Making my list; help needed

I soon will be purchasing the Onkyo Ht-s7100 7.1-channel Receiver/ Speaker Package. First I am going to purchase everything I need from Monoprice and have it delivered and ready to go. I want to be sure I have everything needed for the setup/equipment I have. So if one or more of the experts who frequent the forum could double check that I have everything I need, and answer the questions I have, I would be most grateful.

Here is the list of equipment I’ll need to tie together:

• HDTV – Panasonic TC-P58V10
• Cable Box – Motorola HD Dual Tuner DVR DCH6416
• Bluray Player – Panasonic DMP-BD80
• DVD/DVR - Toshiba HDD & DVD Recorder RD-XS35
• PC

Question 1) I know I need to upgrade the speaker wire to 16 AWG, and I read in one of the threads that it was a good idea to keep each speaker runs cable the same length. I’ll only be setting up a 5.1 system, so for sure I’ll make the surround left & right the same length, but would this also go for left, right, center and sub? Since they will be so close to the receiver, it sure does seem a waste to make all of them the 40+ feet that will be going to the surrounds. If it is better to do so I’ll do it though.

Question 2) Simplistic question that I’m really not sure of. How exactly will the HDMI cables tie together between the HDTV, Cable Box, Bluray Player and Receiver? Obviously right now I’m going straight from the Cable Box to the HDTV, as well as Bluray Player to HDTV, but with the Receiver involved what is the proper path of things, as I want to be sure and have enough HDMI cables on hand.

Question 3) The Toshiba Recorder. Although I now have the Bluray Player and Cablebox DVR, I still want to keep this in the loop as it has a 160 GB hard drive that can be used as an overflow if my cablebox gets full, and it also is a DVD recorder, so I don’t want to lose it. It does not have HDMI connections, but it does have Component. So I’ll need a Component cable as well as Audio cable. What is going to be the proper way to integrate this into the system (what connects to what)?

Questioin 4) Also I plan to use my PC for some viewing through the media player, so I know I’m going to need a DVI to HDMI cable, as well as Audio Cable here too. So it’s DVI out from the PC, to HDMI in to the HDTV. This is where I get confused; the audio out from the PC should go to the HDTV or Receiver?

I’m going to go ahead and get 7 Banana Plug pairs even though I’m only setting up 5.1. Since the Onkyo 7100 has the ability for 2 zones I might set up some speaker arrangement on my outdoor patio. I know they aren’t outdoor speakers, but I’m thinking place them in the eves near an open air vent.

As an aside note, I’m going to use the stands that come with the Onkyo package for the surrounds, as the left, right, and center will go in my entertainment center.

So if anyone can please answer my questions and make sure I’m getting all the equipment I need, I would really appreciate it.

#1) An ideal setup would be all speaker runs be of the same length, but don't get to over critical.. You will not notice sound degradation if your sats are 40 ft. and your front cables are 10 ft.

#2) Run HDMI from your cable box and BD player to your receiver. (2 cables). Run 1 cable from your receiver to your tv.

#3) this part gets a bit trickier,,not sure if your receiver has component out,,,and digital (toslink out),,,a good question for L2W (hopefully he will chime in).

#4) Audio out should go from the PC to your receiver (spdif).

posting from cell phone, not home, i'll get an answer for question 3 and report back as soon as possible, thanks for the help. and yes i'd love to hear from L2W.

#1) An ideal setup would be all speaker runs be of the same length, but don't get to over critical.. You will not notice sound degradation if your sats are 40 ft. and your front cables are 10 ft.

#2) Run HDMI from your cable box and BD player to your receiver. (2 cables). Run 1 cable from your receiver to your tv.

#3) this part gets a bit trickier,,not sure if your receiver has component out,,,and digital (toslink out),,,a good question for L2W (hopefully he will chime in).

#4) Audio out should go from the PC to your receiver (spdif).

I agree. As for number 3, I don't have any experience with those Motorola cable boxes nor the DVD recorders so I'm not much help there. I can say that it will have to be some kind of analog connection (component) and a loop through the recorder, to the receiver.

This is what the manual says about component and optical jacks:

- DIGITAL AUDIO OUT BITSTREAM/PCM
OPTICAL jack

Use this to connect the recorder to an audio
receiver equipped with an optical digital audio
input jack.

- COMPONENT OUTPUT

Outputs video signals to a connected TV or
monitor.
Connects to a TV or monitor equipped with
component video jacks.

This is what the manual says about component and optical jacks:

- DIGITAL AUDIO OUT BITSTREAM/PCM
OPTICAL jack

Use this to connect the recorder to an audio
receiver equipped with an optical digital audio
input jack.

- COMPONENT OUTPUT

Outputs video signals to a connected TV or
monitor.
Connects to a TV or monitor equipped with
component video jacks.

So lets see, run the component out from the cable box to the recorder (HDMI/DVI won't work as it has digital protection) audio as well then run the component outputs to the TV.

That should, and I say should lightly not knowing those particular pieces of equipment, do it.

Hope this helps. :)

So lets see, run the component out from the cable box to the recorder (HDMI/DVI won't work as it has digital protection) audio as well then run the component outputs to the TV.

That should, and I say should lightly not knowing those particular pieces of equipment, do it.

Hope this helps. :)

Been looking at this pretty hard, and this is the way I see it. The DVD player only has Component Out (no component in), so it appears I will have to go S Video Out of Cable Box to S Video In to DVD Player. I'll also have to go Audio Out of the Cable Box to Audio In on the DVD Player. So from there my next step is to go from the DVD Player to the Onkyo Receiver (best being component & optical digital audo), and the Receiver passes video through via the single HDMI cable conncected to the TV? Or do I go from DVD Player to TV? I ask this because I notice ya'll have me connecting both the Cable Box and BD player to the Receiver, and the Receiver to the TV. So I am to understand that the Receiver passes video through?

Also, can you tell me which is the correct cable to use for audio to go from PC to Receiver?

I'm looking at monoprice but I'm uncertain if I'll need 3.5mm to 3.5mm, 3.5mm to RCA male, 2.5mm to RCA male, or mini plug to mini plug.

Thanks so much.