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Getting started with your first home theater system can be a daunting task, considering so many different options to choose from.  What to get, BlueRay or standard def, Plasma, LCD or projector, Speakers in wall or in room, HDMI?  Oh my! Helping you bring all the pieces together to make your dream theater system a reality is what we do. We know how it all works and we can help.

A basic 5.1 system includes the following:
1. Receiver
2. DVD player
3. Display (Plasma or LCD)
4. Display mount
5. 5 speakers (3 across the front and 2 in the back)
6. A subwoofer
7. HDMI cables/speaker cables/subwoofer cable
8. A surge protector
9. And finally an equipment rack to house it all in that fits room decor.
These are the basics for a starting from scratch system.

System Calibration:

Have you ever been in someones media room and painfully noticed the surrounds were to loud drowning out the front, center, and mains, or just the reverse? Have you noticed the subwoofer seemed boomy at times and nonexistent others? Basically, a subwoofer should be heard when there is something with base in it or LFE, an explosion or the heavy pounding of cannon fire in an action scene, it should not be heard when people in the movie are talking. Proper speaker and subwoofer calibration is key to making your system operate at peak performance.

Subwoofer placement is just as critical as its calibration regarding its overall performance and ability to blend well with the other speakers in your system. We use the Velodyne SMS-1 as a tool to adjust your subwoofer’s I band parametric EQ and find the best placement for performance. Basically every room has peaks and nulls, this unit can help to fix the trouble spots.

If you would like to take full advantage of the SMS-1 and integrate this into your sub-woofer setup you may purchase one of these separately through us.

Picture 1 below shows a subwoofer’s in room response before correction, and picture 2 shows the improvements after proper calibration. Notice how the response curve has flattened out in picture 2.

Photo 1

Photo 2

Velodyne SMS-1

SMS-1 Features:
Automatic or Manual In-Room Bass Correction with Included Microphone
Full DSP Control
Customizable Listening Mode Factory Presets
Full Feature Remote Control
Works with ANY Subwoofer
8-band Digital Graphic/Parametric Equalizer
On-Screen Display

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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How Does HDMI Video Differ?
Just because a receiver has the capability to connect HDMI sources does not mean that each receiver is the same. In fact, very few are similar at all. There are currently five separate ways that receivers handle HDMI signals and we will list them in degrees of technological advancement starting from the bottom up:

1. HDMI video switching: Allows for top notch video passthrough. Only HDMI video inputs are output via the HDMI out. Audio has to be run separately using another connection like an optical or digital coaxial cable.

2. HDMI A/V switching: What comes in, must go out. Only HDMI inputs are output via the HDMI out. You must use multiple connections to the TV if you are using any other video connections like composite or component video but both audio and video will go over one cable.

3. HDMI upconversion: Makes life a little easier. All video connections, like composite video and component video are upconverted to HDMI but the resolution of the video signal does not improve.

4. HDMI upconversion with a de-interlacer: Progressive scan and ease of use. Everything is upconverted to HDMI like before but also put in progressive scan so your resolution is improved to 480p on all non-High Definition sources.

5. HDMI upconversion and upscaling: Nothing but the best. Every video source is upconverted to HDMI and non-High Definition sources are upscaled to make every video source either 720p/1080i or 1080p depending upon the receiver.