Tech Advice!

[Gail Simone]

What do I need to look for in a decent audio home theater system for our television?

Gail

[Larry Dixon]

Hiya Gail. I know this may seem a little stoooopid for an answer, but honest truth is, know your own tastes in audio.

I was raised by an audiophile who wanted the heaviest, biggest, highest quality stuff affordable, and for a while, that was what I spent my money on---but then I looked at my tastes objectively and realized that I didn't have an ear for some of the high end stuff I was spending big dough on. Turns out that 192k MP3s are high enough quality for me, through a good stereo, and though I have 5.1 surround on a couple of systems here it doesn't make as big a difference to me even with movies.

Given that, there are a lot very good all in one home theater setups available. You can spend as much money as you want on home theater of course. You can't go wrong with Onkyo or Carver, on the upper end... a Carver amp/Pre-amp setup remains the sweetest, most sublime sound I have ever had, driving Infinitys. Onkyos simply do everything well.

Bose I tend to think of as boomy and somewhat overrated, though there are Bose fanatics that will flay me for that, and there ARE rooms that Bose is well-suited to.

Speaker placement and the "clutter" of the room are important factors in the sound you get too. Clutter refers to items in the soundspace that diffuse, trap or scatter the soundwaves---lamps, book cases, Eisners.

You want Max Headroom! That is, "headroom" refers to the extra power "held in reserve" that you don't often use, but allows everything to sound good. Like if you have a big-lung rock star singing a lowl slow ballad, you can feel there's a lot of punch behnd it that isn't being used---that is like headroom. Get at least a 300-watt system, preferably 500 or more, so you can play it at normal levels with a bunch of power to spare. You won't likely get buzzkilling distortion, clipping or driving problems that way on big or sudden sounds in movies, like explosions.

Additionally, and I know it's a silly rule of thumb, get heavy speakers. Silly but true, heavy speakers tend to mean large magnets and strong construction. Don't be put off if the speakers are made of particleboard even at the high end; it's a great acoustic material for speaker cabinets. Heavy speakers also mean less cabinet flutter---some plastic speaker cabinets hit resonant frequencies that make the whole thing buzz.

What else can I tell you... hmm... Monster Cable stuff is tremendously overrated for all but the most high-end (or impress-your-bling-friends) applications. Most of the time a roll of 12 gauge speaker wire from Lowe's will do the job just as well as Super Mega Gold Plated Oxygen Free stuff, in real world applications. Subwoofers are good, but be mindful that they have a very long "throw," which means that you get more out of one across the room than you do with one right next to you. (This is why you find so many cars booming like hell---the subwoofer's sound wavelengths fall mostly outside the car, not in.)

Not an expert, but I hope it helps.

[Briareos]

Richter Scale

[sk716]

What do I need to look for in a decent audio home theater system for our television?

Gail

Assuming you've got any money left after that PT Cruiser...


Bose

[Jared H.]

Subwoofers are good, but be mindful that they have a very long "throw," which means that you get more out of one across the room than you do with one right next to you. (This is why you find so many cars booming like hell---the subwoofer's sound wavelengths fall mostly outside the car, not in.)

Not an expert, but I hope it helps.

I thought sound came in a longitudinal wave. Now, I realize that the wavelengths will differ depending on hertz, but the amplitude of a sound waveform should still be largest at its creation point.

I believe most people who make the claim of sound waves actually becoming louder at a distance are confusing the time-domain signature of sine waves with the spaitial-domain signature of pressure at a set point, which would be what matters here.



Anywho, brand-wise, I rather like Bose equip.


Edit: sk beat me to the brand.

[OzBat!]

I like small speakers!

[MacQuarrie]

These sound like the voice of God. Actually, M-Audio makes several very good speakers. These and these are a pretty good combination. The BX5a and BX8a series have really impressive frequency response.

(Disclosure: I work for them.)

[matterconsumer]

I'd go for surround sound (at least 5.1). Your DVDs and certain tv stations offer surround sound. Additionally some music is available in surround sound versions.

It's good to be able to go somewhere and listen before buying.

A receiver and speakers would be necessary (along with the appropriate cabling).