Just took the plunge on a new Onkyo HTS-760 home theater system, after doing extensive research and finding almost unanimous rave reviews. I have the speakers and the subwoofer connected, now I need some advice on hooking up my components. I have an RCA VCR, Hughes Directivo, and a JVC DVD player hooked to an RCA TV, which is about 7 years old.
Here is my exact setup:
DVD-
RCA (white,red,yellow) connected to to TV's RCA (white,red,yellow)
S-Video connected from DVD to TV
Has 1 unused digital out optical input

DIRECTV SATELLITE RECEIVER WITH TIVO
Cable TV connected to VHF/UHF in on Directivo
RF Sat Out connected to IN FROM ANTENNA on VCR
Sat 1 & 2 connected from Satellite Dish

VCR-
In from Antenna connected to RF Sat out on Directivo
OUT to TELEVISION Connected to ANT (A) Signal source on TV
(I almost never use my VCR, but it is wired this way to take advantage of the "save to vcr" function on the Directivo...)

My TV has 1 Free S Video connection and 1 free RCA (white,red,yellow) input

I have a new S Video cable, but thats it (I do not have any digital opitical cables, and I am thinking I will need two of those?)

If someone could walk me through how I need to connect all of these to my receiver so that I can take advantage of the best video and audio, and what extra cables I might need, I would greatly appreciate it! I have a rats-nest of wires right now and I am a little overwhelmed......

Thanks very much in advance!

For starters you don't need two different video connections from your DVD player to your TV (yellow composite cable and S-video). The S-video will suffice and give you a better picture than the composite connection.

Also, yes you will want to run an optical digital audio connection from the DVD player to your surround sound receiver.

Tangential, but may help you. When you get the optical cables, you'll probably find the best price online. When I went to my local circuit city the cheapest optical cable they had was $60 IIRC. Online I got them for under $20 easy.