Hooking up new receiver; please help!

cindy100

Hi! I am in the process of trying to hook up my new receiver. I am having to place it in a different spot so it will get adequate ventilation. Since it is going into a differrent spot, the cable that goes from the CD player into the receiver is now not long enough. I do apologize but I don't know what that particular cable is called; it is the one with a red & a white plug on it. The question I have is if someone can tell me whether these come in longer lengths and if so, what type of cable do I ask for when I go to the store Saturday.

Before anyone says to just undo the cable completely; it's not that easy. This is taking forever due to the fact that everything is very hard to reach. I'm trying to just unplug from the old receiver and putting them on the new without undoing both ends. I do appreciate your help and thank you so much!

Cindy

Frank Z

It's an RCA cable and only carries 2 channel audio, using one will not allow you to listen to DD5.1 channel surround Sound or DTS. You need to replace it with a Digital Coax or Toslink (fiber optic cable).

cindy100

Frank,

Hi! Thanks you for the quick response. Turns out the receiver is not going to fit where I wanted to place it; I have to make sure it gets good ventilation so now will either get a different CD player or do without because of space.

Anyway... the Digital Coax; is that the same as Digital Coaxial? I did a Google search and also see that toslink you mentioned so I'll get my act together before I go to the store tomorrow ao I will know what I need. Thanks again!

Cindy

F1nut

Wait a sec, if it's just a CD player it's only outputing 2 channels anyway. You need an interconnect cable and yes they come in longer lenghts.

Zen Dragon

cindy100 wrote:

I do apologize but I don't know what that particular cable is called

It can be referred to in several ways. If you use the tern RCA interconnect any store should know what you mean.

cindy100 wrote:

I'm trying to just unplug from the old receiver and putting them on the new without undoing both ends. I do appreciate your help and thank you so much!

Cindy. If I read that correctly you are looking to extend the present cable rather than replace it with a longer one?
Although it may be a pain in the butt, you are much better off replacing the entire cable with a longer one.
If you really want to extend the present one you would need a pair of RCA male to male adapters to connect the cable together. I really recommend you just pull both ends and replace the whole cable.

A coax, or toslink is required if you are trying to hook up a DVD player and wish to pass Dolby Digital or DTS signals. Toslink is a fiber cable that passes the signal via light. In either case need one or the other for home theater use only and based on the input connectors you have and personal preference.
For a CD player you only need the RCA interconnects.

johnADA

True the 5.1 wont be a true without using coax, it'll be s synthesized dolby 5.1. But you can use the current red and white audio cable with a line joiner and use that for the digital coax line.
If and extender just makers it easy, you dont want to use a optical line, one there are problems of interferences using it,secondly they dont stay put if it gets jarred etc so the coax is a better locking one. Quality really in a non issue between the 2 types of digital, but normal audio synthesized just isnt 5.1! I ran a 30 foot normal RCA line to my sub with a connector in place before I got a heavier shielded coax digital sub line, absolutely no difference in sound going to the so-called better line.

cindy100

Zen Dragon,

No, I am going to replace the entire cable with a longer one. After looking at my original post, I realize what I said. Like it or not, I will have to take it off. So... all I need to ask for is a longer RCA cable, correct? I got so frustrated last night and I'd kind of like to get the mess put away today and finally get to see what it sounds like!

Thanks again,

Cindy

F1nut

You need an interconnect cable and yes they come in longer lenghts.

MrNightly

Cindy, I have a nice long 18ft RCA if you can't find one. If you pm you'd address I can ship it to you.

I personally was in the same situation as you were just weeks ago with the RCA instead of Coax cable. Let me tell you, the sound difference is NIGHT AND DAY! GO COAX GO COAX GO COAX! You won't regret it and it is so worth the difference in price.

Let me know if you do need the RCA's. But I think you should get a Digital cable first.

opus

MrNightly wrote:

Let me know if you do need the RCA's. But I think you should get a Digital cable first.

She doesn't need a digital cable MrSmiley. She just needs an interconnect as previously stated.:)

MrNightly

opus wrote:

She doesn't need a digital cable MrSmiley. She just needs an interconnect as previously stated.:)

Actually, MR. Grumpy gills, she never stated she only needed interconnects. IT was suggested that is all she needs. If she truly wants to upgrade her audio experience, (As stated in other threads) she will need a digital cable

But what do I know? I'm just a kid.

:mad: :rolleyes: :cool: :eek:

opus

MrNightly wrote:

Actually, MR. Grumpy gills, she never stated she only needed interconnects. IT was suggested that is all she needs. If she truly wants to upgrade her audio experience, (As stated in other threads) she will need a digital cable

But what do I know? I'm just a kid.

:mad: :rolleyes: :cool: :eek:

Tell me MrPosty how a digital cable will increase her audio experience when using her cd player as originally stated?;)

Frank Z

If her new receiver has better DAC's then using a digital cable will allow the the receiver to convert the digital signal to analog prior to amplification/processing.

opus

Aw come on Frank I wanted him to tell me:D

F1nut

The reason you prefer the sound when using a coax cable is because of the source you are using, a Memorex DVD (weakest link). Obviously your Denon has better DAC's. That doesn't mean that will be the case with someone else's set up. If you were to purchase a halfway decent source you'd probably find that analog cables would sound better.

