Using Home Theater Audio Receivers

By Hiram Basia-Hobbs

When pondering how to put together a home theater system, one should not forget an essential component to the audio and visual experience. Home theater audio and video are controlled by a receiver which is the central hub where the inputs and outputs of the home theater are located.

A home theater receiver combines the functions of three components. One, a tuner for AM and FM, in some instances high definition radio or Sirius Satellite or Internet radio. Secondly, a preamp that controls the audio or video source selected - Bul-ray play, DVD player, iPod etc. Thirdly, a built in multi-channel amplifier that conveys the surround sound signals to the speakers and also provides power to the speakers.

The advanced audio visual receiver (AVR) is a involved device, perhaps one of the more convoluted electronic devices in the home. It has a computer, amplifiers, audio signal processing chips, signal converter chips. Now many AVRs have video processing chips as well. The main routes in an AVR are: Power supply; Processor; Analog Audio; Digital Audio; Analog Video; Digital Video; Amplifier.

All of these groups can be on one or separate circuit boards, or some could be synthesized onto a single circuit board. Precaution must be taken in the architecture such that circuits don't affect each other. There's also the necessity to handle physical factors such as connector placement and air flow for proper ventilation.

Stereo receivers have two channels of amplification, while AV receivers may have more than two. The standard for AV receivers is five channels of amplification. These are usually referred to as 5.1 receivers. This provides for a left, right, center, left surround and right surround speaker to be powered by the receiver. 7.1 receivers are becoming more common and provide for two additional surround channels, left rear surround and right rear surround.

AV receivers usually provide one or more decoders for sources with more than two channels of audio information. This is most common with movie soundtracks, which use one of a variety of different types of encoding formats.

As the quantity of playback channels were increased on receivers, additional decoders have been added to some receivers. For instance, Dolby Labs created Dolby Pro Logic IIx to make use of receivers with more than five channels of playback. With the release of high definition players like Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD, even more decoders have been added to some receivers. Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoders are featured on many receivers.

All this information can be tough to absorb, however many web resources revolve around receivers alone. When thinking of upgrading or building from scratch a home theater audio and video system, find out about the receivers available to choose the best for your home theater needs.

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I'm an electronics expert with a particular interest in LG home theater systems. You may also be interested in reading more information about Seattle Hi-Fi.

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Home Theater Subs For Home Entertainment

By Jackson Everett

Subwoofers come to be more and more important to your home theatre experience. By looking at the film theatre, you marvel not simply at the images projected on the cinema screen, while the sounds emanating near you. What really grabs you, though, is the sound you actually feel; the strong bass that rumbles you up and gets you in the middle of your gut. A complex speaker, referred to as a subwoofer, is mainly responsible for this experience. The bass speaker was developed simply to reproduce the lowest of audible frequencies.

Passive Sub woofers Passive subwoofers are fueled by an external amplifier, within the same fashion as other types of speakers in your system. The key consideration at this point is that since extreme bass needs more power to reproduce low frequency sounds, your amplifier or receiver should be competent to output enough power to uphold bass effects within the sub woofer without killing the amp. Just how much power depends upon what's needed from the speaker and the size of the room (and exactly how much bass you can stomach!).

Powered Subwoofers In order to resolve the circumstance of inadequate power or other characteristics that might be lacking in a receiver or amplifier, powered sub woofers are self contained speaker/amplifier units while the characteristics of the amplifier and sub woofer are optimally harmonized. As being a side benefit, all a powered subwoofer needs is known as a line output from a receiver. This arrangement needs a lot of the power load away from the amp/receiver and allows for the amp/receiver to power the mid-range and tweeters with less effort.

Front-Firing and Down-Firing Bass speakers Front-firing sub woofers make use of a speaker mounted so that it radiates the sound within the front or side of the sub woofer enclosure. Down-firing sub woofers make use of a speaker thats generally mounted so that it radiates downward, on the floor.

