Help Installing VCR, stereo receiver, and DVD

I bought him a new receiver that I think will work very well with the components we have now.  Can someone go back to the first post in this message and provide assistance in hooking everything up the proper way with the HDMI cables since we will now have a brand new receiver that is capable of handling everything.

Thanks!

Joanne

I bought him a Onkyo HT-RC260 7.2-Channel Home Theater Receiver.  It's not super expensive, but a lot better than what we have now. 

So, all we have to do then is use the HDMI cable from the receiver to the tv?  How do we hookup the DVD player, the AT&T box, and the VCR?

SomeJoe gave step by step instructions last time.  Thanks for all of your help and suggestions!  Maybe after we get this hooked up, the stupid tv won't cut out and flash Component on the screen anymore.

So, you think just following that diagram will do it for us?  Thank you!

I'm not trying to over think the setup.  My boyfriend opened his present today and is reading the manual.  He's trying to tell me that we don't need HDMI cables and can use component cables.  I said that is why we couldn't hook this all up in a modern fashion before!  We need the HDMI cables to have this all working the most fabulous way possible.  Correct?

By Over the Air, do you mean without the AT&T box?  We only watch tv through the STB. 

OK, he's been trying for 4 hours to hook up everything and it's not working.  I'm going to post our components again and see if someone can walk us through step by step how to do this.  I have to tell you, my boyfriend is not very good at following the diagrams and is telling me that we can't hook up the Fischer tape deck and he needs that in order for the Bose speakers to work.

Here is what we have:

TV is a Phillips 42PFL3704D

The VCR is a Sony SLV-N71

The DVD player is a 2005 Sony DVPN5V57P.  

901 Bose speakers which have their own equalizer.

early 90's Fisher cassette player/recorder

TEAC CD-D1260 CD Player

Here is the receiverr Onkyo HT-RC260 7.2-Channel Home Theater Receiver

So, can someone walk us through hooking all of this up step by step?  We have the HDMI cables too. 

SomeJOE, you really helped before.  I hope you can again!  Thank you so much!

Oi.

This is actually more difficult than it looks because the Onkyo has to be configured carefully for these inputs.  If everything was HDMI it would be easy, but you actually only have one input that's going to be HDMI (the U-verse box).  Everything else is something older, and the Onkyo doesn't come pre-configured for that.

OK, you ready?  Here we go.

Connections

1. Onkyo AV Receiver to Philips TV: Use HDMI cable from Onkyo HDMI Out port to Philips TV HDMI Input 1 port.  Use HDMI cable (Monoprice, $3.50).

2. U-Verse Receiver to Onkyo AV Receiver: Use HDMI cable from U-Verse Receiver HDMI Out port to Onkyo HDMI In 3 (Cbl/Sat) port.  Use HDMI cable, same as in #1.

3. Sony DVD to Onkyo AV Receiver: Use Component (3x RCA, red/green/blue labeled Y/Pb/Pr) + Digital Audio cable (1x RCA).  For the 3x Component cable, go from Sony DVD Component Out jacks (3x) to Onkyo Component In 1 jacks (3x).  For the digital audio cable, go from Sony DVD Digital Audio Out jack to Onkyo Digital In Coaxial 1 jack.  Use 3x component cable (Monoprice, $2.95) and 1x digital audio cable (Monoprice, $1.28).

4. Sony VCR to Onkyo AV Receiver [This connection is for playback of tapes only]: Use Composite+Audio (3x RCA, red/white/yellow) from Sony VCR Output jacks (3x) to Onkyo VCR/DVR In jacks (3x).  Use 3x Composite cable (Monoprice, $2.95).

5. U-Verse Receiver to Sony VCR [This connection is for recording of TV programs on the VCR, you can skip this connection if you don't need to do this]: Use Composite+Audio (3x RCA, red/white/yellow) from U-Verse receiver Composite Output jacks (3x) to Sony VCR Input jacks (3x).  Use same cable as #4.

6. Teac 5-CD Changer to Onkyo AV Receiver: Use L/R audio cable (2x RCA, red/white) from Teac Output jacks to Onkyo AV Receiver TV/CD In jacks (2x).  Use 2x RCA audio cable (Monoprice, $3.59).

7. Fisher Tape Deck to Onkyo AV Receiver: Use L/R audio cable (2x RCA, red/white) from Fisher Output jacks to Onkyo Game In jacks (2x).  Use same cable as #6.

