x•s•v•toys (ex-es-iv-toyz or excessive toys): Exceeding a normal, usual, reasonable, or proper limit for the purchase of consumer electronics.

The xsvtoys Home Theater - INTRODUCTION

There are many variations on the so-called "Home Theater". These can be very elaborate rooms that virtually replicate a real movie theater or they could be a simple TV connected to a few components and some speakers. There really is no right or wrong way to make a home theater. Whatever works for you for your enjoyment and stays within your budget is the system that is perfect for you! Here you will see the xsvtoys home theater described. It is not too fancy, and consists of a fairly typical set of components, some old, and some new.

Equipment List

Television - Panasonic TH-50PX60U (2006) Plasma "720p" 1366x768	A/V Receiver - Yamaha RXV-995 (2000) 5.1 Dolby Digital / DTS 100 Watts/Channel	Blu-Ray Player - Panasonic DMP-BD85K (2010)
Cable DVR - Scientific Atlantic 8300HD (2006) Time-Warner Cable	Gaming - Nintendo Will (2006)	Speaker - Klipsch R-3800-W (2006) In-wall speaker, 3 total: Front left, right, and center
Speaker - Klipsch KHC-6 (2006) In-ceiling speaker, 2 total: Rear left and right	Speaker - Klipsch SW8 (1994)Powered Subwoofer	HTPC (2008) • Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H Motherboard • AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ CPU • 2 GB Kingston PC2 6400 Ram • Western Digital D6400AAKS 640 GB Hard Drive • Logitech DiNovo Keyboard • Athenatech A100 Case

The Yamaha AV Receiver is more than 10 years old and lacks many convenient features that the new receivers have such as switching for HDMI and component digital video signals and compatibility with satellite radio. But it performs so well with the Klipsch speakers, especially with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, that it seems very difficult to consider replacing it.

Wiring Diagram

 

There are a number of ways that a system like this can be wired, so this is definitely not the only way. It is just how I chose to do it. Here is some of the reasoning:

VIDEO: We would like to use HDMI when possible since it is the latest standard, it is all digital, and it is the simplest to cable with just one wire. However, the TV only has 2 HDMI inputs. So the choice was made to connect the HD Cable Box and the HTPC to the TV via HDMI. It would be ideal if the Blu-Ray player were also connected via HDMI but instead Component video cables are used. These can still send over HDTV however it will not be digital, although it still should look fine on this particular HDTV which is basically a 720P TV. The Wii is also connected to the TV with Component video cables and this is fine because the Wii does not produce HD video. It is set to send progressive 480P video to the TV. This video cabling arrangement requires that the TV be switched to the desired input for the entertainment of the moment: Either watching cable TV, a Blu-Ray movie, playing Wii games, or using the HTPC.

AUDIO: The Wii produces is connected to the VCR2 Audio In on the AV Receiver, the HTPC is connected via a digital optical cable to the Optical Audio In CD input on the AV Receiver, and the Blu-Ray is connected via a digital optical cable to the Optical Audio In DVD on the AV Receiver. The AV Receiver is then switched with the remote to the appropriate input depending on the entertainment of the moment.

Setting up the Scientific Atlantic 8300HD to allow listening by choice on either the TV speakers OR the full surround system.

There is an interesting twist to the audio wiring for this particular system. This is due to the fact that I sometimes prefer to watch cable TV with just the TV sound as opposed to sound being driven through the AV Receiver out to all of the surround speakers. But, sometimes I want to watch cable TV with full surround sound blasting, for example for movies, concerts or big sporting events. The wiring arrangement shown here will allow this, along with the proper settings on the cable box. There is a standard 2-wire RCA audio connection from the Audio Out of the Cable Box to the HDMI 1 Audio In on the TV, which corresponds to the incoming HDMI cable with the video. And there is a audio second connection from the Cable Box, a digital optical audio cable that goes from the Optical Audio Out 1 on the Cable Box to the Optical Audio In TV on the AV Receiver. The settings menu for the 8300HD box needs to be accessed: find the Audio settings and then set Audio Coding to Dolby Digital. Now, with this arrangement, if the Cable Box and TV are turned on, you can watch TV and listen and control to the sound on the TV speakers. But, if you turn on the AV Receiver and set it to the TV input, then the sound will come out over all of the speakers, and the volume will be controlled by the AV Receiver remote. If the channel you are watching includes Dolby Digital (not all channels or all shows will) then you will get the nice Dolby Digital surround site for the full experience. This setup is the best of both worlds!

NEW! By Popular Demand! Visio Audio Video Jacks and Plugs Stencil

I am offering my Visio 2007 Audio-Video Jacks and Plugs stencil file (used to create the above wiring diagram) for your use, totally free and with very minor restrictions. If you find it is helpful for a project that you publish, please give credit back to here as outlined in the Creative Commons license. Otherwise, enjoy, and if you have any suggestions for improving this stencil please send them on to me.

Just click the image below and you should be able to download the stencil (VSS file).

Audio-Video Jacks and Plugs stencil file by xsvtoys is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.