Setup confirmation required

[velcrometer]

I need to buy cables & I want to be sure this is the best way to hook-up my system. Can someone confirm it for me?

Cable Box - Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300 HD DVR from my local cable provider w/1 HDMI output

HD DVD - Toshiba A3 w/HDMI output

AV Receiver - Onkyo TX-SR705 w/2 HDMI Inputs & 1 HDMI Output

HDTV - Mitsubishi DLP WD 62725 w/1 HDMI input

Surround Speakers - AV123 Onix Rocket RS550 Mark II (2 fronts & 2 rears all the same)

Center Channel - AV123 Onix Rocket RSC 200

Subwoofer - Hsu VTF-3 MK3

PureAV Home Theater Power Console - don't know which one yet...

1) Hook the cable box and dvd player up to the AV reciever with hdmi: I'm thinking BJC Series-F?
2) Hook the reciever's output to hdmi 1 on the tv: BJC Series-F again?
3) Get some good speaker wire and hook up speakers to reciever

QUESTION: "Oxygen-Free Copper (OFC)" recommended to me by Adam back in June. ChrisJam said: "Unless you have speaker wire runs over 50-feet, just get 14-gauge lamp-cord wire at a big home store like Lowe's or Home Depot. You can run 14 guage cable about 40 feet without hurting the sound. Any further and you should go to 12 guage. Most people just use 12 gage all the way around." My longest run is 32'. So, 14 or 12? Is this something I should buy from BJC? Do they have it? I know this is going to sound stupid to all of you, but I'm new....Which ends do I buy to hook up to the speakers & do I put them onto the wires myself? If so, my hubby will have to do it.

QUESTION...Just thought of this: Will I be able to play a photo slideshow CD that I burned on my computer onto a cd, or play music cd's on my HD DVD player? If not, I guess I'll have to keep my old DVD player hooked up too. Has RCA & S video, no HDMI. Which should I use here?

 

[m_vanmeter]

your HDMI cable plan will work as you expect. Blue Jeans cables are fine. Unless you have long speaker runs, decent 14 ga. copper wire will work well, you won't go wrong with 12 ga. but make sure the connectors on your speakers will handle 12 ga. or bannana plugs that work with 12 ga.

I'm not sure what additional formats your HD-DVD player will handle. If you already have it.....experiment. Adding your older player into the mix would not be a problem with traditional Toslink optical or digital coax

 

[aberkowitz]

Don't forget to buy a subwoofer cable as well to hook the sub into the receiver. Either the Blue Jeans LC1 (6 feet for $19) or anything on this page from monprice http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10236
will work just fine.

 

[velcrometer]

Adding your older player into the mix would not be a problem with traditional Toslink optical or digital coax

Thanks for your confirmation & the speaker wire advice!

I looked on the back, the older DVD player does have digital coax output. Does digital coax only handle the audio part of a DVD or does it carry both the audio & video signal?

If so, would you use RCA or S video outputs for the video portion?

 

[velcrometer]

aberkowitz, thanks for the reminder on the sub cable. I noticed them on the BJC website last night. Didn't know I needed a special cable for it until then. Looks like It'll need to be about 30' long. Distance won't be a problem will it?

 

[AVRat]

30' is not a problem. Coax will handle the audio only; but could be used for composite video only also. The S-video is a little better than composite video (RCA).

 

[velcrometer]

Excellent, then I will try S video. Thanks, everyone!

 

[velcrometer]

Don't forget to buy a subwoofer cable as well to hook the sub into the receiver. Either the Blue Jeans LC1 (6 feet for $19) or anything on this page from monprice http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10236
will work just fine.

Wow, I looked at Monoprice.com like you recommended. BIG PRICE DIFFERENCE! Monoprice.com is $3.40 compared to BJC $19. Are you sure there won't be a quality difference going with the cheaper one? Are we talking apples to apples here?

Monoprice.com Product ID: 619
Digital Coaxial Audio RCA Cable M/M RG59U 75ohm S/PDIF Subwoofer - 6ft $3.40

Blue Jeans LC1 - 6 feet for $19