Putting it all together.

shayser

Complete n00b here so if you go slow I promise to listen carefully Not sure if I'm even asking the right questions. All help will be much appreciated.

For the past nine years I've had a 21" CRT and a VCR. I'm now trying to put together a home cimena system.

At the moment I've got a 1080p LCD.
I've Sky HD on order.
Will be getting a Denon DVD-1930 (upscales to 1080p)
Also planning to get an amp and 5.1 speakers, but haven't looked at any options yet.

My questions...
What's the best way to connect all this together for video?
For sound, can I connect TV, Sky and DVD to the amp? TV might not be necessary as Sky and DVD will be the only sources? Or should it be DVD and Sky to TV and TV to amp?

Need to get it right first time. Don't want to get an amp that turns out to be no good for the setup.

The attachements are small screen grabs (text listings) of the connectors on each device.

Cheers.....

big_moe

get an HDMI amp.

then,

HDMI from sky box to amp

HDMI from dvd to amp

HDMI from amp to tv.

this means that you put your tv on HDMI input, then use the amp to select your source. its the best way i think.

HDMI can carry audio as well (depending on the amp) so thats all you need.

if you buy an amp that cant take audio from HDMI, then for sound use:

Optical from sky box to amp

and same from dvd to amp.

i'd recommend the Pioneer VSX-AX4ASi amp. or a denon 4306 if you can afford one:D!! both can take audio from HDMI

moe

shayser

Just the kind of info I was looking for.

I'd love to get an amp of that quality but those are out of my league, financially.

So, what I need is an AV amp with at least two HDMI in and one out? And I need to specify audio and video HDMI?

Going through the amp with the Sky box and the DVD won't affect video quality, as oppoesed to going straight to the LCD, with HDMI?

big_moe

i have found that the cheaper Sony amps (STR-DA1200 (€599) and downwards) dont allow the audio to be carried through HDMI. so i have had to use HDMI for video and optical for audio. its no big deal, you just need HDMI and an optical cable.

shayser wrote:

Going through the amp with the Sky box and the DVD won't affect video quality, as oppoesed to going straight to the LCD, with HDMI?

nope. it will improve it if anything!

and the least an amp will have now is 2 HDMI in and one out. the pioneer AX4ASi has 4 HDMI in!!!

the pioneer vsx2016 is €1199 and thats a good amp. 2 HDMI in, one out.

moe

shayser

The 2016 is €899 at Richer sounds, but that is pushing it for me. What do you think of the 1016 at €599?

big_moe

at 599, buy it.

the only difference worth mentioning is that the 2016 has ipod control built in. this means you can use the amps remote to change the song from an iPod. whereas on the 1016, you have to change the ipod manually.

on the 1016, you need to connect the audio separately to the HDMI, as i said before, it's no big deal. just an extra optical cable for each device.

to be honest though, i haven't heard the 1016, i have heard the 2016 and it sounds good. on paper, there should be no difference.

moe

shayser

So there would be no difference in sound quality between HDMI and optical? Also, would separate a/v lead to any sync problems, or anything else?

I'm getting close now! Thanks for your help.

mossym

hdmi and optical are only connections, they carry the same digital stream..no difference in sound

using different connections for audio/video is no problem...the video processing that will go on on the video side is what youw ill need to cater for, and most amps HT amps have adjustable delay to compensate

shayser

Thanky Mossy.

Have done a little bit more reading...

Some amps upscale where other just switch, as with the pioneer 2016/1016. Does mean that an upscaling amp will upscale the sky signal from 720p/1080i to 1080p? The DVD I'm looking at already upscales to 1080p.

Not sure now what to get. I've decided on a budget of €1000, maybe €1200. Would it be possible to get a good amp and 5.1 for this money where the amp will do the following:

2 x HDMI in, 1 x HDMI out at least, with audio.
Upscaling if possible, though not necessary, as the 720p/1080i of the Sky box would be fine.

PS. What's the difference between an AV Receiver and an AV Amp?

big_moe

av amps just amplifies. av receivers have a tuner and amp.

if the amp says 1080p upscaling, then yes. some amps only upscale to 1080i.

and sky will be fine if its not upscaled. but i'd recommend still connecting it up through the amp for ease of use.

moe

shayser

shayser wrote:

Not sure now what to get. I've decided on a budget of €1000, maybe €1200. Would it be possible to get a good amp and 5.1 for this money where the amp will do the following:

2 x HDMI in, 1 x HDMI out at least, with audio.
Upscaling if possible, though not necessary, as the 720p/1080i of the Sky box would be fine. EDIT: and the Denon DVD player I'm looking at upscales to 1080p.

Anyone have any recommendations for this? Oh, and USB and DIVX too!

shayser

Thanks big_moe and mossym. big_moe you have answered my question spot on.

I think the audio questions I have I will take to Audio Amplifiers and Speakers forum, if that's ok with the mods.