If you're working on the perfect home theater setup, you've likely considered in-ceiling speakers. They're harder to install, true, but the sleek, flush-mounted profile really can't be beaten. However, you may be wondering what the requirements of ceiling speakers are when it comes to the other usual support hardware like amplifiers and receivers. If your […]

An HDMI switch allows you to feed multiple HDMI sources - whether mini, micro, or standard (our guide on the differences) - to a single output. It will allow you to select between the input channels and will likely come with a remote control. HDMI switches are a great way to enable older equipment with […]

Okay, so you have a preamp that you need to hook up to your AV receiver. Even though your AV receiver already has a built-in preamp, there are certain conditions where hooking up an external preamp to your AV receiver might be necessary. In particular, if you have a stereo signal with no volume control […]

If you thought the video equipment part of your home theater was complicated, then buckle up! The world of AV Receivers and what they can do to your sound quality is at least as complicated as the video side, and can easily be worse! While video equipment typically moves the output of your system along a […]

A quality receiver can be one of the best investments you make when developing your own home theater system. When I first started planning my home theater system years ago – I did not fully understand how AV and stereo receivers differ and whether this can affect my intended system. After all, I wanted my […]

It isn’t unusual for someone to need to downsize their sound system to a soundbar setup, or for someone to start their setup by purchasing a soundbar. When looking at a usual home theater setup, you usually use a receiver. A receiver takes audio and video information from your home theater equipment, processes it, and […]

Everyone who considers a home theater system is new to set up and components at some point. For me, my first tentative steps into the home theater world were overwhelming, to say the least. With so many components, knowing which pieces are required for what setups can leave you more confused than when you started. […]

AV Receivers are a complicated and sometimes misunderstood component of home theater systems. It’s not incredibly clear what they do with all that bulk. Sure, there are ports all over the front and all over the back, but what are they all for? The heavy lifting here is routing sound channels to the sound system […]

When you’re setting up a surround sound system, you’re going to run across numbers like 2.1, 5.1, 7.1, 7.1.2, 9.1, and beyond. As you see them over and over again, you may begin to wonder what they are. What do the different speaker channels mean? When it comes to surround sound channels, the first number […]

This can feel like a complicated and overwhelming question when putting together your home theater. With specs from wattage, speaker sensitivity, decibels and more, it can feel like some really difficult math homework. Luckily, figuring out how much power your speakers should have doesn’t need to be difficult. Most people enjoy media at about the […]