Ports and Passive Radiators Some bass speaker enclosures utilize an additional port, which pushes out more air, improving bass response from a more efficient manner than closed enclosures. Yet another kind of enclosure runs on the Passive Radiator in addition to the speaker, instead of a port, to help improve preciseness and efficiency. Passive radiators either can be speakers having the voice coil removed, or else a flat diaphragm.

Crossovers The crossover is often an electronic circuit that tracks all frequencies below a specific point to the bass speaker; all frequencies above that point are duplicated to the main, centre, and surrounding speakers. Typically, a good subwoofer incorporates a "cross-over" frequency close to 100hz. Gone is the requirement for those large 3-Way speaker systems with 12" or 15" woofers. Smaller satellite speakers, optimized for mid-to-high frequencies, that occupy significantly less space and therefore are now common in numerous home theater systems.

Deep Bass is Non Directional In addition to that, while the deep bass frequencies reproduced by way of the sub woofers are non-directional (as frequencies that are at or below the threshold of hearing). It's very hard for our ears to actually pin-point the direction in which the sound is originating from. That's the reason we are able to only sense that an earthquake seems to be all around us, rather from from a particular direction.

Bass speaker Placement Because of the non-directional sound that is reproduced by way of the subwoofer, it can be placed any where in your theater room. However, the best results will depend on size of the room, furnishings, wall construction and floor type. Typically, best placement for a subwoofer is within the front of your room, just to the left or right of the main speakers, or even in a front corner of the room.

The Results Despite all of the technical specifications and design elements of subwoofers, the type of subwoofer you select for your personal system depends upon the characteristics of your room and your own preferences.

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Designing Your Home Theater System

By Hiram Basia-Hobbs

Relying on the type of consumer, home theater systems may vary a great deal. Some just want the bare minimum of what works, while others think that the newest technology of the moment is the best the industry has to offer. The following are scenarios of what either end of the spectrum might be seeking.

The least popular today among TVs is thought to be the box-like projection-style we all had in the late nineties. It used a dual screw adapter to connect to other devices such as VCRs, indoor antennas, and video game systems. Later on, at its peak, it offered a coaxial cable setup and bypassed the adapter, decreasing the number of steps in the connection of higher quality devices.

Today, flat-screen HDTVs are the norm, with high-end versions run up in the sixty inch and higher sizes with plasma and LED displays, and improved 3D technology requiring a special kind of glasses to achieve the most effective picture. Still others have large rooms equipped with old-style theater projectors and a silver fabric screen, much like the die-hard professional movie theaters.

Stereo is the usual way to recreate sound as the original producers intended. Older schemes are simple cassette players that may or may not come with the frill of an AM/FM radio and a telescoping wire antenna. As we fast forward to the nineties and beyond, the mainstream format for audio and video became the disc. CDs and DVDs both fit in the same cases, being constructed the same shape and size, and that feature alone made them rise in popularity almost right after each other, just as their players did.

Presently, the highly craved format of sound is multi-channel high definition surround sound, made popular by Dolby. This brand-new format allows the audience to experience the sound all around them as though they are centered in the middle of the music or movie.

The earliest format still possibly available to movie fanatics is the VHS tape, or video-cassette. It was playable for only a limited amount of time before the players, known as VCRs, began running wrong and rendering them junk by messing up the integrity of the tape. These problems became obsolete when DVDs hit the mainstream, thanks in part to the introduction of the Xbox and PlayStation 2 video game systems, which utilized the format for their games and forced regular DVD players to be more affordable to the consumer in order to compete with them.

Today, Blu Ray has become the central proponent of high-quality video entertainment with its higher definition display to compliment the currently available HDTV format. 3D may become more widely used if they can somehow do away with the requirement for special glasses to obtain the full experience.

These parts all come into consideration when choosing your design among these home theater systems.

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I enjoy blogging about all things related to electronics. To learn more about Verity audio, please visit my website.