Actually, she did state that she needed analog interconnects by the following comment, "it is the one with a red & a white plug on it."

As you stated, "But what do I know? I'm just a kid."

dudeinaroom

Frank Z wrote:

If her new receiver has better DAC's then using a digital cable will allow the the receiver to convert the digital signal to analog prior to amplification/processing.

I've got my dvd player hooked up with coax, and interconnects for stereo, and 5.1 The dacs in the player are better than that of my avr. My weakest link is my avr. For 2 ch cd,dvd, or sacd I will hook the player into a little home made volume control( little black box, few rca jacks and a stereo potentiometer ). Much better than going through the technics, wider, fuller, more detailed sound with the little black box. sorry for going off topic.

If you can't find longer rca cables I'v got a 17-18' set I could part with

cfrizz

Cindy, go to any Radio Shack and get whatever length rca cables that you need.

Zen Dragon

You can find your RCA interconnects at Radio Shack, Best Buy, Circuit City, Fry's electronics. I'm pretty sure they even sell cheap ones at Walmart and Kmart. The "mart" ones are definitely on the lower quality scale.
Also don't let some smooth talking salesman tell you that you need Monster cables, unless for some reason that's what you want. They are good quality, but expensive at their quality level to cover the advertising hype.
For run of the mill decent quality store bought cables at a reasonable price I like the Acoustic Research at Best Buy.

cindy100

MrNightly & dudeinaroom - Thank you both for the offer. I went today and got some cables.

Zen Dragon - I bought the Acoustic Research cables at Best Buy. I found a gift card that was given to me at Christmas which I had completely forgotten about. It's kind of like getting them for free! They did try to get me to buy the Monster cables but I remembered posts I've read on here and told him no.

As I've said in other posts, I do not do surround sound; I am having to move my current CD player out of the room because I needed the extra space for the new receiver. I do have a DVD/CD player that fits and was told the two cables I bought today were all I needed for it to work. The TV in the same room is not HD; the only time it gets watched is when I am decorating at Christmas so I couldn't justify spending a ton of money on it. Needless to say, it doesn't have many places to plug things into the back of it. I also bought a composite video cable last night and was told to plug it into the Monitor out on the receiver and then into the TV. Problem is, I also have Directv and the cables from the DirectTv receiver are plugged into the Monitor out button (on the back of the TV) I was told to use. I did move the plugs over one row and I do get a picture but something is not right. I get my local channels and since I moved those plugs over, I now get 2 and 3 of the same channel although some of them are blacked out.

I listen to music channels I get through Directv so what I need to know is if anyone can tell me how I hook the satellite receiver up so I can listen to it through the stereo. Right now (and don't laugh) it is hooked up somehow through a VCR. When I want to listen to the music channels, I have to turn on the VCR & put the stereo receiver on either VCR 1 or 2. I would really prefer to completely get the VCR out of the way. I do hope this made sense and someone can tell me (if it's not too much trouble) how I can do this. If I had the extra money, I would get someone from HiFi buys to hook it all up but to be honest, after buying the receiver and speakers, I just don't have it. They want about $250 to $300.

I will check back in a bit and see if anyone can help. Again, thank you all and please let me know if this is just too much to ask.

Cindy

MrNightly

F1nut wrote:

The reason you prefer the sound when using a coax cable is because of the source you are using, a Memorex DVD (weakest link). Obviously your Denon has better DAC's. That doesn't mean that will be the case with someone else's set up. If you were to purchase a halfway decent source you'd probably find that analog cables would sound better.

How would I be able to use dts and DD though, if I wasn't using a digital cable? When I get back on my feet job wise, trust me, the DVD player will be upgraded. (But, if this HD-DVD can kick off, I may just save up for one of those too Either way, I have never said my system was anything but entrylevel. For me, it's a dream come true though )

f1nut wrote:

Actually, she did state that she needed analog interconnects by the following comment, "it is the one with a red & a white plug on it."

As you stated, "But what do I know? I'm just a kid."

Got me there. But then, I don't claim to know that much about audio... yet. But I'm learning. Give me time, and then watch out.

- no smiley face added because it makes some people grumpy... -

Frank Z

Post a pic of the receivers backside and the Directv receiver and we'll be able to help you out.

F1nut

How would I be able to use dts and DD though, if I wasn't using a digital cable?

You keep talking about multi-channel DVD/HT, but the subject matter at hand is 2 channel CD music.

MrNightly

Ok Cindy, sorry for the derail. Good show on the new cables. These guys are great!

