Home Theater Wiring: Are You Getting the Most Out of Your AV System?
With high-quality equipment uniquely designed for residential use, you can create a home theater for watching your favorite movies with unbelievable picture and sound in the comfort of your slippers. Whether you’re trapped in Jurassic Park, or running from a life-threatening boulder with Indiana Jones, you can achieve amazing things in terms of sound, picture, and atmosphere.
It's easy to focus on components, the perfect television, and other gadgets when designing your dream home theater, but any professional will tell you that one of the most important steps in making sure that your home theater is everything you want it to be is proper wiring.
Video
To get the most out of your video technology, you have to have all the right components. But this goes beyond picking the right television for the size of your room. The home theater wiring used with your video components can either elevate your viewing experience, or cause you problems along the way.
Unfortunately, setting up your video components for a true home theater system isn’t just “plug and play”. Different video components call for different wiring. For example, Blu-ray players and satellite receivers usually need a type of wire called HDMI, but you can also use CAT-5 in combination with a balun adapter at each end. The key to getting everything set up correctly is knowing what wiring works best with your components, and how much of each cable will be needed to get everything working in unison. The best way to know how to make your video come alive is to get the help of a trained professional who will know how to pair your components with high-quality home theater wiring. Especially for longer (over 3 meters) this is bery important.
Audio
Like video, audio is more than just hitting the volume button for your TV. Surround sound systems have to be set up with the proper wiring in the right way to ensure that every nuance of sound, from the first raindrop to the last roll of thunder in A Perfect Storm is the highest quality.
However, your audio equipment doesn’t only have to be for watching movies. With the right setup, you can have music playing through your whole house. Wouldn’t it be perfect for your holiday party guests to hear Let It Snow whether they’re helping out in the kitchen or chatting in the living room? Your home sound system can be integrated into your entire house, but it has to be done the right way so the sound quality is just as crisp and clear from the front porch to the back patio. The old school style of doing this with a bunch of volume controls around the home all running off the same amplifier is a dated and poor way of achieving this. Newer systems let you choose both the source and the volume for each room.
Installation
When integrating a home theater system, running wires through the walls keeps them out of sight. But, installing in-wall wiring can be dangerous, and can sometimes violate building codes.
A professional AV installer can make sure that the right wires are used for every component, and that your home theater wiring is discrete, safe, and capable of delivering optimum sound and picture quality. Not only will this give you the best installation for your equipment, but it will ensure that when you use your video and audio components, you’ll take full advantage of the high-quality technology in your home and receive the best video and sound for your home entertainment.
When it comes to home entertainment, a home theater system can transform a simple movie night into a great family adventure. Don't waste your money buying components without putting thought into your home theater wiring because with the right components wired properly by an AV professional, you can be sure that your home entertainment memories will be as vivid as the movie you watch.
