OT: Home Theater for dummies

Slick · #1 November 10th, 2005, 09:46 PM

Long story short, my old receiver wasn't working right and I got a new one I am a little confused on the best way to set it up. I used to be very much into A/V and knowledgeable about such things until about 10 years ago when some of the new technology and terminology started to overcome me. I still wouldn't rate myself as a total dummy, but in the last several years, I haven't kept up with reading all the latest stuff like I used to. I can get everything to work (being an engineer and all) but I am pretty sure I don't have things hooked up the best way (after all, I am not an electrical engineer). I'd rather not go into all the gory details here since I have lots of specific questions regarding both video and audio setups also for my specific equipment.

I don't have state of the art equipment basically because my family room is not built for home theater so I'd lose the high-end effects anyway due to ambient noise, light and speaker configuration. I just want to configure my system for the optimum set-up and I have too many questions to be sure if it is. I also think I may have some components that can't use the newer features on my new receiver and I really don't want to upgrade any other components just now.

The question is: Is there a good on-line, or not, A/V reference for dummies? I can easily find out definitions of terms and such, and what connector to poke into what hole on each component to make it work. But what I am looking for is a discussion on the various ways that things work together, which is better, and why.

Thanks.

Caduceus · #2 November 10th, 2005, 11:03 PM

This is CNet: CNet Digital Home Guide

Tom's Hardware (Den Guru)
DenGuru

Maybe those will help a little.

Slick · #3 November 11th, 2005, 12:35 AM

Thanks. Those seem a little too basic for me, though. I used to read Crutchfield all the time to stay current. Their website is very good for buying, comparing and learning about A/V:

http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/

I was sorta looking for similar websites.

Slick · #4 November 11th, 2005, 04:30 PM

Anyone have experience with component video vs. S-video? I currently am using S-video and now have the ability to upgrade, but from what I have been reading, many people can't see any difference in video quality. Is it worth it?

Wolfman77 · #5 November 11th, 2005, 04:42 PM

I used component once back in highschool. It was for a video graphics unit. The monitors were not in the best condition and so it is kind of hard to judge from that, but I don't think you will get alot of difference from a CRT television. If you have a LCD or plasma TV you might get a more noticeable difference, but I don't have experience with those. Keep in mind though that my experience is from the same time period as yours

TM · #6 November 11th, 2005, 07:20 PM

Slick,

Tough question to answer not knowing what equipment specs you have, including display type. In general Component Video is much better than S-Video and will become especially noticeable with progressive scan DVDs on any display, and even more so with an HD display. Always use Component or better (DVI or HDMI) with an HD display and always use Component with digital satellite. If you primarily watch cable (digital or analog) on a standard NTSC TV you may not see any benefit from Component over S, it will depend some on your eyes.

Hope this helps.

Slick · #7 November 11th, 2005, 10:19 PM

Since it just came down to the cost of the cable, I upgraded to component video. Haven't watched anything but momentary testing on various DVD's. In the brief checking I did, I couldn't see much difference in picture quality, but I had pretty good video before. I'm not going to switch back and forth to look for a difference, though. If component video is supposed to be better, so be it; it certainly doesn't look any worse than before.

If someone wants to make a million dollars they should make a standard connector for all audio and video, maybe USB or something. After all, since everything is moving to digital signals, this is the next logical step. Today I spent some time in connector hell, 9th level, and I don't want to go there again.

Now spending time tweaking in the (seems like) thousands of audio settings to get everything balanced. Last time I did this I used a friend's decible meter, might need it again. Haven't done this sort of thing in like 10 years. A learning experience indeed.

TurinTurambar · #8 November 13th, 2005, 03:37 PM

I install mid to high-end home theater for a living. PM me a list of your components and model numbers and your email and I'll draw a diagram in paint and email it to you.

Fyron · #9 November 14th, 2005, 05:47 AM

http://avsforum.com/ has forums filled with home theater nuts. I mean, umm... gurus. Yeah, that's it.

TM · #10 November 14th, 2005, 12:11 PM

Yeah, that forum is filled with home theater nuts, kinda like we're galactic domination nuts.

Seriously, the AVS forum is awesome. I learned everything necessary to access all of the factory settings on my projector for fine tuning as well as all the details needed to create a screen that out performs almost anything commercially available.