First off, I just wanted to say that although I'm really new with Audio/Video technology, I'm trying to learn fast and it's all really interesting. That said, I'm still confused about what wires I'll need for my setup (which is arriving in the next couple days), because I haven't had a chance to be hands-on yet. My TV/DVD/HT system are pretty basic, as I wanted stuff that I could sink my teeth into first, before getting really serious with my Home Theater.

My sources are a Nintendo Wii, Pioneer DV-400V (upscaling DVD player). These both feed into a HTiB (HT-SR800), which will feed into a 42 in Panny 720p Plasma (42PX75U) as a display.

I was looking on Monoprice and have absolutely no clue what I'm supposed to buy to hook everything together (composite/component/dvi/hdmi???).

I apologize for what is most likely a stupid question, but it's taken a while for me to get acclimated to these forums, and I still have a lot to learn. I couldn't find anything I could clearly understand through the search function, but believe me, I tried.

There are a couple of options on how you can go about the cabling. First of all, the necessities--you will need at least 1 HDMI cable (for the DVD player) and 1 set of Component cables (for the Wii). Now, you have some options as far as hookup. You can run both of those cables directly into the TV or you can run them through the receiver (which will pass your upscaled 1080p over HDMI). If you run these into the receiver and then into the TV, you'll need to get an extra set of Component cables and an extra HDMI cable.

The advantage to running into the receiver is that if you have multiple sources using the same type of cable (for example, if you run your cable via HDMI), then you won't have to change inputs on the TV, just the receiver. If you are only running the Wii and DVD player, this is a moot point, because you'll still have to switch them (since one is analog and the other digital). The other advantage to this setup is that it's easier if you add things in the future (and if I recall your TV only has 1 HDMI input, so running through the receiver will allow an extra HDMI source). This is the way I would probably hook it up, but know that you can do it with just one set of each if you wanted to.

So, the answer is, if you run it like I'd run it, you'll need 2 HDMI cables and 2 sets of Component cables. (and if you're running cable from a cable box you may need another HDMI or Component cable) Hope that helps! Sorry if I confused you.

no you didn't confuse me. well yes you did but but it's cool.

so for now, at least 2 male to male HDMI cables and which component cables? 3-RCA or 5-RCA? i'm guessing 5-RCA for DVD to Receiver, and 3-RCA for Receiver to TV, but I could be way wrong.

thanks,
kevin

I'm glad I didn't confuse you too much! You will want the two m-m HDMI cables. I misread things on the Wii, and didn't realize that it had a proprietary connector on the back. Ideally, you would have the cable that had component cables on the end (I don't think you can just use whatever cables you want). This cable is probably going to have 5 RCA cables--the two extra cables supply stereo sound to your receiver. You don't really need to run sound to the TV unless you really want to. If you do, you may just want to run standard stereo (2-RCA) cables from the receiver to the TV. Personally, I wouldn't run sound to my TV, but that's up to you. I also neglected to mention sound from the DVD player to the receiver. You'll need a digital coaxial cable for that. That will allow your DVD player to output surround sound to your receiver. All good questions, I hope I answered them for you!

beautiful, thanks.

ordered everything from monoprice and I should be up and running by this weekend. thanks for all of your help.