Home Theatre...what else do you need?

Pycroft

Hi again all...

I often see special things other than speakers/receivers/amps/preamps in people's home theatres. Things like power conditioners and interconnects??? Is there some guide to these other things, and how important are they? What else am I missing?

Thanks bunches,

James

leroyjr1

Might be helpful to know what you currently have.

Pycroft

Ahh...

Current setup:
Onkyo 606 (Currently selling...looking to get a new receiver with preouts and a wamer sound for 2 channel)
RTA 11TL's
CS400
Monitor 30's
Def. Tech Prosub 800

I used the cheapest monoprice cables to connect everythign with crappy banana plugs...no special power other than the power strip I use to connect it all. I have a Panasonic BD35, Wii, Original XBox connected to it.

James

ViperZ

Depending on the area where you live and on the quality of wiring / age of your house, you might not need a fancy-shmancy power conditioner / regenerator, etc.

I'd look at Monster 5100 / 7000, Belkin PF60, and equivalent Panamax units. You'd be looking at ~300 for a used unit, but it will give you a peace of mind that your equipment is protected from overvoltage, spikes (lightning strikes), and other things that can fry your expensive home theater.

Not sure about the interconnects. IMHO, those would be the last things you'd replace/upgrade in your HT anyway. I tried monoprice banana connectors on my speaker cables and didn't like them, but found a boat load of higher quality RCA banana connectors at the liquidators and love those...

BlueFox

Everything can be upgraded. Nothing is sacred. Additionally, room treatments are probably mandatory for most HT rooms.

Once you get the room acoustics correct, have invested in good electronics, good interconnects, good speaker wire, and have the TV calibrated to Image Science Foundation standards, then you may rest and enjoy the show. After a few months, start thinking of how to repeat this process to get even better sound and picture.

Pycroft

To be honest, the point of the thread is I don't know what any of these things truly do.... is there a website with a guide to all the miscellaneous stuff? I think I know a bit now about speakers/receivers/amps, etc.

Thanks for the info.

James

Toolfan66

Pycroft wrote: »

To be honest, the point of the thread is I don't know what any of these things truly do.... is there a website with a guide to all the miscellaneous stuff? I think I know a bit now about speakers/receivers/amps, etc.

Thanks for the info.

James

I learned everything I know here, and I still don't know ****.:)

Stick around more and it will come together faster then you think.Your mind will love it your wallet will hate it.

This hobby is like sex , It shows we really do think with our ****.;)

obieone

IF you're NOT having issues with your set up, don't waste your $$$.
I have some expensive stuff, and both my SQ & PQ are fine:rolleyes:

Grimster74

Are you just interested in setting up your current gear into a already existing room or are you interested in doing a completely dedicated room with your current gear? If your interested in doing the completely dedicated room your in for the ride of your life. Even after having my room done for a couple of years now I'm still wishing I had done some things differently.

wz2p7j

There's lot's of stuff you might see in a fancy rack setup:

Power conditioners
External scalers
Video switchers
One channel amps for each channel
External crossovers
Dedicated SACD player
Legacy players like:
a. Reel to reel
b. Vinyl
c. HD DVD
d. Video disc players
External tuners:
a. AM/FM
b. Sirius radio
c. XM radio
d. HD radio

Probably a lot of other stuff.

Chris

JohnLocke88

BlueFox wrote: »

Everything can be upgraded. Nothing is sacred. Additionally, room treatments are probably mandatory for most HT rooms.

Once you get the room acoustics correct, have invested in good electronics, good interconnects, good speaker wire, and have the TV calibrated to Image Science Foundation standards, then you may rest and enjoy the show. After a few months, start thinking of how to repeat this process to get even better sound and picture.

I'd say next best "bang for the buck" is room treatments; your gear is fine.

...And I must be the only person that likes having the LCD colors "pop" all ISF calibrations I've done just look "meh".....

Pycroft

To be honest, I don't have ahome theatre room...it's a large living room that has everythign setup. I doubt the boss will go for things hanging from the wall, etc. I've seen a lot fo threats about power conditioners...can someone explain the exact use for one? Does it function as a power strip that protects the gear? If so, how does it differ from a typical power strip?

James

Rodeo0530

Pycroft wrote: »

To be honest, I don't have ahome theatre room...it's a large living room that has everythign setup. I doubt the boss will go for things hanging from the wall, etc. I've seen a lot fo threats about power conditioners...can someone explain the exact use for one? Does it function as a power strip that protects the gear? If so, how does it differ from a typical power strip?

James

I understand completely about the wall treatment idea getting shot down. I live with my g/f and she's very understanding of most things, but wall treatments would not fly here. I understand the importance, but I also understand that I can't pi$$ my g/f too much because she'd be gone. Good luck with whatever you end up getting.

ViperZ

Pycroft wrote: »

To be honest, I don't have ahome theatre room...it's a large living room that has everythign setup. I doubt the boss will go for things hanging from the wall, etc. I've seen a lot fo threats about power conditioners...can someone explain the exact use for one? Does it function as a power strip that protects the gear? If so, how does it differ from a typical power strip?

