#1 - HDMI cables shouldn’t be confused with speaker cables. Quality does make a difference. When you exceed 25 feet, you need to make sure you get a good cable. It’s been a while since I’ve done any hard looking at HDMI cables, but do not go cheap just for the sake of doing that. There is also an awful lot of marketing out there with HDMI cables, so be wary. I recall seeing a few HDMI cable shoot outs with real test data, but I can not find them. I’m sure someone else has a few book marked. One report was mixed as far as price of each cable, but it most definitely proved that quality does matter, greatly. I use Blue Jeans, and it is 35’ in length. It works fine when I use my video processor, but if my AVR is pushing the signal, there is a noticeable difference in video quality. My video processor has a higher output boost than the AVR, which is why it works OK and the AVR does not.
#2 – You are OK with cheap here. Monoprice or Blue Jeans both make great cables. I would go with their sealed 12 gauge.
#3 – I use the Axiom cable. Not exactly the cheapest, but they sure are pretty. No need to go high end here any more than with speaker cable.
#4 – You want the backs and surrounds to be about five feet off the floor. You may be stuck putting them on the wall. I doubt they will be any less irritating to your neighbors on stands or on the wall. Neighbors can be perpetually annoyed at anything, or they might just want to come over and watch movies with you…….
#5 – Personal preference here. Some folks like a 1:1 ratio and others like 1:2 ratio. I like 1:1.5 myself. I sit 12’ away from a screen that’s 8’ wide.
#6 – For SD only, I’d suggest you look at the Oppo 980. For BR, I’d suggest the Panasonic BD55. It is getting rave reviews. I have the BD 30 and love it, so I can only assume that the 55 is even better.
#7 – Sounds like you have automatic pillerbox turned off. Your 2.35 movies are being stretched vertically to fill the screen and 4:3 movies / shows are being stretched horizontally to fit the screen. Might want to see if you can find that function in the cable box and turn it on. Select the 1080i option as well so that HD channels are not down rez’d.
#8 – I’m not familiar with our AVR. Does it have HDMI? If so, I’d just stick with that and let the AVR convert the Component to HDMI. Hard to tell what exactly is happening with the lines you describe. It sounds almost as if you had a CRT, but you obviously don’t…. That one may take some time to figure out.
#9 – Ya, the cables terminate on adapters that mount to the J-boxes. Then you use bananas or spades or whatever type of adapter you install. They are not hard to install. Anyone can do it.
