Home theatre systems require a lot of equipment, and a lot of equipment means a lot of cables. You may not think much about cables, but they are a key component to a home theatre system, so it's important to get cabling right. No one wants to spend hundreds of dollars on expensive gear to have the quality be compromised from poor cabling. Here are 5 tips to wiring a home theatre system to make sure you get the most out of your gear:
HDMI cables are an essential part of our everyday lives; we use HDMI to connect just about all of our home entertainment products. In fact, no one is really sure how we all survived before the days of HDMI. But, of course, HDMI has gone through its own evolution over the years. Although you may not realize it, HDMI cables have changed as audio/video standards changed. In fact, HDMI's ability to adapt to new resolution needs has helped it remain the standard in audiovisual data transfer for so long. There have been 5 updates in the HDMI standard since its initial release.
You've probably heard claims about high performance HDMI cables, and seen cables that cost upwards of $500. You've also probably heard that high performance cables are a myth, and all HDMI cables work the same.
Power cords are an integral part of our home entertainment systems, and at this point, our daily lives. Power cables are scattered all over our homes, powering our devices every single day. What we don’t usually think about is that over time, they can become worn out or damaged. It’s important to check your power cords every once in a while to make sure they're still in good shape.
If you have a hifi audio or home entertainment system, you've probably wondered before: do high quality cables really impact sound? This is a commonly debated topic among audiophiles and audio equipment engineers. If you've looked into it, you've probably seen many different answers. Some experts claim that quality cables make no difference, while many companies claim that their high-end cables will take your sound system to the next level. So, what is the truth? To understand the reality of cable quality, you need to understand the role that cables play and the components that impact a cable's function.
You may think that all audio cables used to connect your amplifiers and speakers are the same, and as long as you use a cable that connects to the right ports, you're in the clear -- think again. Not all cables are created the same, and using the right connection type can impact your audio quality depending on your hifi setup. There are two main types of connections when it comes to analog audio cables: balanced and unbalanced. It's important to understand the difference between balanced and unbalanced connections because each has its own advantages and disadvantages; having a balanced audio signal may improve the audio quality of your speaker system.
Typically, when you think of cables, you probably think of pre-cut cables with connectors already attached, ready to be plugged in straight out of the box. For speaker cables, this most often means a stereo RCA cable to connect a speaker to an amplifier or receiver. But this is not the only way to buy cables! When it comes to full hi-fi audio systems, a popular alternative is DIY speaker cable. This means purchasing bare wire by the metre or by the roll and customising it yourself.
