The best way to start a shopping list for your HT is to first get a basic understanding of HT.  Learning the basics will give you a better idea why one piece of equipment may serve you better than another.    Cables and Inputs/Outputs:  There are six major types of cables and inputs/output jacks primarily used in the transport of video signals from one piece of equipment (DVD) player to another (Plasma TV).   1)     F-Connector –          This is the screw-on cable that connects from the wall jack to the back of the TV or cable/satellite box.  This cable will provide audio and video and is sometimes known coaxial or coax.     2)     Composite-  The most basic video transport, which uses one RCA jack (yellow) to connect A/V equipment.  Composite is an analog cable which provides the lowest resolution of the five types of cables.  Found on older equipment.  Standard on most new equipment to be backwards compatible.     3)     S-Video-  At one time S-Video was the standard for       video transport, but has been surpassed by other transports because the quality and resolution of S-Video is lower than the newer video transports.     4)     Component- Probably the most common video transport on most new equipment because it provides the best analog connection for high picture quality and resolution. Component uses three RCA cables (R,G,B).    5)     DVI- Digital Video Interface is the first generation of digital video transport.  DVI was introduced in the late nineties and can be found on some equipment like cable boxes, TVs, receivers and on computers.  DVI provides superb picture quality and resolution.   6)     HDMI- High Definition Multimedia Interface. This is the latest digital video transport which provides superb video quality AND audio.  HDMI is to be the defacto digital transport for the future; it has the ability to detect digitally encrypted copy protection.      Tips: For your HT, you want to choose the transport that will give you the highest quality picture; that would generally be component video or better.  Of course, this is totally dependant upon the A/V equipment that you are putting together, but generally speaking, if you are buying new equipment you will be able to use component video or HDMI.    Remember, when you are planning to connect your A/V equipment, it is important that you make sure that you know what inputs and outputs are provided on the equipment. The inputs and outputs need to match on each piece of equipment you are connection, if they don’t you may be trying to connect a TV with HDMI input to a cable box with S-Video output.  Take some time and plan this part out carefully because it can be confusing; it also can be frustrating if you get all of your equipment set up and then find out that the connections will not work the way you planned.     Links: For a really great article that provides information on all the different types of cables and audio/video connectors see this link: http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/howto-av.html   This is a decent site as well for info on connections: http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/specsformats/connector-guide.html     From the research that I have done, it seems that paying for cables from a brand like Monster, is a waste of money because there are diminishing returns when you start paying big $$ for a “High End” cable.   I would recommend RAM Electronics (www.ramelectronics.net) if you need to purchase cables.  They have very good products and very reasonable prices, probably the best prices on the internet for the quality you are getting.   Digital Connection http://www.digitalconnection.com/cable.asp has a huge selection of cables and equipment for anything A/V.  The prices are reasonable as well.