Having the sleek home audio system is a dream of the most audiophile. Find the components and connection solutions for your home sound on theirishcurse.
For building your own perfect audio system, you need to get straight with the following issues.
Using Area
Having large powerful speakers forming the surround sound, a huge turntable is great for a professional studio or a vast hall. And is overkill (in the physical terms as well) for a middle-sized living room. Meanwhile, a well-balanced middle-priced 2.1 setup might produce highly detailed and rich sound not causing any problems with the neighbors or other members of the household.
Purpose
If you need an audio system for listening daily to your favorite CDs and streaming the music from your smartphone, you might go off with the simple middle-class setup (a pair of speakers and, probably Wi-Fi-powered receiver). For the vinyl collection, you should consider a need for preamp and the presence of the liner inputs on your components. Setting a multifunctional system would require building the more developed and sophisticated set like 5.2.1 with AV-receiver and ability to connect to your 4K TV and the gaming console.
Components and Connections
The perfect sound is the product of all components working together. Below we list the must-have components for any home audio system and the parameters one must consider when assembling and setting it up.
- Speakers
This is the core element, the basis determining all the other components. Good speakers can revive even the most outdated sets and bring a new life to any of your recordings. When picking the speakers, do not get mislead by the high wattage labels. Remember that they don’t guarantee the loud and clear sound but require the powerful amplifier. So will the low impedance speakers — for the initial set, choose the popular models having 8 Ohms on their specs. Consider the number and character of connection ports – HDMA is preferable for the digital sound, but you will definitely need the linear inputs for your vinyl player. Finish and driver quality will ensure the low or zero resonance and superb sound. When considering the size of the speakers, make sure to allow 10-inch space between the speaker and the wall or another object.
2. Player
The source is a part of the audio system that makes sense of the whole idea. Other components are installed to amplify the sound from the source. That one being high-level, it will be easier to get a top-quality performance. The source can demand additional equipment (e.g. a preamp for the turntable) to be integrated into the system, or specific compatibility (like old-time CD-player with the fancy outputs). Streaming technologies create new virtual sources that exist as playlists or separate tunes on your smartphone, PC, or Chromecast.
3. Amplifier / AV-Receiver
Most of the speakers and sources produce barely audible signal. To make it loud and clearer, the amplifier is introduced into the audio system. It can be a separate amp, a preamp, or a multifunctional AV-receiver (dealing with video signal as well). While powering the sound, the amplifier adds to its performance, making it louder, more spacious, adding warmth or some cooling notes.
