Going to hook my system up.
Plasma tv, Elite receiver, NAD amp, speakers, DVD player, Satelite reciever.
Question... do I run a hdmi cable from the tv to the receiver?
Question... can you recommend a DVD player that plays CD clear? Or should I go with a dedicated CD player? have CD players advanced in the last few years? I have a sony that is about 10 years old. Should I upgrade?
Question... how hard it is to make speaker cables myself? Ie.. just not having bare wire on heach end sticking into the treminals? Do plugs or y hooks work better?
HDMI from the receiver to the TV, unless you're talking about getting audio from the tuner in your TV to your receiver, in which case it will most likely be via optical from your TV to your receiver.
If you're wanting a new disc player, I'd just go with a Blu-ray player. Then you can play Blu-ray, DVD, AND CD. Granted, I've never heard the über-expensive CD players, but I just don't see how they're going to sound appreciably better than a more reasonably-priced player, especially if you're sending the information digitally. I'm happy with both my OPPO BDP-83 and PS3 Slim. I play CDs on my OPPO simply because my pre-pro can't apply any of the matrixed surround modes to the stereo signal that the PS3 outputs for some reason.
As far as making your own speaker cables, it's not hard at all. I use banana plugs on my own simply because I like how it looks, and it's convenient since I do a lot of unplugging/replugging, but if you don't anticipate doing a lot of physical reconfiguring, there's nothing wrong with bare wire.
Mustang, on the question about a CD or DVD player, DVD players also play CDs well since their laser can also operate at the frequency that's optimal for playing CDs. So no, there's no benefit in a "dedicated" CD player.
As to advances in CD players, the technology for playing CDs has been mature for many years and the information on the disc has been read and output without audible flaws. If your 10 year old player is still in good operating condition, it'll still do this and there'd be no sound quality reason to change.
To me bare speaker wire works best, unless you disconnect the speakers often in which case Banana plugs are very handy to use.
You should run everythng into the Pioneer and then HDMI out to the TV. Your Sattelite receiver should have HDMI out so use that into the Pioneer as well.
Its very easy to make your own speaker cables yourself. One example is given here which will give you an idea.
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/Speaker_cable_termination.pdfBanana plugs have advantage over bare wire in instances where you are using a lower awg like 10 or 12. It can be very tough to insert the wire into the binding post with a thicker wire and in cases where the binding posts are very close together. In cases where the back portion of the electronics are tough to access due to placement, its makes it almost impossible (a real PITA anyways) to install bare wire terminated cables.
Good point Doc. The back of the avr is the one place I would recommend banana plugs over bare wire.