Oh man, I am SO IN OVER MY HEAD! lol Geez . . . (Home Theatre)

[MISS CHIEVOUS]

I remember 12 years ago when I set up my modest little home theatre it took me forever to figure out the cabling. You see, I have an old Sony Picture-in-a-Picture TV, and I somehow managed to split the signal in order to hook up:
1. TV
2. VCR
3. DVD
4. 8mm Player/Recorder

I could therefore bounce around between my different components . . . and always with P-I-P available to me through my TV. My HT was one of these "bundled" Sony systems where I did NOT have to use an amplifier because a (small one) was built into the speakers. I have very modest viewing habits (mostly I read lol).

Anyhoo, my Sony Towers fried last month so I got a lovely set of Boston HT speakers . . . and my first ever HT amplifier. Nothing fancy! I don't want nor do I need Hi-Def, Blu-Ray, Widescreen, Digital, or any of that.

Oh maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan am I confused lol. I studied all of my manuals, but of course nothing works. This doesn't surprise me because the complicated setup I had with my old HT system had never needed to be piped through an amplifier! My cabling was already complicated . . . but the amplifier just overwhelms me. I'm not even certain my old analog Monster cables will work with this amplifier (there was some reference in the amp's manual to their having to be digital, but the amp most definitely does take analog; HDef is optional).

Is there anyone brave enough to walk me through a complicated hookup like this? For that matter, am I even posting this question in the right forum? It is complicated because of the three players I plug into my system. And for some reason the amplifier hookups look alien to me. I'm sure this is how all HT amplifiers are; but it's still creepy to see the audio in one place . . . and then over in a completely different area, the video. Without the intuitive banks of color-coded connections in threes I'm just on a fishing expedition.

Anything I don't have a graphic of I can take pictures of and attach them. It's late, but tomorrow I'll post specs, as well.

Thanks guys.

MC

[guns1inger]

Only your DVD player is likely to have digital audio output, probably via optical, but maybe coax (or both). The rest will be analogue. You will need a new cable if you haven't connected digitally before, and if you want to get surround sound out of your DVD player.

However if you route all the video via the amplifier you will not get PiP on the TV because you will be restricted to a single video signal coming into the TV, and therefore nothing to PiP with. At best, if you have an aerial connected to the TV you will be able to PiP the TV while watching a video or VCR.

The rest should be relatively straight forward. The analogue video and audio inputs should be paired, so it is a matter of just connecting them up one at a time, testing that you have picture and noise, then putting in the next one.

[MISS CHIEVOUS]

Gunslinger I'll study what you've written viz PIP; meanwhile, I'm attaching a colorized picture of the back panel of my SONY STR-DG520 HT amplifier. To make this easier, I've numbered the columns on the banks of jacks that apply to my setup so there can be no confusion as to what you're referring to.

Even more important, I finally aggregated every one of my components' respective jacks and they are listed, below.

Any help you can give me will be gratefully appreciated! Once I get this down in writing, it will begin to make intuitive sense to me; but right now, I just need to go one step at a time since I have ((NO SOUND)) after trying a number of iterations of audio to the AMP.

My hope is to be able to continue to record TV programs on both the VCR and the 8mm units.

Thanks again, and here is what I have to work with!

MC

— — — — — — — — — — —
32” TELEVISION w/PICTURE-IN-PICTURE (4:3)
SONY KV-32TS36

S-VIDEO IN
VHF/UHF

Bank “Audio Out Variable/Fix”
AUDIO LEFT OUT . . . WHITE
AUDIO RIGHT OUT . . . RED

