If you just bought a home theater system or a set of wireless speakers, you may need some tips on properly setting it up if you don't want to hire an installer. You may think you are technically savvy and that installing your new home theater system will be a snap. I will give some recommendations that will help you avoid some commonly made mistakes.
The following components are usually included in your home theater system: 5 to 7 satellite speakers, subwoofer and a central component. This central component is the central hub of your home theater system. You will typically be able to control it by remote control. It will process the sound and split into the sound component for each separate speaker.
Choose a location for the surround receiver. You might want to put it where you have the most amount of space. However, please also keep in mind that you will need to run speaker wire to each speaker, so don't pick a location that is too remote. If you have your TV up center then a good spot for your receiver might be somewhere near your TV. This will also simplify hooking up your receiver to the audio output of your TV. However, pick an alternate place if your TV already is fairly crowded with other equipment.
Connecting the receiver to power and to your TV or DVD is fairly straightforward. Most modern TVs have an optical output which connects directly to your receiver via a fiberoptical cable. This cable may not be included with your system but it is available at any electronics store. However, setting up your speakers may be a bit more tricky.
Determine the length of speaker wire which you will need for connecting all of the satellite speakers. You will need to keep in mind furniture and carpets and add some extra length to your calculations. This way you will have enough cable for all of the twists and turns. Speaker cable is available in different gauges. The more power you are driving into your speaker the higher the required gauge. This will prevent your cable from overheating and also helps minimize cable losses. Most subwoofers will have a built-in amp and thus take a low-level audio signal. You can connect your subwoofer by using a shielded RCA cable.
The satellite speakers each connect via a speaker terminal which is usually color coded to help ensure proper polarity. Most speaker cable will show one strand in a different color. This is essential since it will help ensure the correct polarity of the speaker terminal connection. Simply attach the different-color strand to the speaker terminal which is colored. Similarly, each speaker output of your surround receiver is color coded. When attaching the cable to your receiver, observe the right polarity once again. This will keep all of your speakers in phase.
Wireless rear speakers will typically incur an audio delay during transmission. This delay is also called latency. Typically the latency ranges between 1 and 20 ms. For optimum effect, it is best if all of the speakers are in sync. If you have a system that uses wireless rears and wired front speakers, i.e. you have a mix of wireless and wired speakers, you should try to delay the audio going to the wired speakers by the latency of the wireless speakers.
Check with the manufacturer if your surround receiver can be set to delay the audio of specific channels. If you are using wireless rears, you want to set the front-speaker and side-speaker channels to delay the audio. Home theater systems which were not designed for wireless rear speakers may not have this capability. In this case you may want to look for a wireless speaker kit that has very low latency, ideally less than 1 ms. This will keep all of your speakers in perfect sync.
The following components are usually included in your home theater system: 5 to 7 satellite speakers, subwoofer and a central component. This central component is the central hub of your home theater system. You will typically be able to control it by remote control. It will process the sound and split into the sound component for each separate speaker.
Choose a location for the surround receiver. You might want to put it where you have the most amount of space. However, please also keep in mind that you will need to run speaker wire to each speaker, so don't pick a location that is too remote. If you have your TV up center then a good spot for your receiver might be somewhere near your TV. This will also simplify hooking up your receiver to the audio output of your TV. However, pick an alternate place if your TV already is fairly crowded with other equipment.
Connecting the receiver to power and to your TV or DVD is fairly straightforward. Most modern TVs have an optical output which connects directly to your receiver via a fiberoptical cable. This cable may not be included with your system but it is available at any electronics store. However, setting up your speakers may be a bit more tricky.
Determine the length of speaker wire which you will need for connecting all of the satellite speakers. You will need to keep in mind furniture and carpets and add some extra length to your calculations. This way you will have enough cable for all of the twists and turns. Speaker cable is available in different gauges. The more power you are driving into your speaker the higher the required gauge. This will prevent your cable from overheating and also helps minimize cable losses. Most subwoofers will have a built-in amp and thus take a low-level audio signal. You can connect your subwoofer by using a shielded RCA cable.
The satellite speakers each connect via a speaker terminal which is usually color coded to help ensure proper polarity. Most speaker cable will show one strand in a different color. This is essential since it will help ensure the correct polarity of the speaker terminal connection. Simply attach the different-color strand to the speaker terminal which is colored. Similarly, each speaker output of your surround receiver is color coded. When attaching the cable to your receiver, observe the right polarity once again. This will keep all of your speakers in phase.
Wireless rear speakers will typically incur an audio delay during transmission. This delay is also called latency. Typically the latency ranges between 1 and 20 ms. For optimum effect, it is best if all of the speakers are in sync. If you have a system that uses wireless rears and wired front speakers, i.e. you have a mix of wireless and wired speakers, you should try to delay the audio going to the wired speakers by the latency of the wireless speakers.
Check with the manufacturer if your surround receiver can be set to delay the audio of specific channels. If you are using wireless rears, you want to set the front-speaker and side-speaker channels to delay the audio. Home theater systems which were not designed for wireless rear speakers may not have this capability. In this case you may want to look for a wireless speaker kit that has very low latency, ideally less than 1 ms. This will keep all of your speakers in perfect sync.
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You can find further details about wireless speaker products as well as wireless surround sound products from Amphony's web page.
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