tackle the task of hooking up, (i.e. cabling), a 'mass' of different inputs and outputs.

If there's not a specialty company near your town , you are left to make-up your own cabling maze - the Achievement test! If sound and a picture come out - "you've passed"! Of course getting sound and a picture from here to there might include 8 or 10 throws of switches, turns of selectors and clicking on at least 3 different remote's... Good grief!

Having set the stage...

Is there anyone anywhere that knows of a book, (or website), diagraming how to properly (or best) cable; from a simple, to a full blown A/V Home theater system.

Some readers will jump up at this point exclaiming: "why, those are in all my stuff Owners Manuals fool". You might look closer... I've actually found 'no' owners manuals or otherwise that diagram's how to best cable a DVD player as well as Recorder. - or, how to approach the cabling of a DVD (or VCR), anolog versus a digital component Recorder & player?

Now. For God's sake I DO NOT want to encourge the obsessed to drag this discussion title off into the event realm of nitrogen filled cables versus rubbing green hi-liters on their CD's to achieve higher areal clarity - please! Spare us.

What components are you trying to connect together?
Some of the modern receivers do have pretty good wiring diagram in them.

 

[mustang_steve]

My strategy is to cable the closest components together first, then go progressively further until all are done.

To clarify, since there will be questions along the lines of "My DVD player feeds audio to my reciever, but video to my TV directly...what now?" Well, do the shortest component connection first, then the other one later.

Reason for this is the longer runs tend to get in the way of clean routing of the shorter runs.

Of course this will be very difficult if you have your reciever in a boxed-in type of scenario (like I do), but it's still very doable if you work on it methodically.

For example, my wiring is this: HTPC local wiring (printer, router, etc), HTPC to reciever (coax digital), reciever to center channel speaker, HTPC to TV (DVI to HDMI cable) reciever to subwoofer, reciever to all other speakers.

Yes, no cable box...I got rid of cable after becoming a Netflix junkie.