home theatre & surround...

[theboss]

ok so i am doing some home theatre & suround in 2 areas in my home and am having trouble figuring out what cables i need to make it work.....

here are the components:

UPSTAIRS:
onkyo txs3 307 5.1 receiver rear: (http://www.gspr.com/onkyo/images/txsr_307_rear_300.jpg)
rogers pvr (probably take it and upgrade to HDMI)
dvd player
energy speakers


DOWNSTAIRS:
Yamaha 6230(i think) 5.1 receiver rear: (http://amazon.bellmktg.com/Yamaha/Receivers/HTR-6230/HTR6230bl_back_large.jpg)
rogers pvr (probably take it and upgrade to HDMI)
dvd player
WII
polk audio speakers

besides speaker wire..whats the best/EASIEST way.....finishing the basement so nows the time to run wires

I THOUGHT everything just went into the receiver and OUT to TV via HDMI....but the guy @ best buy is telling me the Onkyo wont do that without extra video cables since its not up-converting. obviously i cant make the WII video any better...by just using the HDMI..what will I get? no surround? no video ??? i havent done this in a long time.........

[daande]

I just hid all the wires in my basement in the walls for surround and shit. I went to www.monoprice.com >> BEST place to buy cables the cheapest. I bought a 25 foot HDMI cable for like $50 because all my components are about 20 feet away from the tv. Anyways, my receiver has 3 HDMI ins and one HDMI out therefore I have the bluray, HD Cable PVR Box, and my WD media player all hooked into the receiver and I have 1 HDMI cable going from there through the wall into the tv. Also for my xbox I have 1 optical cable going into the receiver and I bought a 25 foot Component Cable to run through the wall into the cabinet. If your receiver has the inputs for the WII (RCA inpluts) that you I am almost positive that it will output through HDMI to your tv at the 480p resolution the WII has. A signal going through a HDMI does not NEED to be 1080p.

[theboss]

most of the components...ie. rogers box does not have HDMI unless i upgrade...
so should i run HDMI, a set of RGB, and RCA (red, white, yellow) as well to cover everything? or is that overkill ??

[flapjack]

It's never overkill. This is what I do for a living and the biggest mistake people make in pre-wiring is not running enough cables or cheaping out on the proper guage of speaker wire.

I would offer to help, but since your DCT is from Rogers, it's sounds like you're out east.

[theboss]

It's never overkill. This is what I do for a living and the biggest mistake people make in pre-wiring is not running enough cables or cheaping out on the proper guage of speaker wire.

I would offer to help, but since your DCT is from Rogers, it's sounds like you're out east.

advice then?
are the wire combos i suggested going to work to cover all the bases?

[daande]

Buy your cables from www.monoprice.com (you will save alot of money). You could run an HDMI, component, and RCA. I doubt you will need to run a RGB or DVI cable. Since you have the walls open you are only going to be spending an extra $50 to run the component and RCA cables especially if you are running them yourself.

[MikeyFXD35]

HDMI is the future, computer are now coming HDMI equipped. If you run RGB you will also need to run optical for surround sound. I just went through the same thing and upgraded components. HDMI is the way to go, one cable for picture and sound.

[RagingRandy]

Without looking at the spec of the receivers it is hard to tell. But essentially the HDMI hookup will pass both video and sound to the TV. What you need to determine is of the receiver passes the HDMI audio signal to the speakers. If it does not you will need to hook up a Digital audio cable between your component and the receiver as well.

P.S. use the biggest wire you can for speaker wire.

[theboss]

so...here's what i am thinking...

with the receivers i have...
upgrade both cable boxes to HDMI
purchase 2 new DVD/Blue Ray players with HDMI

...then i should only need HDMI cable and all just plugs into the receiver....other than for the wii.

thinking i am using 12g or 14g speaker wire.