| HT NEWBIE'S HOOKUP GUIDE |
| Dear Newbies, HT stands for Home Theater...that's a good place to start Surround Sound and a nice picture is what I think of when it comes to Home Theater. Before the whole DVD revolution, there was Dolby Pro Logic, which is a five speaker one subwoofer arrangement with most of the sound concentrated to the center speaker. Now there is Dolby Digital and DTS; a totally better system.... Dolby Digital and DTS are 5.1 surround systems that use five speakers and a subwoofer (the .1 in 5.1) to produce sound discretely. In order to hear this, you need a receiver, DD/DTS source, and the speakers....a TV or projector is also needed (you gotta see what you are hearing ya know?) Receiver and DVD player: DVD discs store up to 8 tracks of discrete sound. DD (Dolby Digital) and DTS have up to 6 discrete tracks. The easiest way to experience DD/DTS surround is to get a DVD player and a receiver with either of these formats: 1. DVD player with DD/DTS digital output connected to a DD/DTS receiver via a digital cable. 2. DVD player with DD/DTS decoders connected to a "5.1 ready" receiver via 6 audio cables. DD/DTS receivers (like my 575x) usually have 5.1 inputs like the "ready" receivers, so I have a choice....Although my DVD player has DD/DTS decoders, I use the digital connection, thus taking advantage of my receiver's decoders. TV and DVD player: There are about four ways to hook up a typical DVD player to a TV or Projector, and here are the most common: RF Modulator....typically used for VCRs, the worst possible picture Composite Video....usually a yellow jack, this is a step above RF S-Video...a 4-pin cable for a great picture Component Video...3 separate video cables hooked up to red, green, and blue RCA jacks...the best possible picture Speakers: For DD and DTS, there is a left main, right main, center, left rear, and right rear speaker and a subwoofer. The first five speakers are connected to the receiver's respective terminals and the subwoofer is connected to the receiver's subwoofer pre-out RCA jack Satellite vs. Towers Bose is a good example of a satellite speaker maker. You'd get 5 small speakers that take care of high frequency sounds and a Subwoofer that takes care of bass. If you're like me, you'd get towers and bookshelf speakers for fuller, complete sound. The problem with satellite systems is the tendency for gaps in sound. For example, if there is deep bass coming from the left and the sub is to the right your ears will be deceived w/ a satellite system. 6.1, 7.1, DTS-ES, DD-EX?* These are the newest surround sound formats. In additon to the mentioned speaker arrangement, a second pair of rear surrounds are connected to these types of receivers. 6.1 sources (those containing DTS-ES or DD-EX tracks) use one "surround back" speaker. 7.1 is currently being developed, but you can still hook up two surround back speakers** That's all there is to it! Hook up the speakers and you're ready to go. *more info to come **dependent of the amp design. The Onkyo TX-DS-787 has 6 amps built-in, the Denon AVR-3801 has 7. |
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