Which way is better?

Question

I have a HDTV and according to the manual it shows all the seperate components (DVD player,CD player,VCR, etc..) hooked up straight to the TV and only using my AV reciever for surround sound speakers.
But my AV reciever manual is just the opposite, with all components connected to the reciever and only the TV having a minimal of conections ie: satellite box .
Is one way better than another?

Answer 1

depends - to put it simple.

Receiver First - For better sound - The audio sources go directly to the receiver and can be hooked digitally sometimes. The video though has to pass through the receiver and may suffer in quality

TV first - For better video and easier/cheaper setup- When you have connections going through your tv to your receiver, the sound is processed first by the tv, then the receiver. This is negligable for normal people but a tragedy for auidophiles. This costs less because you don't have to buy 2 sets of video cables for each video connection, is easier to setup because you can just turn on you receiver to a comfortable level and leave it alone forever, controlling everything throught the tv

Answer 2

Well, look at it this way, if you run just the VIDEO cables into the TV, this will give the best picture, instead of having it pass through the reciever, but hook the AUDIO cables from each component to the reciever, from thier respective audio outputs, this way all your video signals will be straight to the TV, and all the audio signals will go to the receiver...

Answer 3

Does your TV really have enough high-quality inputs (HDMI, Component) to handle all your sources? If so, I would use the TV switching circuits. However, if you have a high quality receiver, its switching circuits may be satisfactory, but if it is a low-priced unit, the switching in the receiver may not handle full HDTV bandwidth and may introduce noise. In my home theater, even with a high end Yamaha AV receiver, i use as many TV inputs as I can.

Answer 4

Hook up all sound connections to your receiver,
hook up all video connections to your TV.