I'm out.

cindy100

Frank - Here is a link to the Yamaha receiver. I do not have any pictures of the back of the Directv receiver; it is probably 4 years old. I was able to get a pdf file of the manual from Directv but have no idea how to get a picture of the rear panel onto this message. As for the TV, it was very inexpensive so don't expect much! I couldn't find a picture of the rear panel for it either but the link below gives the specifications for it.

Like I said, if this is too much work, don't worry about it.

Cindy

Reciever
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/receivers/RXV2600.htm

TV
http://www.windowsmarketplace.com/specs.aspx?itemId=1958574&stext=

Frank Z

Based on the picture of the back of the receiver it looks pretty straight forward.

Obviously the DTV receiver outputs are important, but alas...no pic of those.

Connect the satellite receiver to the AVR DTV Input on the right rear via an S-video connector and a toslink or Digital Coax (carries the Audio Signal).

Connect the VCR to the AVR "VCR 1" Audio and Video inputs using standard RCA cables (1 Video, 2 Audio).

Connect the "Moniter Out" on the AVR to the S-video input on the rear of the TV.

Connect your CD/DVD player to the cooresponding inputs on the AVR via a Toslink or Digital Coax.

You'll be able to switch audio and video sources via the receiver. Basically you'll be using the receiver to perform video switching duties and audio processing.

It's alot simpler than it sounds, just hook up one component at a time and you'll do fine.

Keep us posted on your progress.

cindy100

Here are links for the cables I bought. The first one has two small pieces of rubber on the tips.I'm assuming I was suppose to remove these which I did; they don't fit onto the receiver or DVD player either way so now I am completely confused. I bought the cables the guy from HiFi Buys told me to get so not sure what I'm doing wrong.

Right now my living room is one huge mess and I am done! I am just going to take the DVD player along with the cables back to the store tomorrow and make them show me where these go. I really don't feel it should be this difficult.

Cindy


Audio cable
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6841812&type=product&productCategoryId=cat08057&id=1093467453527

Video cable
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=4118092&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat71900050025&id=1051384700595

Sony
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?CategoryName=hav_DVD_DVDPlayers&ProductSKU=DVPNC85H%2fB&TabName=specs&var2=

danger boy

yes you remove the small rubber caps on your optical cable.. you will have to rotate it to get it to insert just right.. it has a flat side to it.. and a round side.. it only goes in one way.. takes some time to figure it out.

Zen Dragon

Cindy:
Your getting there.
You do need to run your component cables from the monitor out on the back of the Yamaha to the TV component input jacks. You now are using the receiver as a switching unit. This means that all your other video sources can be run to the reciver and you just select the one you want the reciever to output to the TV.
You can hook each video source ie, Sattelite reciever, DVD, VCR through either component cable, Svideo cable, or yellow RCA cable. Try to use Svideo or component if you have the cabe as these are better quality, but the yellow RCA will work.
For the sound, you need to run the two RCA audio out jacks from the direct tv unit to the audio input jacks for the TV on the reciever. You said it is hooked up from the VCR now, which means one of two things. Either your audio jacks from the DTV receiver are hooked up to the VCR, or more likely the main cable connector is running into the VCR either directly from the wall, or from the wall to the Direct TV unit, then out to the VCR,
The standard cable coax cable carries video and audio info.
Anyway take your old RCA interconnect and connect them from the direct tv unit to the audio inputs on the reciever that correspond to the TV input.
If you do it one at a time it makes sense. It's about a year later when you look at the back of the receiver and try to figure it all out at a glance that it gets confusing.

Zen Dragon

Ok just saw the links of the cables you bought. You purchased the optical cable. You need to revove the rubber feet. On your yamaha the inputs are on the far left of the rear and likely have plastic caps over them that need to be removed. Find the similiar looking sort of half round half square connector on your DVD player as well, which may also have a plastic cap over it that needs to be removed.
The cable connects between these two ports, one on the DVD, and the other on the reveiver in the input labelled optical DVD.
You may also have to set your DVD output menu to digital on if you do not hear sound initially.

cindy100

Hi again Frank! Not sure if they work yet since I'm not finished but I do have the VCR & Monitor cables hooked up. Not bad for 4 hours, huh? Like I said in the previous post, I will go back to the store tomorrow with the cables, the DVD player & ask him to help. I'm sure they will; they have always been great to deal with. I will be back tomorrow to see if there are any new messages and to let you know how much more I get done. It's been a long day and I'm sure I'll be a bit more willing to deal with it after I get some sleep. Thanks so much!

Cindy

cindy100

Zen Dragon - I bought a composite video cable for the Monitor out which is what the guy at HiFi Buys said I needed in order to be able to use the Zone 2&3 feature and to also be able to use the onscreen setup.

I did find the half round half square connector on the DVD player & I also see where it goes on the receiver. I just had no idea what it was even though it does say optical; just didn't put the two together. I promise you, I am not stupid or dumb but you sure couldn't tell it right now! Should I have not bought the optical cable? The sales guy said it was better than the other and there was only a $3 difference. I can go exchange it if need be; not a problem.

I'll be quiet and will check in tomorrow. Maybe today will be the day!

Cindy