Surround Sound: Pieces Parts Components and Sound
August 24, 2010 by hometheaterplus
Filed under Home Theater Surround
If you are in the market for a surround sound system I’m sure you are trying to learn as much as possible about options before you reach the buying stage. One thing to keep in mind is that there are many options and most of them will come down to a matter of taste when all is said and done. There is no right or wrong component or process when it comes to buying a surround sound system only what does and doesn’t work for you and the space you have available.
You will find throughout the process that there are many parts, pieces, and components that you may purchase for your surround sound system and even more prices for those individual items. Ultimately the decision comes down to how much of a sound snob you are. Seriously. I must admit that my personal preference is for the most possible sound saturation and the most realistic possible sound as possible. For this reason I am more interested in buying the components as individuals rather than a simple AV receiver. This does not mean that an AV receiver wouldn’t be perfectly adequate (especially in relation to the size of my rather small media room) but that I prefer the added control over the sound that individual components provides.
Unfortunately, I cannot tell you which will work best for your situation as your tastes and requirements will also play heavily on which decision is best for you as will your budget. Some people do not place nearly as much emphasis on sound as I do and most people have budget constraints that make individual components seem like a bit of overkill. However, if you spend, as much time as I do submersing yourself in experiences that require sound, then you will find that the investment in these components may be well worth every penny. You will pay a few though and should understand that now.
If you want to build a fabulous surround sound system you will need to start with the preamp or processor. This will be the heart of your sound system and works as a surround processor, AM/FM radio, amplifier, and preamp in one. This piece of equipment receives the signals and then sends them on their merry way. Amazingly enough the information always seems to find its way where it should go-assuming of course that everything is plugged into its proper channel.
The tuner allows you to receive and process AM/FM radio signals, XM or Satellite Radio, and some High Definition signals as well. The amplifier adds power to the sound or as its name implies, amplifies it. This allows the sound to ‘reach’ across the room so that everyone in the room is touched by it.
These components each achieve functions individually that a good quality AV receiver can accomplish. The difference is always in degrees and depth. The AV receiver allows some of the functionality of each but doesn’t quite match the control and nuances that can be achieved with any one of the pieces individually. The average consumer doesn’t need that sizeable of an investment in equipment, money, time, or space in order to achieve excellent theater quality sound in their home theater system and that is the important thing to remember.
If you are hoping to imitate a ‘theater’ experience in an average size room, chances are you will never need anything more than a decent AV receiver and an excellent set of speakers. The more speakers you have in your surround sound system, the better the quality of the sound will be. However, better quality speakers will trump marginal quality equipment any day while marginal quality speakers can still ruin the sound of even the best quality AV equipment. The best advice I can give you when purchasing equipment for your surround sound system is to make sure you put your money in your speakers and sort the rest out afterwards.
Nicholas Tan
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/surround-sound-pieces-parts-components-and-sound-725279.html
HELP with my gaming computer!?
OK, im 14 and i live in Canada, i wanted to get a gaming computer to run games on max settings like crysis… i built a computer on cyber power but they don’t ship to Canada, i have concluded that i would build my own computer, i will buy the parts from factory direct, and or tiger direct. it will be used for (Gaming) but also for schoolwork and other stuff… here are the specs for the computer i have made….
