Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater What cables to get*different type of thread

I need help choosing which type of cables to get, not what brand.
here is my setup
4 axiom m22tis
1 SVS pci
HK 525
Xbox+DVD playback
32 inch tv
computer(i need to connect sound card to reciever)

So, i know i need 4 speaker wires, but i am kind of confused on what other types of wires to get, component video, sub wire, etc. Also, i know i need to convert the sound card wires into something that can go into the reciever-which type of converter into which wires?

Hawkson,

Here's what you'll need:

• 4 speaker cables
• 1 coaxial RCA subwoofer cable
• 2 sets of component video cables (1 for Xbox to receiver,1 for receiver to TV
• 1 mini-stereo to stereo RCA cable for soundcard to receiver. It looks like this:
  
  

That should do it.

Here I come again...

You'll also need a coaxial digital or optical digital cable from the XBox to the receiver. So you can, you know, hear the DVDs and games...

a component cable wont work for reciever to TV when playing the DVD's and games on my xbox?

You do need audio to go from your Xbox to the receiver. Component video is just video. We are, of course, assuming that your TV takes component video. Remember, that's the video connection that uses 3 RCA plugs, just for video. Usually red, blue, green. This is not the same as Composite video, which is one cable for video (yellow). Composite video is much lower quality. If your TV does not take component video, you'll probably want to use S-video, which is one 4 pin cable for video. In that case, replace Peter's call for 2 component video cable sets with 2 S-video cables.

all i have is red white and yellow on my TV, and the xbox already has the cable to plug into the reciever
thats RCA right? i dont have composite or anything, just plain old RCA.(yellow, red, whites RCA right?)

Unless you've got S-video on your TV, you're stuck with composite. You don't have component. You'll probably want to run all the audio through the receiver and the M22s, but if you want to run audio through the TV (for some god-forsaken reason) I suggest (and I do it this way) that you run the TV sound off of the tape out jacks on the receiver.

no, i definetely dont want to connect the xbox to play through the tv.
so i need to just go with the composite cables?
also, i have another question. on the back of my TV there is the audio out ports. If i want to run the audio from my TV through the speakers do i use those ports?

for the axioms do i need to get banana plugs? Hopefully not
any know where 12 gauge wire is the cheapest?

Hawk, the red, white and yellow inputs on your TV are what's called composite TV inputs. S-video inputs allow for a slightly better picture and component inputs again are slightly better than S-video. The difference isn't huge, however, and the composite inputs are what you have to work with. The yellow RCA is a 75 ohm coaxial cable that's perfectly satisfactory for TV. The red and white for audio usually aren't coaxial cables, but work well for analog audio transmission, so that's all you need.

There's no good reason to get banana plugs unless you're going to be frequently connecting and disconnecting, otherwise there's no better connection than simply using the bare wire. You may not need 12ga wire for the relatively short runs you'll be using, but Home Depot and Lowes are among the places that have it at low cost and Parts Express is a good source for on-line ordering.

Ok, Now that we know your complete system, here's the complete summary to answer all your questions. This is what I would do. I'll break it down by component.

TV

• Connect a composite video cable bwtween the yellow Video In on your TV and the Monitor Out jack (top right on the back) on your receiver.
• Connect a stero pair of RCA cables between the Audio In on your TV and the Vid 1 Out jacks (near the top left) of your receiver.
• Connect another stero pair of RCA cables between the Audio Out jacks on your TV to the Vid 1 In jacks (near the top left) of your receiver.
  

X-Box DVD
If you have the s-video/digital audio kit for the X-box (which you should have for watching DVDs in Dolby Digital), do this:

• Connect an S-video cable between the S-Video Out on the Xbox dongle and the Vid 2 In on your receiver (top right).
• Connect a digital optical cable between the Digital Audio Out jack on the Xbox dongle and the Digital In Optical 1 port (near top left) on the receiver. You'll need to later assign this jack to the Video 2 mode.

If you don't have the S-Video/Digital Audio kit, do this:

• Connect a composite video cable between the Xbox and the Vid 2 In jack (top right) on your receiver.
• Connect a stereo pair of RCA cables between the Xbox Audio Out and the Vid 2 In jack (top left) on your receiver.
  

Computer

• If your sound card has a digital or coaxial output on it, buy the appropriate cable and do the following: Connect the digital cable (coax or Toslink optical) between the soundcard and the appropriate jack on the receiver (either Digital In Coax 1 or Optical 2). Assign that jack to Video 3.
• If you don't have a soundcard with digital out, do this: Connect a mini-stereo-to-RCA cable between your soundcard and the Vid 3 In jack (top left) or your receiver.
  

M22tis

• Connect your 4 M22s to the FR,FL,SR,SL jacks (bottom just left of fan) on your receiver using good quality but cheap speaker wire.
  

Subwoofer

• Connect a good coaxial subwoofer cable between either of the L/R Audio inputs on your sub and the Subwoofer Pre-Out jack (bottom left) on your receiver.

Did I catch everything guys?

thanks a lot:)
just bought 4 FMBS, 4 m22tis, 1 SVS 25-31pci, and all the video cables and audio cables i think i will ever need in about 2 hours!!
now i have to wait on my HK 525 on ebay i'll have bought everything i need:)

thanks for all the help, and for answering all of my stupid questions here and there. thanks guys and girls

Nope. You've got no way of getting the S-vid from the Xbox to the TV. Neener neener. The 525 doesn't upconvert composite to S-video. So there.

Anyway, what you should do is replace his composite video cable under TV with an S-video cable, assuming your TV has S-video in. If not, follow the video portion of his instructions of the non-DVD Xbox.