Bank IN 1
VIDEO IN . . . YELLOW
AUDIO LEFT IN . . . WHITE
AUDIO RIGHT IN . . . RED

Bank IN 3*
VIDEO IN . . . YELLOW
AUDIO LEFT IN . . . WHITE
AUDIO RIGHT IN . . . RED

*Bank 2 on front of TV, but never use
— — — — — — — — — — —
DVD PLAYER

S-VIDEO OUT
COAXIAL DIGITAL AUDIO OUT

Bank COMPONENT VIDEO OUT
Y . . . GREEN
Cr/Pr . . . RED
Ca/Pa . . . BLUE

VIDEO OUT . . . YELLOW
AUDIO LEFT OUT . . . WHITE
AUDIO RIGHT OUT . . . RED

— — — — — — — — — — —
VHS VCR

EDIT

VHF/UHF IN
VHF/UHF OUT

VIDEO IN . . . YELLOW
AUDIO LEFT IN . . . WHITE
AUDIO RIGHT IN . . . RED

Bank 1
VIDEO OUT . . . YELLOW
AUDIO LEFT OUT . . . WHITE
AUDIO RIGHT OUT . . . RED

Bank 2
VIDEO OUT . . . YELLOW
AUDIO LEFT OUT . . . WHITE
AUDIO RIGHT OUT . . . RED

— — — — — — — — — — —
8mm VCR

VHF/UHF IN
VHF/UHF OUT

VIDEO IN . . . YELLOW
AUDIO LEFT IN . . . WHITE
AUDIO RIGHT IN . . . RED

VIDEO OUT . . . YELLOW
AUDIO LEFT OUT . . . WHITE
AUDIO RIGHT OUT . . . RED

[guns1inger]

Start simple.

1. White/Red/yellow from bank 7 on the amplifier connects to the matching colours on Bank one of your 7. This is the input to your TV.

2. DVD player. For the best quality image and sound, connect the coax audio output of the DVD player to the coax audio input of the amp (marked 1 - DVD In Coaxial), then connect the component (G/R/B) output of the DVD player to the component input on the amp marked 11 DVD In.

However, as you are using low quality composite output, this is probably overkill if you don't already have the cables. If you don't, connect the coax audio as described above, but connect the yellow composite cable from the DVD to the composite input marked 6 - Video In DVD.

You should now be able to see and hear the DVD player on the TV via the amplifier, with digital surround sound.

(I am assuming, at this point, that you have been able to connect up the speakers and sub-woofer).

3. VHS VCR. Connect the yellow/red/white from the Bank 1 outputs on the VHS VCR to the matching colours in the bank marked 5 - Video In SAT - on the amplifier. Connect your aerial to the VHF/UHF in on the VHS VCR.

Stop at this point and test that you have audio and video on the TV from the VHS unit.

4. 8mm Recorder. Yellow/Red/White from the video should be connected to the amplifier bank marked 8 - Video in Video. Connect a coax aerial lead from the VHS VHF output to the VHF input of the 8mm recorder if you do not have a split set of aerial leads for both units. You will also have to connect an aerial coax from the VHF output of the 8mm to VHF input of the TV if you wish to watch it without turning on the amplifier and using the VHS for channel.

You should now be able to switch between all three devices, record TV channels on both the VHS and the 8mm recorders

[MISS CHIEVOUS]

Start simple.

Believe me gunslinger, that's what I am trying to do. I'm just trying to get sound — any sound — out of my 5 speakers. And yes I do know how to wire the speakers lol. Believe it or not, I build my own computers. No — the problem is that what you and I both think is intuitively the way to cable this AMP . . . is anything but in the actual manual. Read my next reply, and you'll get an idea of why this is driving me nuts.

1. White/Red/yellow from bank 7 on the amplifier connects to the matching colours on Bank one of your 7. This is the input to your TV.

Okay, now . . . you do mean Bank one of your TV I hope (?). :P Just wanted to make sure you were still awake. Assuming that was what you meant — 7 to the BANK 1 of my TV — observe what the SONY manual is telling me to do, and you'll get an idea of what I'm dealing with:

[MISS CHIEVOUS]

Do you see how they are splitting out the naturally-grouped set of three cables . . . and throwing the video over to the right under "MONITOR" . . . and the audio all the way to the left! Wtf . . .

MC

[MISS CHIEVOUS]

Setting aside the madness of forcing a perfectly intuitive 3-Up set of video/audio cables to perform the splits, look at their graphic labeled A. It makes intuitive sense that this is the

Bank “Audio Out Variable/Fix”
AUDIO LEFT OUT . . . WHITE
AUDIO RIGHT OUT . . . RED

set of jacks that my TV has, separated from the other two 3-Up Banks (see above). Yet, when I contemplated which bank of jacks on my AMP to plug a pair of regular RED/WHITE RCAs into (3? 4? 5? 7? 8?) I tried a couple and . . . no sound.

