I just got a Marantz SR5003 to build my home theater around and have some hook-up questions. I would like to know the best way to hook this up to my Dish box (VIP222 HDTV / DVR) and Panny TH-50PX6U plasma t.v. for Surround sound capability.
Just some history - this Dish box (VIP222) is famous for the HDMI ports going out. When this happens the box needs to be replaced, which in turn loses all of our saved info i.e. recorded shows and stuff. As a result I would like to connect to and from the Dish box using composite cables to eliminate the future frustation. According to my research the quality is good with component as well?
Are some component cables better that others?
I have existing 16 guage speaker wire in place that I was going to use. Is it better to use banana plugs or can I just go bare wire between the receiver and speakers? The guy at the store said bare wire is best unless you are changing things up a lot.
Speakers if it matters = Def Tech Mythos 3 fronts and timber matched center.
Thank you all in advance for your help.
Mike
With your concerns about the HDMI performance of that cable box, go with the 3 component video cable. No need to buy expensive video cables for it. You could run them directly to the TV and if you have DVD or BluRay, use HDMI for it to the TV
Use digital audio to the receiver so you can decode the audio and if you ever want to watch casually, no surround sound, run analog audio from the cable box to the TV so you can watch it without the receiver, or for other members of the family.
As to speaker wire, whatever is the easiest for you. Banana plugs can be a pain to apply to the cable but easy to use once in place.
