Absolute Beginner - How the heck does it connect up?

S

st0ne5ish

Guest
Hi,

I have never owned an amp, surround sounds speaker system, etc before...

After a lot of research I have decided to take the plunge after buying a new TV and have come up with the following equipment list:

TV - Sony KDL40W2000
Speakers - Tannoy EFX5.1
Amp - Denon AVR1507
cable - QED micro

I also have Sky+ ordered and plan to buy an Xbox360 in the future.

I have no idea how to connect the lot up, whether they will work together and the research is confusing me. :confused:

Would anyone be able to tell me which cables to use to connect the above to each other :thumbsup:

I understand the amp has no HDMI but do I need that? What advantages would an HDMI interface give me with the above setup?

The reason for choosing the QED micro cable is it need to be small as it going in a small gap under the skirting. Does this seem a reasonable choice? Do I need to get the ends of the cables terminated or can they go straight into the speakers?

So many questions I know but any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve
 
Do you have a DVD player in mind? if so which one? I have assumed something along the lines of a Denon DVD1930 with a HDMI output for best quality connection. If your DVD player doesn't have HDMI you could replace with a component or RGB scart connection. If it doesn't have HDMI or component, i would recommend adding one to your shopping list!

No connection is necessarily required between your TV and the AV receiver unless you want to watch TV programmes with Dolby Pro Logic surround. In this case, check what kind of output your TV has (it will either be optical or 2 x red/white phono sockets) and provide this link to your receiver also.

I don't have any experience of an Xbox 360 so i have made assumptions for these connections, if someone could clarify?

connecting up everything as shown, you will have the choice of sound through your receiver or the TV.

I suspect your next questions will be 'which brand of cables', i would suggest a good browse through this forum but in a very small nutshell the general concensus seems to be spend as little as possible on digital cables (HDMI / optical) and as much as you are willing on analogue cables.

Hope the attached file is clear enough.

To add: I reckon the QED micro will be fine for these size speakers, i use it for my MA Radius 90's on zone 2 (kitchen) from my amp. Having it terminated is up to you, the 1507 will have binding posts (not sure about the tannoys but i would think they do) so you could connect it directly. Just make sure the cables won't be crushed / damaged / bent too sharply during your installation. There are lots of cable solutions available, e.g. www.d-line.co.uk
 

Attachments

  • AV CONNECTIONS.doc
    31 KB · Views: 134
Thanks for the great post, that's made things a lot clearer now. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

I plan to use the Xbox as the DVD player, which looks like it has HDMI to the TV and optical to the AVR 1507 so should have a good picture/sound on that?

The bit that's worrying me now is the TV to AVR 1507 connection, I would like to have good quality surround sound from the TV. I checked the manual on the Sony KDL40W2000:

http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/2697124112.pdf

I could not see any reference to connecting a receiver, also it shows a digital satellite receiver connected to the TV with HDMI, which has confused me some more.

I've attached what I think is now the connections, with question marks for the bits I'm not sure on. Does that look right? Can anyone confirm what the connections should be with the question marks?

Cheers,
Steve
 

Attachments

  • AV CONNECTIONS2.doc
    29 KB · Views: 90
Hi Steve,

I've been doing a bit more research:

From what i can gather the Xbox lead has a unique plug at the console end (as with other consoles - PS/Wii etc), which then splits out to connections for your TV. I don't think it has a HDMI output, but i know you can buy aftermarket and 3rd party leads which will split out to component (3 phonos coloured red, green and blue) with an additional pair of phono's (red and white) for an visiual + audio connection to your TV. This will give a good picture and audio will be more than acceptible for the limited range of TV speakers. A quick search/question to the Xbox forum should confirm this.

The optical connection to the 1507 will indeed give you DD5.1 from DVD's, games etc through your surround system.

Your Sky box will only have HDMI output if you go for Sky HD rather than Sky+, so don't worry about that. If you continue with Sky +, a good fully wired, 21 pin RGB scart lead (Thor are well received) will suffice.

Lastly, i have had a look at the Sony manual and at the Sony website and from what i can see, your TV has RCA outputs for audio. A reasonable quality phono pair will connect this to your receiver no probs.

Don't worry about your AV connections too much, the Denon manuals are quite in depth and show connection methods for loads of different equipment.

Hope this helps.
 
I like you have never owned a av receiver until this week and have spent yesterday connecting mine up to a set of 5 speakers and a sub woofer a dvd player and a sky box .
I used an optical cable for the dvd player to the amp and normal phono leads for the sky box to the amp and it plays everything very well.
I'm getting Sky + when back from my hols next two weeks and that comes with an optical out as far as I'm aware so will opt for that.
The av amp is not connected to the TV at all just the dvd player via a hdmi lead.
I got all my cables from a company called nexxia.co.uk. They are not expensive but are good quality.
You don't need leads from the avr 1507 to the TV just the optical from the Sky+ box to the avr1507. And as the above post the Sky+ box does not have hdmi just a scart to the TV.
Regards
David.


http://www.nexxia.co.uk/Audio_Video_cables.htm
 

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