Casegmc r-4 bulldozer
http://pccyber.com/?v=Product&i=CC-AZT-GMCR4-BL
Video CardEVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SSC Video Card
Optical Drive LG GH22NP20 DVDRW Drive – DVD+R 22X, DVD+RW 8X, DVD-RW 6X, DVD-RAM12X, CD-R 48X, CD-RW 32X, IDE (OEM)
CPUIntel Core i7 930 Processor BX80601930 – 2.80GHz, 8MB L3 Cache, 4.8GT/s QPI, HyperThreading, Quad Core, Bloomfield, LGA 1366, Retail, Fan
Flash media Ultra ULT31803 All-In-One Flash Card Reader – USB 2.0 (Supports SDHC & Vista) – PC & MAC
Hard drive Seagate 7200.11 ST31500341AS Barracuda Hard Drive – 1.5TB, 7200RPM, 32MB Cache, SATA-3G (OEM)
Hard Drive 2Western Digital WD5000AAKS Caviar Blue Hard Drive – 500GB, 7200rpm, 16MB, SATA-300, OEM
HeadsetRazer RZ04-00250100-R3U1 Megalodon Gaming Headset – 7.1 Surround Sound
KeybordMicrosoft ANB-00001 Wired Keyboard 600 – USB, Black
MouseLogitech – G9 – Laser Gaming Mouse
Monitor Vizio SV370XVT 37" Slim Design LCD HDTV – 1080p, 1920×1080, 120Hz, 50000:1 Dynamic, 5ms, 3x HDMI, (Refurbished)
3DNVIDIA 3D Vision Stereoscopic Glasses
ModemUSRobotics 56K PCI Faxmodem
Motherboard EVGA X58 SLI LE Motherboard – LGA 1366, Intel X58, SATA, SLI Ready, Triple Channel DDR3 support, RAID, Hyperthreading support
EdpNo=4694158&Sku=E145-2059
memoryCenton R1066PC2048T3 PC8500 6GB DDR3 Desktop Memory Kit – 6144MB (3 x 2048MB), 240 Pin, Triple Channel
NETWORKVantec SATA Host PCI Card
PowerXION Power Real 1000W ATX Power Supply
Sound card Creative Labs 70SB088600002 SoundBlaster X-FI Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCIe
Speakers Altec Lansing VS4121BLK 3-Piece Computer Speakers
Power Protection Ultra U12-40629 6′ Power Strip – 7 Outlets, Black
USBIogear GUH285 USB Mobile HUB – 4-Port, 2.0 Hub
PHYSX CardPNY VCGG2105XPB GeForce 210 Video Card – 512MB DDR2, PCI-Express 2.0, DVI, HDMI, VGA, Low Profile
WebcamSabrent Infrared NightVision / 6 LED / USB 2.0 / 1.3 MegaPixel / WebCam with Audio Microphone
Windows 7Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64BIT Operating System Software – OEM DVD
i have thought of a few problems for my plan
1. im 14, and I will need help buliding my computer
2.i dont have $4000
buliding the computer wont be so hard, i bet i could figure it out, i am taking a course in school about stuff like this…
So could you guys help me downgrade this a little? i realise i dont need 2 hard drives(2TB), but i still want to play crysis, and games in max settings, what could i downgrade, to make the price reasonable (Around $1000) but still keep the the important stuff, (Like the 3D glass) and stuff like that… i also don’t know if once i figure it all out, all the components will work together, in the case i have chosen… help would be GREAT!
if you want to play games like crysis at max upgrade the video card and downgrade the following components:
your setup is confusing the fuck outta me but
remove the physx card, itspointlesss
remove the fax modem if you can
remove the 3d nvidia vision glasses honestly barely any games support 3d and it usually effects how your pc runs
remove the second hard drive
remove the network card… you dont need it, your motherboard comes with a fast network slot for itself
Im not sure about this one but i think you should remove the triple channel memory and just stick with 4 gigs… my rig has 4 gigs of ram with a 295 gtx and an e6850 @ 3.6 and runs crysis over 150 fps in most cases, sometimes it hits lower than 70-80
downgrade the monitor. you really dont need a 37 inch monitor…. besides i doubt you could run max settings on that setup on a 37 inch…. get a 24 or 26 inch…
the power strip isnt necessary unless you live in an area where the power goes out alot
References :
start with the school PC, i5 or i7 CPU and motherboard compatible, windows 7 home premium 500Gb hard drive, flick the surround sound, you wearing a headset? Work you way up from there when you get a job, 1000w is a bit extreme? Parents are going to be on you back about power consumption. Did you mention cooling or did I overlook that ?
References :
IT Cert. 3
I recommed you to use Leawo Free DVD Creator It can burn videos to dvd with menu easily and quickly.You can find Leawo Free DVD Creator here:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&newwindow=1&q=leawo+dvd+creator&aq=f&aqi=g2&oq=
Wish it can help, good luck!
References :