Ok, so now I am super confused about mounting my TV!!!!!

1) I think the Sanus Mounts are stronger than the Peerless Mounts?
I don't want a retractable one just one that tilts up and down...So the question is, IS there a best one?........ I do think that the Pioneer Mount might be better than all the rest because it is made for the 150 and 6010.... Go ahead please correct me if I am wrong..... And Price, doesn't it go like, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR?

2) I spent hours today, between Home Depot, Circuit City and Best Buy!!!!
Does anyone know what they are selling? I came back with NOTHING!!! As I had more questions for you guys.....

3) The guy at Best Buy told me that I should buy a Pioneer Reciever....with HDMI capabilities..... At a $1000, I don't want to do that! But he insisted that I would not be getting the Max out of my 6010! Please explain in plain engish why I need to buy such an expensive receiver?

4) The clock Outlet from Home Depot, was $6. But I did not buy it, as how could I plug the Tv into it without a surge protector?

Basically, I want to wall mount the 6010..... My wall backs onto my closet, which will house the Fios HD/DVR, the receiver for the surround sound and a Blu Ray Player..... I don't want to see any cables running betwwen the TV and the wall...... There is a Power-Outlet at the bottom of the wall, which can be re-fed through the wall and come out on the inside of the closet, or it can be raised up and be positioned behind the TV....Except I need some sort of surge protection at that point? The best buy guy, told me to buy a MFP-400.....
http://www.panamax.com/Products/Floor-Models/MFP-400.aspx

He said that it was slim enough to be mounted behind the TV and thats what I would plug into the re-positioned outlet...... As I could not run the power cable through the wall and plug it into the outlet in the closet....
What do u think? It's only 1.6" Thick so there should be enough room behind the 6010.... yes or no, all you 6010 owners?

Next..... I was also told to buy a MIW-Power Pro.... instead? Would like to know what all of you think?
http://www.panamax.com/images/individual_products/med/miw_pwr_pro.jpg

Then I was told by someone at Circuit city that I needed a Monster

http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=2764

or a http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=3259

So Now I am very confused, and need to know what I should buy and how I should install it?........(My husband can do all the work, add joists, remove joists, drywall and also the electrical work) so that's not the issue, I just want to know what the right stuff to buy is? He will figure out the rest....

ALSO IS IT CORRECT THAT I CANNOT RUN HDMI CABLES THROUGH THE WALLS?.......OR FOR THAT MATTER ANY OTHER CABLE? I thought it was only the power cable that I could not run through the wall? The guy at BB told me that I was wrong.... NO cables as it will void my insurance!!!! When I asked if I could run them through a conduit, he said that wasn't the right way either....The cables had to be UL protected? Is this correct? .......

So please please help me out here..... In plain english, not to technical please...... and tell me what to buy, numbers and all.... Thanks.....

Also I will need a Receiver, and I cannot afford the Pioneer Elite model!!!!

So can you suggest a surround sound system that is reasonably priced.....
and not overkill...... This Tv will be mounted in my bedroom..... I would like to get some thin Black Speakers that can go on either side of the TV and blend in as much as possible....... and two small ones at the bacl of the bed, mounted on the wall, close the the ceiling? I will skip the one that normally goes in the middle on top of the TV..... Because I don't think it will look good...... Oh and I need a NOT TOO HUGE SUBWOOFER, (lack of space).....

Thanks.... I look forward to your responses..... I also wonder if I should post this in it's own thread as well..... I think I will just to make it easier, as the owners thread, is really hard to follow, as there are so many questions being answered.......

Thanks.....

anyone?

Hi,

I can't help with all of the questions but I'll take a shot at a couple of them:

As for a receiver with HDMI - two reasons for requiring this are 1) that you would like just one HDMI cable running from your receiver to your TV and 2) that you want the receiver to upconvert all video signals being fed to it to 1080p.

I do not have an HDMI-capable receiver. This means that every video source, such as DVD, HD-DVD, VCR, HTPC etc. has a video cable running up to the TV. To me, that's in no way a problem. Doing this also means that you will have to run separate audio cables from your sources to your receiver. Again, I have no problem with that at all.

The Pioneer TV's, from what I've read, do an excellent job of handling video that is at lower resolutions as you might see from a regular DVD player (not HD). In that case, the receiver is not required to do any processing.

You can buy a non-HDMI receiver and still get all the benefits of video and audio from your TV. I agree that it isn't as elegant from a cable point of view but that's a detail that is an individual's tolerance. I'm not sure what the salesman was referring to exactly when he said that you won't get the most from your TV. This forum tends to have folks at the leading edge of technology so I fully expect that my recommendation will be met with counter-arguments.

As for cables in the wall, it is very common to run signals inside walls with no conduits. I can't speak for the electrical code in your area but a signal cable is highly unlikely to be a risk factor for overloading and causing a fire. Personally, I have done exactly that, running signal and speaker cables through the walls with no conduit. I know literally dozens of people who have done the same thing. If you are still uncomfortable, call your local city office or check with a hardware store that really knows its stuff, not Home Depot, etc. Lastly, an electrical contractor can give you the final word on this.

