QuestionI have Sony HT-DDW740 Home Theater, a GoVideo DVD/VCR combo model # DVR4100, a Motorola Digital cable box and a RCA TV (floor model). My problem is hooking it up. I can watch a DVD or video but recording a TV show with the VCR or listening to a TV program with the theater speakers is out of the question. I have to use the TV sound. Please help. Thanks.
AnswerDear Paul,
Connect the coaxial cable lead from the cable box to the “Antenna IN” on the rear panel of the DVD/VCR. Connect the “Antenna OUT” on the DVD/VCR to the antenna jack on the rear of the TV. You'll need another coaxial cable for this, which you can get at Radio Shack.
Depending on the configuration of your VCR and cable TV/satellite system, you'll now change the TV's channels either with the TV's remote or the cable TV/satellite's remote. When you want to play a VHS tape, simply pop it in, and it will play. Its signal interrupts the cable TV/satellite feed, so it will start playing automatically. (You may have to change your TV/VCR channels to either channel 3 or 4—the VCR manual will say which.)
Connect the DVD's video output to the TV with an S-video cable. (Virtually all TVs made in the last 10 years have an S-video input. If not, use the composite video RCA [yellow] connector.) If one didn't come with your receiver, you can get one at Radio Shack.
Audio is a wee bit (but only a wee bit) trickier. The GoVideo manuals I accessed on their web site had DVD/VCR combinations that lead with the letters "DV". It also has DVD-R/VCR players that lead with the letters "VR". It has no "4100", so I guess you have an older model. The upshot is that I can't vouch precisely for your model, but the general direction is pretty clear. (BTW, I found GoVideo's manuals unusually lucid and uncomplicated.)
Connect either the red/white analog "audio out" to an available line input on your receiver OR connect a coaxial or optical digital out to a corresponding coaxial or digital input on your receiver. I say one or the other (this is the tricky part) because the manuals don't say which one to use for the VCR's audio output. However, if you want surround sound, which is digital, with your DVDs, then you have to use one of the digital audio outputs. Now, it may be that the digital audio output will handle both the VCR's audio as well as the DVD player's audio. Or it may be that the analog (red/white) audio is for the VCR and the digital is for the DVD player. You'll just have to try them out and see which is which.
When you want to listen to VCR or DVD sound through your receiver, either the receiver will direct the sound automatically or you'll have to manually switch your receiver's audio to the appropriate sound source--which you'll direct through the receiver's set-up menu. Again, you'll have to simply try it out and see what happens.
To watch a DVD, change the input on your TV. Generally, TV remotes will have an input switch which toggles between your antenna signal (being provided in this case by the cable feed) and an external source, in this case the DVD signal from your combo player. Make sure to select the DVD's audio signal on your receiver to hear it through your external speakers. You won't get any sound through your TV's speakers. S-video and composite video connections are video-only.
If, after you've digested all this, you need more help, don't be shy. That's what I'm here for.
Good luck. And thanks for choosing allexperts.com!
Kindest regards,
Kevin
