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Using My New Home Entertainment System

 
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Using My New Home Entertainment System

Do I need professional help to set up my home entertainment system?

You should always get professional help in setting up your system, especially if you've already invested thousands of dollars in buying all this equipment. Investing a little bit more will make sure that you get full use and satisfaction out of having it in your house. A professional installer can help you on alot of fronts. One is, they can help you hide all your cables, that's first and foremost. Secondly, they can help integrate all the control of the system into one remote control and make sure that it works and functions consistently, time in, time out. They can also make all of the interconnects, all the connections behind the system, so that you plug the right cable in the right thing. Finally, they can tune the audio and video so that it looks as good as it can in that particular location given the equipment that you have.

What kind of wiring might I need done for a new entertainment system?

When you buy a new entertainment system, especially if you're going to hang a TV on the wall, you're going to need to consider, seriously consider, running two types of cable in your wall. Most of our clients that buy flat screen TV's buy them because they want to position them on the wall, hanging them like a picture, and you don't want to ruin that image, or that experience, by having a couple of wires hanging down from the TV and getting plugged into your stereo. So you're going to have to consider running those speakers-those wires- through the wall. You're also going to need to consider and figure out how to get electricity up to the TV. Most of the time, when we're doing installations, we're also running an electrical outlet to the rear of the TV, so that you have power without seeing a power cable. Many times when we're at a client and we're actually doing the installation, we recommend to them that they pull what they call "conduit" in some harder to reach locations. And what that allows us to do is, in the future, if there is new cabling technology, or a new standard comes along, it allows us to future-proof the house because pulling cable through conduit doesn't-it means that we don't have to open the walls. It can be done quickly. It can be done for far less cost than having to go through and open walls and pitch cable through walls.

How can I prepare my home for future entertainment components?

If you're in the process of building a house, definitely get a professional audio individual involved with your architect or your designer early on in the planning stage. They can make recommendations for how things should be laid out or where equipment should be located in order to maximize the experience you'll have. A professional can also help hide the equipment, which is probably the number one request we have from our clients. It makes a lot of sense to spend the extra time and money in getting somebody involved that early in the game. When you're pre-wiring a house, what drives the cabling that goes into the walls is what sort of system you want? You need to sit back and think just beyond the traditional, “I have a TV and stereo” and begin to think about, “What sort of things do I want to control in the house and how much do I want integrate?” For example, do you want lighting control? Do you want to have the ability to manage your HVAC, your air conditioning and heating all from a remote control? Do you want to have video surveillance and the ability to see who's at your front door when you're sitting in your home theater? Do you want the ability to remotely control your house through the internet and see what's going on, turn off or control your heating, your lighting, and generally keep an eye on your house while you're gone? These are all things you need to think about, especially if you're in the process of building your house.

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Anonymous  (364 days ago)

there is a big difference in the audio setting when I change from radio to cable.

