INTERCONNECTORS

[RobCurran]

Virgin poster here I'm looking for A/V digital/analog connection recommendations...

My Gear:
* Yamaha DSP-A1 (great integrated amp but no DVI/HMDI. Digital decoding technology is dated (i.e. no NEO, TrueHD, etc). Still produces great sound!)
* DirecTV H20 receiver.
* Hitachi 42” Plasma TV (new last year. 1080i resolution max).
* Toshiba SD9200 (Flagship DVD player in it's day).
# Considering Toshiba HD-A30 (on sale at CC for $199!)

For video, I currently use composite video cables from the source(s) to my HDTV. For audio, I use optical cables from source(s) to my AMP.

If you had a Toshiba HD-A30, how would you hook it up using my gear? Would you use analog out (RCA) to enable the HD-A30 to do all to digital audio decoding? If so, would that cause the video and audio signals to be out-of-sync?

[dougdrake]

I do not believe the A30 supports analog connections for more than 2channel, so you won't want to use that. Given your DSP-A1, your audio will be limited to standard DD and DTS over an optical digital audio connection (unless it supports MPCM, in which case the Toshiba can convert TrueHD to PCM and pass it to your DSP-A1 for playback).

For video, you can use HDMI from the A30 to your TeeVee. (I assume you meant COMPONENT video is what you're using now, rather than composite - 3 cables versus one).

[RobCurran]

The A30 does NOT have analog out in 5.1 surround. So much for my so-called future proof Yamie, which has 5.1 analog in for external decoding devices...