Your Residential Electrician: Wired For Sound

In our last article, we covered home theater installation.  This article will explore some things to know regarding sound and how you should wire your home for it.

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Speaker Installation and Noise Criteria Levels

Noise Criteria Levels exist for a reason, so you can get your home theater's sound system up to the next level.  When you're installing home theater, be aware of the NC level.  Here is a handy guide, courtesy of WIKIPEDIA.ORG: "

Noise Criteria (NC) are noise-level guidelines applicable to cinema and home cinema. For this application, it is a measure of a room's ambient noise level at various frequencies. For example, in order for a theater to be THX certified, it must have an ambient sound level of NC-30 or less. This helps to retain the dynamic range of the system.^[3] Some NC levels are:

• NC 40: Significant but not a dooming level of ambient noise; the highest "acceptable" ambient noise level. 40 decibels is the lower sound pressure level of normal talking; 60 being the highest.
• NC 30: A good NC level; necessary for THX certification in cinemas.
• NC 20: An excellent NC level; difficult to attain in large rooms and sought after for dedicated home cinema systems. For example, for a home cinema to be THX certified, it has to have a rating of NC 22.^[4]
• NC 10: Virtually impossible noise criteria to attain; 10 decibels is associated with the sound level of calm breathing."  [READ MORE]

One thing you also have to realize is that if you are wiring speakers, you don't want cheap speaker wire.  You may save a bit of money, but  you'll get annoyed when you hear a lot of noise on your speakers that has nothing to do with what you're watching.  You know what we mean, popping, hissing, cracking sounds.

Installing a Sound System for Home Theater: Don't Do It Yourself

A lot of people come to us after they've tried to install their speakers themselves, and they're usually not happy with their sound.  See, it isn't just the wiring, it is the mixer.  If you have low quality speakers connected to a high tech mixer, you're going to have an issue, just as if you have a low end mixer connected to high end speakers.

So remember, get professional help with your home theater.  Call your electrician contractor today.

Read more about home theater installation.

Dodge Electric
781 South Arizona Avenue
Chandler, AZ 85225
(480) 926-1033

Home Theater Wiring Part 3

Part three of our series on home theater installation explores some final points.  

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Video and Home Theater Installation

There are a lot of choices out there for the video component of your home theater.  So many in fact, it can be more than a bit confusing.  Do you want to get HD, or non-HD?  1080P, or do you want to go lower to save money?  Do you want to get a Smart TV and an Internet enabled device, or just cable and satellite?  Your residential electrician can help you regardless of what choices you opt for, however, to clear up some confusion, here is some information.  

HD is nice, however, be aware that some movies look bizarre when you try to play them in HD.  For example, if you want to watch an old black and white movie, you could find yourself wondering why your movie looks like an old time soap opera from the 1950's?  Next, be aware that your pixel count will determine your picture.  The higher the picture count, the better quality picture you are going to have.  One thing you also have to consider nowadays is whether or not to go with cable/satellite, or go for a high-speed Internet connection and an Internet enabled device such as a high-end Blu-Ray, game console, or internet device such as a Roku.  A lot of customers are cutting the cable nowadays to save money, and it makes good financial sense.  Sometimes cable bills can easily top $300 a month.  A lot of times, people like to watch one show on each of the premium channels.  Nowadays, a lot of people do what is called binge-watching, which means they rent or buy an entire season of a show and watch it usually over a period of a day or two.  The next thing you want to know is where you're going to put your television screen.

Installing Video in Home Theater

First off, you never want to install your television anywhere that glare from lights or windows can fall on it.  For one thing, if the light is too strong, you can conceivably damage your screen.  On a more mundane level, if it is too bright, you're going to have light reflections on your screen.  Ideally, you want your television either recessed into the wall, or shaded from light sources.  

So as you see, there is a bit more to home theater installation than you might think.  

For more information on home theater installation, be sure to read part one and  part two of this series, or one of our earlier articles here.

Dodge Electric
781 South Arizona Avenue
Chandler, AZ 85225
(480) 926-1033

Home Theater Wiring Part 2

Part two of our three part article series on home theater design explores sound design and soundproofing.

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Home Theater Surround Sound

Surround sound is a home theater innovation.  It immerses the viewer in the film or television show that they're watching.  It is more than just sound, it's also an experience.  However, what a lot of people don't realize about installing it, it isn't just the number of speakers that make the sound come alive, it is also some other factors that contribute to the overall experience.  For one thing, where you place your speakers.

A lot of people that go for a theater in a box solution often don't realize that their sound quality will depend a lot on how and where they place their speakers.  One of our clients, by way of example, installed his home theater and was getting a weird reverberation effect on his sound system.  The reason for this is that he had two opposing speakers facing each other that were only a few feet apart.   We helped him to move his speakers and get them wired into his mixer so he could control the sound level and quality.  Another thing that you have to realize about home theater sound is the room that it is in.

Installing Home Theater:  Location Matters

One thing that a lot of people don't realize is that it isn't just the number of speakers or where they're put that determines the quality of your surround sound, it is also what room the home theater is in.  People that have a lot of room are smart and usually make one room of their home a dedicated home theater.  With the right budget, the walls can be soundproofed which significantly improves the sound level as well as how good it sounds.  If you can't soundproof a room, get an electrician to help you wire it properly, even with a theater in a box.  Why?  Well, if you have wireless speakers and you put them out of range your sound will not work properly.  Inversely, if you put them too close together, the sound quality will go down because of feedback and echo.

So remember, when you want to get home theater, you want to make sure you get not only the right equipment, but the right personnel to help you install it.  So get advice from your residential electrician in Gilbert, AZ.

For more information on home theater installation, be sure to read part one and part three of this series, or one of our earlier articles here.

Dodge Electric
781 South Arizona Avenue
Chandler, AZ 85225
(480) 926-1033