Moving from that trainwreck to the next one, this page in the Sony manual displays their graphic labeled C. My old TV doesn't have these

Y
Cr/Pr
Ca/Pa

jacks, but my DVD player does. Should the DVD player be plugged into #11 on my graphic? If so, should I simultaneously be plugging in the

VIDEO OUT . . . YELLOW
AUDIO LEFT OUT . . . WHITE
AUDIO RIGHT OUT . . . RED

cables, as well? to . . . where?

SHOPPING
I don't have any Y . . . Cr/Pr . . . Ca/Pa cables; should I buy them?
I also don't have a COAXIAL DIGITAL AUDIO CABLE (#1 on my graphic); should I buy it? Will I need more than one?

MC

[guns1inger]

The setup they have will be, I assume, because they do not upconvert composite inputs to component output, and probably vice-versa. So even if you do connect your DVD using component, you won't see any benefit (and probably won't see any picture) until you upgrade your TV.

In your case, stick with just using the yellow (composite video) and red/white (stereo audio) for all connections except the DVD audio. For that, use the coax digital so you can get surround sound. So yes, buy a coax digital audio cable, and no, don't bother getting a component video cable (red/green/blue).

To clarify my last post

1. White/Red/yellow from bank 7 on the amplifier connects to the matching colours on Bank one of your 7. This is the input to your TV.

Should read

1. White/Red/yellow from bank 7 on the amplifier connects to the matching colours on Bank one of your TV. This is the input to your TV.

[MISS CHIEVOUS]

The setup they have will be, I assume, because they do not upconvert composite inputs to component output, and probably vice-versa. So even if you do connect your DVD using component, you won't see any benefit (and probably won't see any picture) until you upgrade your TV.

In your case, stick with just using the yellow (composite video) and red/white (stereo audio) for all connections except the DVD audio. For that, use the coax digital so you can get surround sound. So yes, buy a coax digital audio cable, and no, don't bother getting a component video cable (red/green/blue).

So, the reason why the banks of analog Y/W/R jacks on the amplifier aren't making architectural sense to me is because SONY is presuming that I'm connecting this to a state-of-the-art TV that would make use of either its built-in HDTV jacks -or- its built-in component jacks (Y — Cr/Pr — Ca/Pa) . . . and ignore the old analog banks on the AMP wherever possible? Ahhhh.

To summarize only the DVD player:

1. The DVD player at no time connects to my TV

2. Attempting to use component jacks (Y — Cr/Pr — Ca/Pa) anywhere with my TV will void/scramble the picture unless and until I purchase an upconverting AMPLIFIER and/or a state-of-the-art TV.

3. DVD's single-analog YELLOW VIDEO RCA connects to #6 on my AMP

4. DVD's COAXIAL DIGITAL AUDIO CABLE connects to #1 on my AMP

Do I have that correct?

In regards to the COAXIAL DIGITAL AUDIO CABLE: I began looking for these last night and noticed that some of the better ones use fiber-optics. Will fiber-optics-stranded COAXIAL DIGITAL AUDIO CABLES work with my old equipment? or must I have a state-of-the art TV & DVD player to render this signal, as well (in other words, is it backward compatible)? I'm asking that because, even though I have old analog componentry, I'd nonetheless prefer to invest in cabling that is state-of-the-art . . . and let my componentry catch up with me later on (I hope that makes sense lol).

Gunslinger I can't thank you enough for your help with this! I'll look forward to your reply and then . . . go shopping. :P

MC

[jagabo]

In regards to the COAXIAL DIGITAL AUDIO CABLE: I began looking for these last night and noticed that some of the better ones use fiber-optics. Will fiber-optics-stranded COAXIAL DIGITAL AUDIO CABLES work with my old equipment?

There are two types of digital audio cabling: optical and electrical (coax). You use whichever your devices support. I see your receiver supports both but maybe only some types for some inputs. For example, the coax input is labeled DVD and the optical inputs are labeled SAT and BD. It might be possible to reconfigure them.

or must I have a state-of-the art TV & DVD player to render this signal, as well (in other words, is it backward compatible)?

The audio only needs to get from the source (DVD) to the Receiver. The receiver converts to analog and sends the signal to the speakers. But that means you must have the receiver on to hear the audio.

[guns1inger]

You said your DVD player only has coaxial output for it's digital connection, so optical doesn't figure into the connections at this point.

If you connect all your devices through your amp then you need to have the amp (receiver) on when you are watching or you will get no picture or sound. Everything routes through the receiver.