Today is a big day: the TV I ordered weeks ago is finally arriving and all of the speakers have been installed. Now it's time to put it all together; however, I can't decide which receiver to us.
I have a Marantz SR 5001 that my brother gave me when he upgraded his system. I was planning on using it for the HT; however, it only has 2 HDMI ins and they are version 1.1 and it doesn't have any auto setup options, lastly, it is set up for 7.1 not 7.2 as my room is (although I have an adapter to split the sub signal so that's not a huge deal).
I also have a Yamaha RX-663 that has HDMI ver 1.3, auto setup via a mic, 7.2 setup, etc.
I will be hooking up the following components in the HT: HTPC with Blu-Ray/HD DVD player, HD Cable box, Wii, and LG 50" plasma with built-in Netflix streaming (so I will be running an optical cable from TV out to Receiver In for sound associated with Netflix movies.
Which option would you choose:
1) Marantz with components connected to HDMI 1.1 on receiver and then to TV
2) Marantz with video connected directly to TV (HDMI 1.3 on TV) and sound directly to receiver (I guess through optical)
3) Yamaha with components connected to receiver HDMI 1.3 and then to TV
4) Yamaha with video connected to TV and sound directly to receiver.
I have been reading threads trying to get caught up on benefits of HDMI 1.3 vs 1.1 vs. optical etc but would love to hear from some others.