Expert: Cleggsan - 4/9/2010

Question
I need help with the following connections:

TOSHIBA DVD REC.-(1)
vIDEO IN-VIDEO OUT-yellow
AUDIO IN-AUDIO OUT-white
AUDIO IN-AUDIO OUT-red
S-VIDEO -IN
COMPONENT VIDEO OUT-green,blue,red
S-VIDEO OUT
HDMI-OUT
COAXIAL AUDIO OUTPUT-PCM/BITSTREAM

EMERSON LCD/DVD
DIGITAL AUDIO OUT (COAXIAL)
VIDEO 2 COMPONENT - green, blue, red
AUDIO IN-red, white
RIGHT/LEFT AUDIO-red, white
VIDEO - yellow
S-VIDEO
ANT

SONIC BLUE GO-VIDEO
ANT OUTPUT
ANT INPUT
LINE IN 2- red, white, yellow
LINE OUT 1 -red, white, yellow
LINE OUT 2 - red, white yellow
CABLE BOX CONTROL
S-VIDEO (LINE IN 2)
MULTIMEDIA CONTROL PORT

CABLEVISION CABLE BOX
CABLE IN
CABLE OUT
AUDIO OUT
VIDEO OUT

Answer
Sorry, but you did not give model numbers of he equipment - which would help to understand what each box has as a feature set.

The hookup depends a great deal on what you are wanting to accomplish with the system.  You have some recording devices that you may or may not be expecting to record on and you did not mention having camera or other input devices in the system now or in the future.

Here is what I suggest for you:

ONE: Study in your mind what you are wanting to accomplish with your system.
TWO: Google for hookup diagrams and study a few of them. Yamaha has some good diagrams that are pictorial, for example.

THREE:  These are the rules to follow:  OUT means that this connector has the signal coming out of that box.  IN means that is where a signal goes into the box.  VIDEO means composite video and is video only (yellow cable and connector) and requires audio cables to be connected also (red and white).  S video also requires audio cables to be connected.  HDMI carries both audio and video.

FOUR:  One thing you must decide is  how to connect your cable line.  If you want to record while you are watching a different program you must have a splitter so that you can run the cable input to the tv and to the input of the dvd or go video, etc.

FIVE:  If you have external speakers (and amplifier) you must decide how to feed the audio output from the tv or the cable box into your amp/speaker setup.

SIX:  You can experiment with other connections; switch to the source you want to verify you are getting the signal.  Many professional installers who charge big money for this will do it by intuition and trial and error....   

So, I think you can do this by yourself and find the configuration that will work for you.  

Good Luck.  Have faith.