I hope this helps. It's one person's opinion. I am by no means an electrical contractor and my opinion should be considered in light of that.

Regards,
Adnan

Thanks Adnan...... So what you are saying is getting a HDMI receiver means that I will run one cable from the Reciever to the TV, and all the other components will be plugged into the Receiver? Which means that they will all be in my closet and only the one HDMI cable will run from the closet through the wall into the back of my 6010? Can you and everyone else confirm this....

If this is the case, then I have another delima..... Which Receiver?..... The chap at BB said, that I should get a pioneer, so that it works seamlessly with the Pioneer 6010...... Also does this mean that I wont need a surround sound system? That I can just buy speakers and connect them to the Receiver?

Thanks....

as long as you have CL-2 rated audio and video cables then it is ok to run in the wall you can get these from many places some are forum sponsors such as blue jeans and monoprice get their sites at the top of this forum.

as for the power cable check this out www.powerbridgesolutions.com
this enables you to jump the power behind the wall and bring the power cord out to another location and plug into a central surge protector,this is a safe way to run the power cable in the wall and it wont go against you insurance !!!!

and yes it is nice to have an hmdi equipped receiver with the latest audio formats but it isnt necessary any good receiver will do as long as you have enough power to handle the speakers , you will do the video switching on the display and the audio on the reciever.

in my case I just bought the 1150 elite and my receiver is older and very good but wont handle the new blue ray and hd dvd audio formats, so I run the 4 hdmi cables to the tv display and the toslink digital outputs to my receiver and I dont feel like I am missing anything, may eventually get one of the newer receivers but for now I am happy !!!!!!

Hope this helps

Sfatman

Thanks sfatman, well I might as well get the receiver now. I have no surround sound system, so rather than buy a surround sound I might as well get the right receiver with HDMI, and hook up some speakers to it.... I noticed you said you had an elite receiver u are using. Is there a receiver that Pioneer make, which will do HDMI, and be good enough, without me getting the top of the line? Any model numbers you might suggest?

I will check out the powerbridgesolutions.....

Thanks so much...

Hi,

I think you may be a little confused about one point. An A/V receiver not only does the switching between sources but it takes care of all the surround sound issues for you. You don't need a separate unit for that.

The way this works is that Dolby Digital audio is encoded as a stream of data. Your DVD player sends this stream out its audio port (can be optical or electrical) which should be fed into the digital input of your receiver. The receiver knows how to interpret this stream and it separates out all the various channels, giving you 5.1 surround sound.

The same applies to any source that can produce a digital audio stream, including your Pioneer TV when watching off the antenna or cable input. The important thing to note is that almost all A/V receivers can do this. Most also handle DTS, which is another encoding format, a competitor to Dolby.

The only advantage to buying a Pioneer receiver is that Pioneer uses a kind of communications network that allows Pioneer equipment to talk to each other to give you some extra features. These are convenience features and do not necessarily impact the quality of the audio and video.

If I were in your shoes, I would start by deciding on the number of speakers you want. For most, a 5.1 system is plenty and is a good minimum requirement. If you feel you want 7.1 but don't want to spend the money now, no problem, just get 5 speakers for now and add two later.

Next, decide whether you want HDMI in your receiver. Now look at the various brands (popular ones are Yamaha, Denon, Onkyo, Harman-Kardon etc.). Now pick a receiver that meets these requirements and has around 100 watts of power per channel if you have an average sized room. In my opinion, unless you are an audiophile and have very, very good speakers, almost any receiver will be plenty adequate.

We're here to help so feel free to ask questions. Forearmed is forewarned!

Regards,
Adnan

Thanks Adnan...... So what you are saying is getting a HDMI receiver means that I will run one cable from the Reciever to the TV, and all the other components will be plugged into the Receiver? Which means that they will all be in my closet and only the one HDMI cable will run from the closet through the wall into the back of my 6010? Can you and everyone else confirm this....

If this is the case, then I have another delima..... Which Receiver?..... The chap at BB said, that I should get a pioneer, so that it works seamlessly with the Pioneer 6010...... Also does this mean that I wont need a surround sound system? That I can just buy speakers and connect them to the Receiver?

Thanks....

Hi,

I didn't answer your question, I realized. Yes, with an HDMI receiver, you will have just one cable running to your TV. Of course, you will also have an antenna or cable coax as well.

How many sources do you have? If you have just a DVD and VCR, many receivers switch S-Video and Component for you. This means just one or two more cables. Weigh the added cost of the receiver versus this convenience. Also, keep in mind that if you use just one HDMI cable to the TV, it means that the receiver is doing all the video processing for you. Getting good performance there may mean you have to step up a lot in cost. Your TV may actually have processing that is better than most receivers. This means you will not only get inferior performance with a receiver but you will also be spending more. Not to mention, wasting some of the power of your TV.

Have you considered getting a used, non-HDMI receiver off Craigslist (if you are in the USA)? That might be a great way to get going with low expenditure. Many people upgrade becasue they want certain features but you will do just fine with a basic receiver.

Confused yet? Sorry about that but like many things, there are several things to keep in mind and weigh.

Regards,
Adnan