8. Onkyo AV Receiver to Bose 901 Speakers: Use standard speaker wire from Onkyo Front Speaker L + and - to Bose 901 Left speaker, and Onkyo Front Speaker R + and - to Bose 901 Right speaker.  You will not be using the 901's equalizer in this setup.

Configuration

Now we have to configure several of these components to do what we want:

1. Sony DVD player, configure for progressive output: On the back of the Sony DVD player is a slide switch for Normal output or Progressive output.  Set it to Progressive.

2.  Configure Philips TV:

2a. Set input for HDMI 1: Power on the TV, press the Source button on the remote until you are selected to the HDMI 1 input.

2b. Turn built-in speakers off: Press Menu -> Sound -> TV Speakers -> turn OFF.

2c. Set picture format to Normal: Press Format -> select Normal -> press OK.

3. Configure the Onkyo [this is a pain]:

3a. Configure output resolution: On the Onkyo remote, press Receiver -> Setup -> select Input/Output Assign -> Enter.  Select Monitor Out -> Enter.  Select Auto -> Enter.

3b. Configure input mappings: On the Onkyo remote, press Receiver -> Setup -> select Input/Output Assign -> Enter.  Select HDMI Input -> Enter.  Set each setting as follows:

BD/DVD: -----

VCR/DVR: -----

CBL/SAT: HDMI3

GAME: -----

(Leave remaining selections at their defaults)

3c. Configure more input mappings: On the Onkyo remote, press Receiver -> Setup -> select Input/Output Assign -> Enter.  Select Component Video Input -> Enter.  Set each setting as follows:

BD/DVD: IN1

VCR/DVR: -----

CBL/SAT: -----

GAME: -----

(Leave remaining selections at their defaults)

3d. Configure yet more input mappings: On the Onkyo remote, press Receiver -> Setup -> select Input/Output Assign -> Enter.  Select Digital Audio Input -> Enter.  Set each setting as follows:

BD/DVD: COAX1

VCR/DVR: -----

CBL/SAT: -----

GAME: -----

TV/CD: -----

(Leave remaining selections at their defaults)

3e. Configure speaker settings: On the Onkyo remote, press Receiver -> Setup -> select Speaker Setup -> Enter.  Select Speaker Settings -> Enter.  Set each setting as follows:

Speaker Type: Normal

3f. Configure more speaker settings: On the Onkyo remote, press Receiver -> Setup -> select Speaker Setup -> Enter.  Select Speaker Configuration -> Enter.  Set each setting as follows:

Subwoofer: No

Front: Full Band

(Leave all other settings at their defaults)

3g. Use the Onkyo's built-in equalization mechanism to apply room-specific and speaker-specific settings: Follow the directions in the Onkyo's manual on pages 23 and 24 to to use the Audyssey 2EQ system with the calibrated microphone supplied with the Onkyo.

4. Configure U-Verse receiver:

4a. Configure output resolution: Select CBL/SAT on the Onkyo Remote to select the U-Verse receiver, and turn the U-Verse receiver on.  Menu -> Options -> System Options -> Aspect Ratio -> Set to 1080i on high-definition screens.

4b. Configure digital audio output: Menu -> Options -> Audio/Language Options -> Digital Audio Output -> Set to Surround

4c. Configure aspect ratio: While watching TV, hit Enter (key below the 9 on the remote) -> Use L/R arrows to go to Zoom, set to Normal.

Operation

You can select which item you want to watch/listen to using the Onkyo's source selection buttons:

BD/DVD: Sony DVD Player

VCR/DVR: Sony VCR

CBL/SAT: U-Verse receiver

GAME: Fisher Tape desk

TV/CD: Teac CD changer

You have many audio listening modes available on the Onkyo, you will have to try them to see which sounds best with the Bose speakers.  Check the Onkyo manual pages 28-32 for information on the listening modes.  You may need different listening modes for different components.

SomeJoe, you don't know how much I appreciate this!   You are simply the best and I am very grateful for your help in this.  I guess my boyfriend wasn't losing his mind when he was trying to tell me that this is very complicated.  

Yes, I know we have older components and we could go out and buy an HDMI DVD player.  But, what about the tape deck and the VCR?  I mean, we really do not absolutely need the VCR because I plan to convert the VHS tapes to DVD (just the ones we really want).   After that, we can pack up the VCR and store it away. 

Anyway, thanks so much for your help.  My boyfriend won't have time to play around with this until the weekend.  I'll let you al know how it goes!  Thank you!!!!!

Yay, SJ!  How you can do all that in your head with no equipment in front of you, just amazes me!!!