Help with Home Theatre setup (HDTV to Receiver, DVD, Directv)

[dooma]

Ok, I am a complete newbie and I need some helP with my Home theatre setup!
I just purchased a 50" Philips Plasma HDTV 50PF9630A
and I am trying to integrate a Receiver, Speakers, DVD Player (not yet purchased) and DirecTV together (not yet hooked up).

In my previous setup with a regular TV, I had everything connected to my receiver which was hooked to my TV. It was all so simple. Now there is too many confusing input/outputs.

Receiver - Onkyo DR-90 (About 5 years old, No HDMI port, has 2 optical and 1 coaxial)
Speakers - Bose (AMD-11)
DVD - TBD (Plan on getting one with HDMI interface - any recs on model?)

My plasma has 2 HDMI ports. Too optimize the whole HDTV experience,
I've been told to connect the Directv HD box and DVD players thru a HDMI port. Is this correct?

Now here is the part i feel really stupid.
If both the DVD player and DirectV are connected via a direct HDMI connection to the plasma, how do I get the audio to come thru the receiver/speakers?
For the DVD, do I use the optical connection, to run a separate optical cable from the DVD to the Receiver?

For DirecTV (I've never had this and its not setup yet), do I use a separate optical cable (or maybe coaxial?) to run from the HD box to the receiver?

Lastly, how do I establish a digital connection between my receiver and plasma? Again, I have 2 optical ports and one coaxial. On the back of my plasma I saw a "Digital" audio single plug in the back

If there is a better or more efficient approach, I would be open to any suggestions. And I'll read up as much as I can on this forum.
Thanks, and I appreciate any advice you can give me.

Regards

Dooma

 

[selwonk]

Simplicity is heavenly for some and running everything through one source helps with that. If your buget allowed you could upgrade your exsisting receiver and get one with HDMI switching capabilities (Denon for ex). As far as the rest of your questions it seem like your on the right path. Your right as far as using the digital output from the DVD player and Sat receiver to your A/V receiver to get the audio to your speakers. HDMI does carry audio and video but you don't have to use it for both. And as far as the digital connection goes between your A/V receiver and monitor don't worry about it because you allready have a direct audio feed from the source (DVD player and Sat receiver).
The fun part about all of this is that there are many diferent ways to get to the same destination.