Home

How to install a Inphase IPA601 car amplifier (part 1)

Basic guide to inphase IPA601 car amplifier. This guide will introduce you to the functions of the Inphase IPA601 car amplifier & Juice JW1000 ...

How to install an amplifier into your car or truck

shows you how to install an amp into your car.

Car Audio : How to Tune a Car Amp

The tuning process for a car's amplifier is the most important process after installation, and this is done by turning the amplifier down ...

Home Theater Setup (surround Sound Speaker Setup)

Ome Theater Setup (Surround Sound Speaker Setup)

I am going to assume that you already have a surround sound or home theater amplifier or receiver. There are 3 main home theater speaker configurations which you will see termed 5.1, 6.1, and 7.1 channel surround. You will also see mentioned the terms Dolby Digital, DTS, and Dolby Pro-Logic. There are some other formats such as Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Pro-logic IIx, Dolby TrueHD, DTS neo:6.1, DTS-ES, TrueSurround XT, and undoubtedly more, but they do not need to be addressed separately as the information below is also relevant for them. 2. Do you want to buy that many speakers?

All the receivers that support more than 5.1 channels will also work fine with a 5.1 channel setup. Obviously, 7.1 will provide better surround sound than 5.1, but at the expense of two extra speakers. If you have a limited budget you will have to decide whether to buy 5.1 higher quality speakers, or go for cheaper speakers to allow for 7.1 channels. By the way, the .1 channel is the home theater subwoofer. The subwoofer is really needed for home theater. A system will work without it, but I don’t recommend going without for home theater. The center channel is also very important for home theater, serving to anchor the sound to the video screen. These are the recommended placements according to Dolby Labs.

5.1 surround system:

A). Center speaker centered on video source

E). L & R rear equidistant and on a 135-150 degree angle from the listening position.

The descriptions above are the specifications for speaker placement according to Dolby Labs.

Subwoofer Setup

Your subwoofer may have a switch for Dolby Digital / Pro Logic. If your receiver is only capable of Dolby Pro Logic (only older systems) you need to use the Pro Logic inputs and set the crossover frequency properly to match with your main speakers. You may use an 80 Hz setting and adjust the volume properly for a reasonable output. I will not go into this further as almost all systems are capable of Dolby Digital output. If you have a Dolby Digital capable receiver (assuming you are using the sub for home theater purposes) set the switch to Dolby Digital even if you are using a Pro Logic source. The reason for this is that it allows your home theater receiver to manage the bass output & crossover frequency of the bass information . Your receiver will ensure the proper output to the sub in the case of Dolby Pro Logic source material. If you use the Pro Logic inputs only, Dolby Digital programs may not be reproduced properly. The same goes if you have multiple inputs on your sub. If your input is labeled LFE it is the equivalent of a Dolby Digital input. You want to use the input to the RCA style plug (or plugs) if you are using the subwoofer in a surround system. If you have speaker level binding post inputs, these are almost always for using the subwoofer in a non surround sound speaker setup. Preset the subwoofer level control to about halfway before running the white noise test tone to calibrate your receiver speaker levels. You absolutely must run the test and balance your speaker levels to have the surround system perform properly. Don’t worry about the crossover frequency control on the sub for Dolby Digital or better systems. For Pro Logic set it to the point where bass in your main speakers drops off, (or 80 Hz if you can’t find any info, and adjust from there for best sound) which will require looking at the documentation for your speakers.

Read more...