Home Theater Denver. There is a great deal of debate about speaker wire, and whether or not it influences the sound of speakers in an audio system. This is an important issue, because you may end up paying a great deal of money if you listen to all the claims by wire manufacturers. It is a very complex and complicated issue. If you would like to know more, do a search speaker wire testing, and you will find some great information.

The conclusion is that if you spend enough money to get a heavy gauge wire, then you will get the same performance as from the expensive brands. Give us a call if you want to know more. We would be glad to make this confusing issue clear.

Home Theater Denver.  IS LCD better than plasma, or vice versa?  This is a very complex, technically oriented question.  If you want to get all the details, do a google search.  Here is a quick summary.

Plasma:  They have better contrast, and can display deeper blacks.  They have a better viewing angle.  They have no motion blur with sports and action content.  And they are usually somewhat cheaper than lcd for the same screen size.

LCD.  They are usually better for a bright room because their screens don’t reflect as badly and they have a brighter display.  They use less power than plasma, but the difference is smaller now than it ever has been.

Which one is better?  That question will probably answered by another question.  What kind of a room are you going to put the tv into?  Bright room = lcd, light controlled room = plasma.  That is an over simplification, but generally this will be the outcome in most situations.

Home Theater Denver. The materials on your walls, floor and ceiling will have a tremendous impact on the performance of the audio system in your home theater room. If the room has too much hard, reflective material, then you will have an overly bright, harsh sounding room. If the materials are extremely plush and absorptive, you will have a dead, dull sounding room. It is a good idea to plan the surfaces of your room to get the best performance. Give us a call for more information.

Home Theater Denver. When choosing the color of your theater room, avoid using light and reflective colors. The light from the screen will reflect off the walls and back onto the screen, washing out the image on the screen. A darker color will help to prevent this problem. You should also avoid a high gloss paint as well. This will give you the best possible performance from your screen and projector combination.

Home Theater Upgrade Receiver Denver.    Depending on when you last upgraded your Audio/Video surround receiver, it may be time to consider an upgrade. There are a number of new audio formats which add an incredible degree of improvements. The sound in your home theater has never sounded as good as it does now with these new uncompressed audio formats. Look for names like Dolby True HD and DTS HD Master Audio.

You will also find the switch capabilities for many mid-range receivers to be greatly improved. As the A/V world moves increasingly to HDMI for connectivity, you will find that the number of HDMI inputs continues to increase.

At Encore Sight and Sound, we would be glad to talk with you about whether or not this is the time to upgrade you’re A/V receiver. Give us a call.

Home Theater Cabling Denver.  Is it smart to spend all the money that the high dollar cables go for? Frequently sales people will tell you that you get a better picture/audio with the pricey cables. Time after time, this has been proven to be false.

Cable length and gauge are items to consider. When the cable length is longer, heavier gauge digital (digital audio and HDMI digital audio) and and analog cabling (RCA and speaker) should be used. But you don’t have to chose the expensive brands to get a higher gauge. One other point to consider is the quality of the connectors. Make sure to check to see that the connectors are well made.

Do a Google search, and you will come up with lots of information. Or give us a call, and we will help you to be sure you spend your money wisely

Home Theater Denver. It has often been said that the room is the most important component in a home theater system. Why is that true? This questions requires a very long and complex answer. But I will try to give a brief summary here and in another entry coming soon.

The first issue is the problem of room modes. This is one of the toughest problems for a home theater system. Bass(20-200 hz) wave lengths are much longer than the average room. Room modes are the reflection of these bass frequencies back into the room and interfering with the original wave length. The result is summing or cancel of these frequencies in the room.

Home Theater Denver. There are several ways to deal with the problem of room modes. The most important has to do with the shape of the room. Other solutions include proper speaker placement and installing absorptive materials in the room.

Check back for a discussion of some other issues which relate to a room’s affect on sound.