Q I just bought a Onkyo TX-SR600 and a pair of Audio Pro Black Peral Front Speakers. As mention in the TX-SR600 manual, Do not connect speakers with less then 6ohms impedance, it has possibility of damaging the receiver. The bad news is that I found out the Audio Pro speakers is 4ohms. Will there be a problem if I connect it to the receiver? If I got a more powerful receiver like A1SR, is 4ohms speakers better or 8ohms

A The lower the impedance of the speaker (the ohms rating), the more "difficult" a load it represents to the amplifier (i.e. more current is required).  The fact is, speakers are not linear in their impedance, the 4 or 8 ohm rating being a 'nominal' figure.  A typical 8 ohm speaker will exhibit an impedance of as low as 3 ohms at some frequencies or as high as 16 ohms at others.

In our experience, one can connect 4 ohm speakers to a amp or receiver rated for 8, as long as the volume is kept low! As you increase the volume, the amp will get to a point where it cannot supply the current required and the effect on it is not unlike shorting it out.  With that in mind, proceed at your own risk.

4ohm speakers are not categorically better than 8ohm, or vice versa.

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Q I bought a new copy of the Widescreen version of E.T. Although it widescreen version plays correctly on my Toshiba DVD player and Sony TV, when I play the DVD on my Samsung player and Sharp TV I only see 4:3.

Any ideas? Did my Samsung player somehow not automatically default to widscreen?

A I would check to make sure the Samsung's display is not set to 'pan-scan' in the setup menu. Pan-scan mode is used to display widescreen format material full screen (it cuts the sides off in the process).

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Q I was given a Mitsubishi VS-4503R by my brother who upgraded. I got it home today and setup all my A/V equipment. Then went to watch a DVD and clicked on the input to EXT1 and got a screen saying it was locked and needed a personal passcode to unlock it. Same for EXT2. Normally this would not be a problem buy my brother and his wife left for a vacation and will be gone for 2 weeks. How do I unlock the inputs? Is there a reset key?

A The passcode feature exists for a reason so I doubt there is an easy and widely known way to just defeat it.  I suggest contacting Mitsubishi.

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Q  I have a Samsung slk407w EDTV. Max resolution is 480p. I want to use the component video connections between the TV and my digital cable box (SA 3100HD). When I make this connection, my picture is scrambled. I believe the problem to be that the cable box is up-converting it's signals to 1080i. What options do I have?

A Your options are quite strait forward, if a little disappointing:

1) Get a new TV which will accept 1080i.

2) Get a different HDTV system which will output 480p.

Of course you can always feed the TV 480i (assuming your HDTV receiver can do at least that) and lose the benefits of HD.

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Q I am presently building a new home. I have a room that I have planned to be a home theater but I am not sure that I will have the money to complete it at this time. However, I do want to prewire it for the future. What should I do? Where should I start?

A This is your golden opportunity for nice and tidy in wall wiring.  As such, we recommend overdoing it to be on the safe side.  No one likes to rip a wall apart later.

Its practically required that you have at least a rough idea of the layout for the room before you start.  This will help you decide what to put where.  If possible, one or two 20 amp lines should be run from your entrance panel just for the theater equipment with outlets not just where you plan on putting stuff but all around the room just in case.  If you plan on using a dimmer for the lights, they should not be on the same line as the equipment.

CSA approved in-wall speaker cable should be run from where you plan on putting the amplifier(s) to where each speaker of a 7.1 layout will be.  Use the following table to decide which gauge is appropriate for a given distance.

Be creative.  Think about all aspects of the room.  Do you want wall sconces?  Overhead lights for clean up?  Separate dimmers?  What about Data?  Computer, phone, cable for CAT or DSS.  Take your time.

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Q I have decided that I should treat the center channel speaker like it is the most important speaker in system when listening to movies.  Therefore, I am considering purchasing a PAIR of Paradigm Studio 40's and wiring them in series for the center. I have also considered including a sub to attach for the center channel only. I guess I would like to use the subs high and low crossovers (from speaker level inputs), which is easy enough in stereo. However, I am unsure of how to accomplish this when I will be driving the speakers mono in series. I think this would deliver a huge soundstage for the center with awesome special effects impact and engaging dialogue. Some of my concerns for this setup are:
-Will the center seem too large and overpowering?
-Will the receiver/amp be able to drive this setup effectively so that the
front stage is seamless (assuming 4 studio 40s across the front)?
-Will having so many speakers near the TV be bad for the tubes (and any
other placement issues you can think of)?
-Is this a waste of money and should I just stick with the Studio CC?

A I would discourage a pair of speakers adjacent to the screen in place of a center speaker above or below it.  On the one hand its just not going to sound "right" for anyone seated even slightly off center:  The dialogue and such will not be coming from the horizontal center of the visual presentation.  If you are seated just slightly off to the left for example, you will hear all the center stuff from where the left speaker should be (which brings up the question:  how far away are the Left/Right speakers?  They should be next to the screen, or at least very close to it).  Beyond that, you would have comb filtering in a bad way for anyone off center (and progressively worse the farther off center you are) which can really smear dialogue and mess with the sound.

As for the "impact" of the center channel, the Studio/CC has remarkable dynamics and when crossed over to the system subwoofer (as it should be ) you will not be wanting for impact.

There is little utility in wiring a subwoofer JUST for the center speaker.  Subwoofers are at their best when they work together.  Check out our article on the LFE channel for more info on that subject.  

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Q I have been at this audio home theater thing a long time but I have a question and the answer is escaping me.  My setup consists of a integra 8.2 receiver, Toshiba 5700 DVD player, RCA hifi vcr and Motorola digital cable box. i cannot figure out how to configure all this to my satisfaction. currently i have my rf cable run into a splitter, one run to the antenna input of the TV and the other run into the cable box. from there i have another rf cable to the vcr and the vcr hooked by rca's to the receiver. my receiver converts all video signals to s-vhs if you want it to so my monitor output to the tv is one s-vhs cable connected to the video one input. my problem is that i cannot watch any scrambled programming unless i turn my whole system on. my wife is scared to touch the system and wants to be able to just turn the tv on and watch any cable channel she wants. also when i watch any cable programming through the whole system the video is not nearly as good as watching it thro! ugh the tv tuner by itself. i am puzzled with how to rewire everything to accomplish this or is it impossible?

A While connecting everything to the receiver may seem like a nice convenience, it is likely the reason you find the various sources look better when connected directly to the TV.  Unless your TV is really cheap, it is unlikely the comb filter (which makes the S-Video signal) in the receiver is as good as the TV's own.  If you have enough inputs, I would connect the video from each source to the TV.  I would connect the digital audio of the DVD player to the receiver, and the analogue audio of the VCR and cable box to the TV and run analogue audio from the TV to the receiver.  That way your wife does not need to turn everything on to watch TV but when you are around you can monitor the TV's audio on the receiver.

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