for all my hdmi equipment, so i would like some advice. i currently have a hd cable box, hdmi dvd player and as soon as i can get one a hdmi playstation 3. thats 3 outputs into 2 inputs on the 970. i'm thinking that the playstation 3 would be best to omit from the preamp and go straight into the tv. any comments?

In my experience, the HD cable box would be the best candidate for moving from DVI/HDMI to component - I found absolutely no difference between the two when comparing them in my system. I'd recommend using the DVI inputs for the HDMI DVD player and the PS3 and use the component switching for the HD cable box.

thanx gonk, but oops should have mentioned this i just got a 1080p and not sure component can handle it?

The only device I've seen that will do anything with 1080p over component is the Xbox360, and since I don't know of any TV's that support 1080p input over component I haven't figured out the benefit. In this case, though, the cable box is still the best bet to move to component, as cable boxes will not output higher than 1080i anyway (the highest resolution at which HDTV is broadcast). Your HDTV can deinterlace the 1080i to 1080p, and it's likely to have a better deinterlacer than the cable box would anyway.