If you really want to feel the excitement of watching a movie in your own home, then you have to get a surround sound system.
You may already have the big screen in your room, but if you are not able to hear the soundtrack at its best, then you're missing out on half the fun!
However, many people feel that installing a surround sound system is too difficult - and that it's too complicated for them to hook up.
Well, it's not that difficult - follow these points to understand what you need to get your own surround sound set up.
1. Decide on the surround sound configuration you want.
Most modern DVDs come with a 5.1 surround soundtrack - so a 5.1 speaker setup is the most common speaker system that people have. This system has six speakers - a center speaker, front left and right, surround left and right and a subwoofer (for the bass). However, other common configrations are 7.1 and 7.2 surround sound speaker systems.
2. Buy an AV receiver/amplifier and speaker package - or a home theater in-a-box system.
The AV receiver is the amplifier for your speakers - and the processor for the 5.1 surround soundtrack. You will have to buy a separate 5.1 speaker package to connect to the surround sound receiver - and probably the speaker cable too. The main advantage of an AV receiver is that you can connect many different external devices to it - such as DVD players, Blu-ray players, cable TV boxes, DVD recorders etc.
A home theater in-a-box system (HTiB) will come with the amplifier, speakers and all the cabling in one package - and will often have a built-in DVD/Blu-ray player too. However, there is often limited scope for connecting other devices to this type of system.
3. Connect the system together.
Connect the speakers to the speaker outputs on the AV receiver using the speaker cables. Make sure you connect the center speaker to the center speaker output, the front left speaker to the front left speaker output etc.
Connect the HDMI output of your DVD player to the first HDMI input on the receiver. This will send the DVD picture and the sound to the receiver.
Connect the HDMI output port on the AV receiver to the first (maybe only) HDMI connection on your TV. The AV receiver will use this to send the picture to the TV screen.
Run the automatic speaker setup for the AV receiver (most have this). This will send a test signal around your speakers and set a good balance.
4. Play the movie!
5. How it all works
When you press play on the DVD player, the video and audio signals are sent to the AV receiver down the HDMI cable - make sure you select the correct input on the AV receiver and it will receive the signal.
The AV receiver then sends the picture to the TV - make sure you select the correct input on the TV (the TV may switch to the correct input when it gets the signal).
The AV receiver also sends the audio to the speakers. It should automatically receive the 5.1 mix on the DVD and send it out to the speaker system in surround sound.
Summary
So there we have it, a quick checklist of what you need to buy to get a surround sound system in you home - and how you connect everything together. If you need more detailed information on this process, then follow the links below.
Have fun!
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