James

Power conditioner "conditions" your power . Basically, it will (should) remove most of the noise from the power line. Some of your equipment doesn't like the noise - i.e. preamp/receiver, sources... It also protects your gear better than a power strip - it will protect from overvoltage / power surges, undervoltage, spikes, etc.

sandworms

try avsforum and hometheatershack.com for tons of info, i learned a lot over there as well as in this forum, but it's more like family here

apphd

Rodeo0530 wrote: »

I understand completely about the wall treatment idea getting shot down. I live with my g/f and she's very understanding of most things, but wall treatments would not fly here. I understand the importance, but I also understand that I can't pi$$ my g/f too much because she'd be gone. Good luck with whatever you end up getting.

This is probably one of the hardest things to get "permission" for. But depending on how bad your room is, and what is needed, it may not be too hard. Some things can be made better, just not fully corrected, by some simple things that can usually get WAF approval immediately. Read up and ask questions on sound treatments to understand what your room may need. Window treatments, different or additional furniture, some canvas framed artwork, may help some situations, and almost never get shot down.

xj4094dg

TOOLFORLIFEFAN wrote: »

I learned everything I know here, and I still don't know ****.:)

Stick around more and it will come together faster then you think.Your mind will love it your wallet will hate it.

This hobby is like sex , It shows we really do think with our ****.;)

I agree. Stick around and be patient. I have found in only about a year that I learn something just after I've made a purchase, and wish I had been more patient and read/learned more about certain products before pulling the trigger.

Its a cool journey, and it gets better with age. Say goodbye to disposable income though.....;)

dvran

On a personal note, I would not invest in banana plugs unless you really like the look or need the ease of hookup.

I've searched many audiophile sites and many just say to strip wire ends, twist the ends so they don't fray, and feed into the receiver ends, done. There is no proven difference with having banana plugs. There could actually be less wire connected to the receiver going that way.

I'm not sure how your budget is, but saving money this way opens more money up to be spent in other places, like a power conditioner.

dvran

ViperZ wrote: »

Power conditioner "conditions" your power . Basically, it will (should) remove most of the noise from the power line. Some of your equipment doesn't like the noise - i.e. preamp/receiver, sources... It also protects your gear better than a power strip - it will protect from overvoltage / power surges, undervoltage, spikes, etc.

Agreed, and:

if you look at the power conditioner, it keeps your voltage at a constant 120 VAC, this is clean power. In everybody's house, there are constant fluctuations in power, some more drastic than others, it could be less than a volt. If you placed a socket volt meter you'll the voltage bounce around, its never constant. Example: it could bounce from 116 to 123 volts. That's not good, but some houses that have many outlets or appliances running the same circuit, this will make it fluctuate even more, like a refrigerator turning on/off, a space heater turning on. It's that split second drain of power. It can also trace back to your location, and the service going to your neighborhood.

If you're spending a few thousand on equipment, I think 200-300 in clean power is a good solution. Take my advice, wait till xmas!

ViperZ

Actually, unless you have power re-conditioner or whatever that piece is called, your voltage will drop slightly when you will turn your equipment, it's normal. i.e. my Belkin shows 123.x volts in the outlet. When all equipment is on (plasma, receiver, amp, source, sub), the voltage drops down to 121.x. There is nothing wrong with such slight drop. It's those spikes (up or down), which will damage your equipment.

anhchungdoan

Pycroft wrote: »

To be honest, I don't have ahome theatre room...it's a large living room that has everythign setup. I doubt the boss will go for things hanging from the wall, etc. I've seen a lot fo threats about power conditioners...can someone explain the exact use for one? Does it function as a power strip that protects the gear? If so, how does it differ from a typical power strip?

James

To start out with, please go to BRICKWALL web-site not to buy any products but to get some technical information about different types of surge protection. Yeah, both sides of the fence will claim they have the " right stuff" . So read and digest the info and make your own choice based on your own judgement.

For power conditioner, please go to AUDIOGON FORUM and search for threads on "dedicated AC lines" and also threads on "power conditioners" . They have some audio veterans who have very good advices.

I prefer a couple dedicated lines 20 A with a couple of decent power surge than to have an expensive power conditioner but everyone is different.

Audio is a very PERSONAL hobby. I know you do not but there are always somepeople like to ask others what to buy . I believe that is a big mistake and bad thing to start out this hobby.

ViperZ

anhchungdoan wrote: »

I prefer a couple dedicated lines 20 A with a couple of decent power surge than to have an expensive power conditioner but everyone is different.

It doesn't seem that you people understand... the guy wants to have a decent HT in his living room. If he is not going to do room treatment, you think he is going to open up the walls in his living room to run dedicated lines???

concealer404

ViperZ wrote: »

Actually, unless you have power re-conditioner or whatever that piece is called, your voltage will drop slightly when you will turn your equipment, it's normal. i.e. my Belkin shows 123.x volts in the outlet. When all equipment is on (plasma, receiver, amp, source, sub), the voltage drops down to 121.x. There is nothing wrong with such slight drop. It's those spikes (up or down), which will damage your equipment.

True story.

BUT: The APC H10 will re-condition, and can often be had for under $150. It's a HELL of a buy. The backup one that i used to run kept the voltage at a steady 120, no matter what the outlet was really putting out. It's got a "line trim" and a "line boost" feature that's pretty nice.