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Jeff Colen
Meet the Expert
A Sharper Home
  • Do I need professional help to set up my home entertainment system?
  • What kind of wiring might I need done for a new entertainment system?
  • How can I prepare my home for future entertainment components?
more ...
Home Entertainment
 Home Entertainment General Information 
  1. Jeff Colen
  2. What are the essential components of a home entertainment system? 
  3. Should I hire a professional to install my home entertainment system? 
 Televisions 
  1. Jeff Colen
  2. What types of televisions are available? 
  3. What is the difference between a "plasma TV" and an "LCD TV"? 
  4. What size television should I buy? 
  5. What is "HDTV"? 
  6. Will my new HD television work with my current set-up? 
 Surround Sound 
  1. Jeff Colen
  2. What is "surround sound"? 
  3. What do 2.1, 5.1 and 7.2 refer to in sound systems? 
  4. How do I choose the best sound option for my home theater? 
 VCRs, DVD And DVR Players 
  1. Jeff Colen
  2. Do I still need a VCR? 
  3. What types of DVD players are available? 
  4. What is the difference between "Blu-ray DVD" and "HD DVD"? 
  5. Will Blu-ray and HD DVD players work with my current set-up? 
  6. What is a "multi-region DVD player" and do I need one? 
  7. What is a "DVR" or digital video recorder? 
  8. How can my VCR, DVD player and DVR work together? 
  9. What is a "combo unit" and should I get one? 
 Stereos 
  1. Jeff Colen
  2. What are the essential elements of a stereo system? 
  3. What is a "receiver"? 
  4. What is an "amplifier"? 
  5. Will my CD player play CDs that I burn on my computer? 
  6. Is a CD player a necessary part of my stereo system? 
  7. Should I buy a turntable? 
  8. What is a "shelf system" and should I get one? 
 Home Entertainment Speakers 
  1. Jeff Colen
  2. What types of speakers are available and how should I choose between them? 
  3. What is "speaker wire" and what kind do I need? 
 Home Entertainment Insider Questions 
  1. Jeff Colen
  2. How can I send video or music from my computer to my to stereo and TV? 
  3. Do I need a "universal remote"? 
  4. Do I need special cables or connectors to see HD video on my TV? 
  5. Do I need a special surge protector for my electronic equipment? 
  6. Should I buy extended warranties for my electronic equipment? 
  7. Can I negotiate the price of electronic equipment? 
 Setting Up My Home Theater 
  1. Jeff Colen
  2. Should I tell my cable or satellite company when I buy a new TV? 
  3. How should I decide where to put my new TV? 
  4. How far away from my TV should I sit? 
  5. Do I need a professional to mount my new TV on my wall? 
  6. Is it safe to mount my new TV over my fireplace? 
  7. How can I soundproof my home entertainment room? 
  8. What kind of cables should I use to connect my home electronics? 
  9. What is the proper order for connecting my electronic components? 
  10. What is the best way to position speakers in my home theater? 
  11. Can I stack my VCR, DVD player, DVR and stereo components? 
Using My New Home Entertainment System (Now Playing)
  1. Jeff Colen
 Watching My New TV 
  1. Jeff Colen
  2. What does my DVR do? 
  3. What happens if I want to keep something that I recorded on my DVR? 
  4. How can I listen to my TV through my stereo speakers? 
 Caring For And Troubleshooting My New TV 
  1. Jeff Colen
  2. What is "screen burn" and how can I avoid it? 
  3. What is "aspect ratio"? 
  4. What is "pixelation"? 
  5. Why does the picture on my TV look "stretched" and how can I fix it? 
  6. Why might the picture on my TV look distorted? 
  7. How do I clean my new TV? 
 CDs, DVDs And VHS Cassettes 
  1. Jeff Colen
  2. Why does my DVD pixilate, freeze or skip? 
  3. Why doesn't my VHS tape play anymore? 
  4. Will my CDs and DVDs last forever? 
  5. How do I tell the difference between a CD and a DVD? 
  6. How do I clean my CDs and DVDs? 
 Home Entertainment: Mixing Media 
  1. Jeff Colen
  2. When I send video from my computer to my TV, why doesn't the picture look right? 
  3. Why doesn't my stereo sound as good as it did in the store? 
  4. How can I convert my old VHS tapes, cassette tapes or LPs to DVDs or CDs? 
  5. What are the newest ways to get audio and video delivered to my system? 
 Home Entertainment Tips And Tricks 
  1. Jeff Colen
  2. What's the best tip you have for buying a new TV? 
  3. What's the best tip you have for an advanced user? 
  4. Can you give us some trade secrets? 
  5. Can I build a home entertainment system for less than $1000? 
  6. What one component can bring my current system up to date? 
  7. What one component should I not skimp on and why? 
  8. Where can I save money when buying an entertainment system? 
  9. What do you wish your clients knew? 
  10. What are "touch panels" and what can they do? 
  11. How are people using media in their homes? 
  12. What types of control systems are becoming popular? 
  13. What can I do if my remote stops working? 
  14. What do I do if the picture on my TV freezes? 
  15. What are the advantages of a universal remote? 

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