Tip & How-To about Audio Players & Recorders

Home Speakers: What cables to buy?

If one consults the various home stereo magazines, there is some hype and confusion about which speaker cables give the best sound. One thing to remember when confronted by such a situation is that each person's perception of sound is unique to them. There is no "golden ear" authority on what is good sound, and there is no evidence that anyone can retain accurate sound memory as a standard from which to compare sound.
Having said that, the bottom line about which type of cable is best is that there is no single type of audio cable that is best for all situations. Without going into the physics of it, the consensus among knowledgeable electrical/electronic engineers is that the optimal sound produced by a specific speaker, driven by a specific audio system occurs when the speaker cable provides the best audio interface between the characteristics of that amplifier and those of that speaker.
Here is the key thing: what determines that best interface RE: speaker cable? The average consumer will never know, but the research indicates that for pretty much any home situation, 18 guage plain lamp cord, the type you can buy by the foot at any hardware store, is as good a choice as any. In pro audio sound, guess what they use? Same thing, only larger guage. So there.
As a footnote, I've done critical listening tests with lamp cord versus $300+ cables, and the lamp cord won every time.



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Had someone from Best buy set up my new Sony bravia 47 in LCD TV. He said I should not use my slightly older Bose Cinemate digital home theater speaker system with the newer TV because the speaker system was analog and there would be a delay in sound. I have since learned that my "expert" installer was wrong on some other things. Was he right on this issue?

Hello,thats a first and he is completely wrong.The sound will arrive at the stereo at the same time it arrives at the cable box or the tv,depending on what source the stereo is hooked up to.Without going too in depth he is referring to center channel delay which is a feature in some home theaters created to induce a delay when its required, most notably when a projector is used.
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No surrond sound

TV's are not sources of multichannel audio. The best you'll get is stereo analog. Get the best TV-related audio from the same source the TV gets it - in this case the Cable Box.
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No sound from plasma to home theatre

First off it's always best to start from scratch when it comes to home audio. LoL. Many times I've been in this situation.
So with everything disconnected. You should have your HDMI, COMPONENT, RCA(R,W,Y)
HDMI and COMPONENT are the exact same thing and in all preference COMPONENT is far better thand HDMI for the pure fact that each wire is in it's own casing and insualted to avoid feedback from the other wires.
Anyways, with everything disconnected we begin
From you Cable/satellite box- Run your HDMI cable from you cable box to your HDMI 1 input on your tv.(If your speakers were to work on your tv you would automaticaly get sound and picture)
That should be all that you should be running from you cable box. Now that we have one thing running we go to the next thing.
From your TV run your audio out (RCA Red/White) to your amp. Usually your preference but more than likely your TV IN on your amp.
With your amp now set on TV, you should automatically get sound from your tv. and if your running an HD cable box even though your only running RED/WHITE to your amp, you will still be receiving Digital sound.
Most new amps Should have a digital input and if your running and 1080iUp this one RCA plugin will give you dolby digital sound from your dvd player to your amp. Then running a video rca up to your tv, will give you the picture, while the digital out on your dvd player to your amp will give you dolby digital sound.

It's a basic simple step to get sound. Like a continuing current. So just as long as you have your cable to -- tv -- home theatre. Everything should work. Otherwise I would go and check your cables and make sure they are not faulty.
I hope this confusing walkthrough helps.
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Onkyo SC 570 stereo speaker has hissing sound

if you already switch the speakers to make sure that is NOT the receiver , then theres two things , check the TWEETER or check the capacitor or Crossover inside the speaker box , you gonna need a multimeter for this task . hope it helps
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Playing ITunes from my dell Inspiron 1300

I have a cable made of
- a 1/8" stereo plug (male) to stereo RCA (female)
- 6' stereo RCA cable (male/male)

Plug the 1/8" into the headphone jack of the laptop and the RCA end into the AUX on a stereo/amplifier...

That gives you one room anyway.
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