Question-------------------------
hello again........
I am thinking about buying a Onkyo TX-SR701 6.1 (THX EX®, DTS ES®) Channel Home Audio Receiver.
Can I hook up all my components to this receiver including my direct tv signal and then run this to my projector tv with basically one cable? I am mostly interested in watching live tv.....perhaps hdtv too...when available, but am confused as to how receivers add anything to the mix. Is it just the "surround sound" that is added, or other conviences and features that the receiver brings to the table.
I spoke to the NEC techical guy about how I get a TV signal to the projector, and he said thru the VCR. So....help me figure this out. thanks!
AnswerDear DJ,
IMHO, you cannot purchase a more reliable audio component than Onkyo. The SR701 is a peach of a unit.
The SR701 will do two things for you: (1) provide surround sound (and the SR701 does have all the latest decoding algorithms), and (2) provide video switching if you have a number of video feeds to your TV. The catch is that "video feeds" doesn't include your VCR. Here's why.
You connect your incoming signal (cable, satellite, aerial) to the "ANTENNA IN" on the rear panel of the VCR. Then you run a coaxial cable from the "ANTENNA OUT" on the VCR to your TV. VCRs are engineered to interrupt the signal when you input a tape and press "PLAY".
All other video components go directly to the TV's video inputs. This is via a composite video cable (yellow RCA jack), S-video cable, or component video. However, a TV made in 1986 will not have component video. It will have composite video and maybe S-video. If you have a choice between composite video and S-video, use the S-video. If you don't have a cable, you can get a good one cheap at Radio Shack.
If you have more than one input component, say, a laser disc player, in addition to your DVD player, you can use the switching capability of the SR701 to connect both of them. You connect the components' inputs to the SR701 and the output to the TV. Then when you want to watch the DVD player, you select that; when you want to watch the laser disc player, you select that. And so on.
If all you have is the DVD player, you don't need to connect it through the SR701. Connect it directly to the TV. However, since you're only connecting the video, you still need to connect the audio. The DVD player's audio output will be (a) analog (red and white RCA jacks), (b) digital coaxial, or (c) digital optical. Choose either of the digital connections to get surround sound. You will not get it with two-channel analog connections.
The other factor the SR701 brings to the mix is subwoofer output. There is a dedicated (RCA) output to a powered subwoofer.
If you don't care about surround sound, then you can probably skip the receiver altogether. Just make sure that your DVD player has analog audio output. Connect that (red and white RCA jacks) to the audio inputs (red and white) on your TV.
If your TV doesn't have yellow, red, white, or S-video inputs, then it's too old to accommodate a DVD player. Time to get a new TV.
Hope this helps.
Kindest regards,
Kevin
