ebertofsmut

I have the following components:

Toshiba 65H81 65" Widescreen
Pioneer DVR-810H-S DVD Recorder W/ Tivo
Comcast HDTV Receiver
Onkyo HT-S770 Home Theater In a Box

I'm really lost on what cables I need to get to make the best out of my system. I know I want to go with Monster Cable, because my friend has them and the picture is stunning. I want to get this all set up before my Toshiba gets ISF caliberated in a week. Can anyone help out?

drmoze

I can help. Don't waste your $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ on Monster. Lots of other fine cables out there at half the price or less. Monster is *NOT* the reason why your friend's setup loooks 'stunning.' Any decent cable will do.

That said, I'm not sure how the Tivo hooks up but you'll want a set of component cables and an optical or coax audio for the tv hookup. Might want to get better speaker wire, at least 14 gauge, any roll of the stuff will work fine.

Do a search on the forum for cables for specific brands/places to buy.

Also, is your tv new? If so, you want to wait a few months before calibration. Otherwise it's a waste of money because the set isn't burned in.

ebertofsmut

No the TV isn't new at all. I have had it more than a year. Thanks for the help!

shelland

Agreed - do some searching - the quality of Monster is not bad by any means, they are just way overpriced...

Some HT forums to check out:
www.hometheaterspot.com
www.avsforum.com

hoyalawya

Check out www.bluejeanscable.com. The materials they used are first-rate and yield excellent result. Should be on par with the best Monster has to offer for about half the money (or more). Except for DVI, optical, and speakers cables, I use them for all my connections.

bryce0lynch

Get your cables on E-Bay. They are inexpensive and not cheap.

cseyer

Ditto what hoyalwya recommended bluejeans is a great balance of top quality cable with decent prices and excellent service.

Video options if you have them in order of preffered connector:

HDMI, DVI, component, svideo, composite (RCA)

Audio:
Coaxial digital or optical (tie), analog (RCA)

For speaker wire I had good luch with partsexpress sound king 12 gauge and the parts express bannana plugs. Makes a nice solid connection.

cajun_junky

I actually have monter cables because I got a great deal on them at CC and they are high quality. Having said that I agree that most cables would be ok. You probably want to use optical cables to connect your cable box and dvd player to the receiver. You may also want a longer RCA subwoofer cable if you plan on moving your sub very far away (at least I did).

I also bought a couple of spools of Phillips wire (14-guage) at Walmart to replace the speaker wires.

One thing you did not mention was some sort of surge protection. I think that is important for a nice system like the one you listed. I went with a Monster Cable MP HTS 1000 MKII Power Center and a Monster Cable SW200 Subwoofer Power Center. They both have line filtering systems. I got them at a great price on Ebay (seller was bag-boy).

Believe it or not, I am not pushing monster because there are other quality manufacturers out there. However, Monster does make quality products. It just happened that I found great deals on monster when I was looking.

Good luck

svadas

That AR stuff they have at BestBuy and other internet places seems as good as Monster and half the price.

nightmaster

I won't say Monster cables are bad by any means. I just bought a 57 inch widescreen last thursday and picked up a set of 8 ft component cables at Radio Shack for $35, thinking a $1700 television deserves more than $2 cables. Got the TV home, started the component hookup and the screen was rolling colors and garbage. Tried a different component input, same thing. Pulled out some old cheesy stereo plug cables, hooked them up and bing, everything was fine. I took the Monsters back, got a new set and they are fine, but as this was my first ever Monster purchase and I got defective product I'm not about to recommend them to others. RS has their own brand cables cheaper and as stated earlier there are plenty of other good brands on the market for less money.

Iron_Giant

I posted a question on the forum a few months ago, the question was which connection would look better in HD from the Comcast receiver box.

The answer is the DVI connection!

All the HD channels look better and now all the other channels are better because the DVI connection outputs a signal that is formatted for a widescreen TV and the it is a better signal/cable.

Using the DVI connection also freed up one of my Component connections for my son's new XBox's "HD" connection.

ebertofsmut

Thanks for the help guys. One last question is what guage speaker wire do I need? Some people you 12 others 14. What guages best suits me? I also saw 16 guage on the best buy website.

Can anyone reccomend me some good surge protector? I'm drawn away from using Monster producst because I keep hearing AR is a good company, so i'm prob. gonna go with them.

bryce0lynch

If you have really expensive speakers then thick cables _might_ help. With a HTIB I'd just go out and buy whatever was on the shelf that was inexpensive. The speaker cable is not going to make a difference in 99% of installations.

On the surge front, I'd get one with a small warrenty and enough outlets to cover what you're using. You might also look for one that covers your Sat/Cable wires as well.