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Items That Should Be Part of High End Home Theater Systems

By Hiram Basia-Hobbs

Having high end home theater systems within a home is a common dream for many people, even still most people don't have the slightest clue what items they need to set it all up. A home theater is definitely a luxury that you don't need, but if you do decide to get one you don't need to spend a fortune to obtain it. Shop smartly when picking out all the objects needed and follow my list to get the most important parts of your setup.

A projector is probably the most vital part of a home theater. Not only does it show the picture that you will be watching, but it displays it in a much larger size than a TV can do affordably. When you are shopping for one of these babies it is vital that you pay attention to the picture that is produced. You need to make sure it will create a good quality image from the distance that you are going to be using it at.

While a screen for your theater is important it should be one of the cheapest items that you pick up for the project. A perfect screen is the exact size that you want for your picture. On top of that it should also be durable and simple to mount. Most screens should last for the life of a theater, if yours does not you did not do your homework.

A good blueray player is also an essential part of any theater now. Most movies you will be watching are going to be in the blueray format and without a player you are going to be sacrificing the best quality picture you can get. Another feature of the best players that many people overlook is their ability to improve the video quality of basic DVD's effectively.

You will also need a preamp as well as an amplifier for your theater system. Many times you can get the two combined and it will be called a receiver. For the best results you can spend more money and get both devices separate from one another. They will function more smoothly and produce higher quality results. They process audio signals and separate them into the attached speakers to produce your theater sounds.

Setting aside the projector, the speakers are what make or break a good theater. A quality set of speakers will have six satellite speakers at the bare minimum as well as a few subwoofers, some front speakers, and surround speakers. You should be spending close to half of your budget on speakers alone because they are that important.

Finally you must put all of that equipment in room that has been prepared for optimal sound dispersion. This means insulation must be installed and you may have to rebuild pieces of the room to get the sound to vibrate properly. This step is better left up to professionals, but you should be able to do a decent job on your own if you are willing to spend a decent amount of your free time and money on it.

When that theater is finally finished it is time to add in some furniture so you can sit back and relax. No matter if you want sofas, recliners, or full on couches there are plenty out there to choose from. Just be sure that you pick something comfortable.

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I'm an audio expert with a particular interest in wireless home theater systems. Visit http://seattlehifi.com for more information.

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Buying Home Theater Systems

By Hiram Basia-Hobbs

Do you like watching new movies but are sick and tired of paying so much money to see a movie in the movie theater, along with the increasing cost of the concession stand food? If you are tired of paying these prices, investing in one of the many home theater systems would be a great idea, bringing the theater to your own home. No longer would you have to travel out to the theater when you could get the same experience without the expensive cost at home.

If you are in the market for a home theater system, you should think of several important aspects beforehand. For starters, you want to know how much you are willing to spend on the system and what kind of quality you want. The price of a home theater system will vary but there will surely be a system that is affordable, regardless of your budget.

After you consider a price range and the quality you are looking for, you need to decide where you will put your home theater system. Of course, you will need a desirable amount of space, ultimately depending on how large your system is. Some of these systems can be quite large to maximize your viewing experience.

You will need to take measurements of the area in which the system will be place, along with the home theater system, so that you know if it will fit. When you take measurements, you will know the amount of space that the system will take up and whether or not you have that kind of space in your home.

When considering a home theater system, you should also think of the type of television you have. These systems are designed more for flat screens and LCD televisions. If you have one of these televisions in your home, which you more than likely do, the home theater system would be a great addition to go along with the television.

When it comes to home theater systems, there are many to choose from but they all have one thing in common. What they have in common is their ability to provide you with a source of entertainment that can be enjoyed by not just yourself but the entire family.

When you have a movie night with friends or family, you no longer have to go to the movie theater. When you have a home theater system, you are saving tons of money because you do not have to put out money for those expensive movie tickets or expensive food.

If you are a movie lover and want to enjoy movies in the comfort of your own home, home theater systems are a great idea. With so many systems to pick from, you will be able to find the right one for your home. After you get one, you will surely love it.

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I'm an audio expert with a particular interest in sound systems. Click here to learn more.

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