Is Your Surround Sound Flat?
"Flat" surround sound. The very idea of it is detestable to avid home theatre enthusiasts who insist on cinema-quality sound in their house. But if you're an amateur who hasn't used or installed surround sound before, it's not absurd to think there might be a few mistakes made. If your surround sound doesn't quite "pop" like you think it should, it may be due to one of the following problems:
Bad speaker placement. Speaker placement is crucial in surround sound, so if you find yourself making compromises in order not to move other decorations in your house, you're going to have to change something. Place the speakers where the instructions say to place them. The instructions will try to steer you toward the best place for optimum sound quality, so unless you're a bit of a surround sound expert, you probably shouldn't be improvising your own speaker locations.
If you can't place those speakers in the right spots physically, then you didn't calculate your home theater very well, and it may require that you move even more furniture around, including possibly your entertainment center.
Where are the best places for your speakers? Generally, you'll find that the instructions point out what to do with your center speaker - the speaker that goes along with your main screen - as well as your left and right speakers. Keep in mind that height placement with these speakers is very important, as well - generally you want the height to be as close to your ear-levels as possible.
Issues out of your control. Some programs or films will simply be less adaptable to surround sound than others. You can "mess" with your surround sound in order to optimize them, but unless you have a lot of knowledge and experience at your disposal, you probably shouldn't try to manipulate them. True, you should feel free to experiment with your speakers in order to learn more about them, but if you simply want to set your surround sound and forget about its placement, that isn't the ideal course of action.
If you ever have problems with your electronics, try to contact the manufacturer's tech support line and see if they can help you fix it. If not, you can always enter a search online to see if there are some people who have encountered the same problems you have.
Photo Credits: William Hook
This post involves:
... and focuses on:
Posted by Fix Handyman on December 26, 2009 in
Handyman, Home Entertainment Center, How to Fix
Home entertainment center.
If you ask anyone if they want to have what is essentially a home theater, what do you think the answer will be? Probably "yes." But many people are content to simply purchase an entertainment center, put in a television, and let that be that. How can you enhance this entertainment center so that it essentially becomes a home theater? Take an afternoon one Saturday and decide that you're going to fix your lackluster living room and bring it to life. Here's how.
There are two important things to building a home theater: the quality of the picture on your television (also, in many cases, the larger the better) and the quality of the sound in the room. Many people are content to let their television sets provide the sound, but if you really want a movie theater-like experience, you'll have to get surround sound with a little more bass and kick to it. Even if your television is equipped with speakers you can use, there's a good chance you'll want to invest in your own sound system.
Do a search for the kind of sound system that fits with your living room or basement: what kind of speakers are easy to set up and can be placed in hard-to-see places while still providing a great balance of sound? It might take you a while to find a great combination of both price and quality, but once you do, you'll be able to enjoy the home theater experience after one afternoon of setup.
From here, all you need is a DVD or Blue-Ray player and you'll be set. But if you really want to continue to tweak your entertainment center experience, you can even adjust the room itself, tweaking some of the aspects of design to make the experience as unique as possible.
For example, what is the seating like around your television? Did you plop the furniture down one day, telling yourself that you would change it for the better, only to never get around to it? Today's the day to get around to it. After you have your surround sound installed, do your best to make the seating in the room balanced with the space, the viewing of the television, and the sound coming out of your speakers. It doesn't have to be perfect; it should just strike a solid balance that gives everyone seated in the room access to the home theater experience.
Photo Credits: libraryman
This post involves:
... and focuses on:
Posted by Fix Handyman on December 8, 2009 in
Home Entertainment Center, How to Fix
Sinking deck to fix deck.
Your backyard deck might be the pride and joy of all the landscaping and additions you've made to your house; you get to bring guests to it, raise a family on it, and enjoy quiet summer evenings in comfort. That's why it can be so disconcerting to see a problem like a sinking deck post - all of that work and money sometimes still can't prevent the Earth from throwing a wrench in the engine. That's why you'll want to fix your sinking deck post as soon as possible.
First, you'll need the right equipment: a jack, pea gravel, and a pipe. Of course, without the instructions, these might sound like odd equipment for a job like this, but bear with me.
Make a diagnosis. Using a balance to measure the actual problem with your deck, you want to make sure that your sinking deck post is the only one sinking. After all, if you have two posts sinking, you should use this opportunity to treat the problem as a whole - while you have the equipment out.
Once you know which deck post - or posts - to fix, try to take a look at the kind of access you can get. Some people have decks with plenty of room underneath, and if this is the case with your deck, you shouldn't have ot move too many object around in order to get at the sinking deck post. But if you have a smaller deck without a whole lot of room, you'll probably need to remove some floor boards in order to get at the right post. This might also require that you set aside some time to remove furniture, hopefully at a time when no one will be needing the deck at all.
With the access to this sinking deck post secured, raise the deck (and the post) up with the jack to the point at which the deck is level again. Then, using the pipe you have ready, slide it into the hole where the sinking deck post had just been. Pour the pea gravel into this hole through the pipe and try to make sure that you pack as much gravel into the hole as you can, keeping an eye on how balanced your deck is overall.
This should add some stability to your deck and hopefully prevent further sinking. Remember to be careful with each step so as to do the best overall job possible. If you removed floor boards, you can replace them now, and move the furniture back onto the deck.
Photo Credits: MrPhilDog
This post involves:
... and focuses on:
Posted by Fix Handyman on September 2, 2009 in
Backyard, Deck, Floors, Handyman, How to Fix
Stumble
Reddit
Digg
Del.icio.us
