Amplifier Setup Basics It’s amazing what just a little bit of attention to the initial setup of your audio equipment will provide in the way of equipment longevity and acoustic satisfaction. However basic the initial setup of an amplifier may seem, the fact remains the majority of amp and subwoofer failures we see come through our service department are a direct result of amplifier clipping and/or improper crossover utilization. Both of which can be corrected during the initial setup. If you’re now asking yourself what exactly we’re talking about when we reference clipping or improper crossover utilization, here is a...

First thing, determine your system’s priorities. Will you watch movies or listen to music? Most people do one or the other. Since more home theatre speaker buyers watch movies than listen to music, I’ll start there. It’s hardly an overstatement to claim movie-oriented home theatre systems succeed or fail based on their centre channel’s performance and sound quality. The centre speaker delivers virtually all the dialogue and it can, depending on the mix, convey upward of 80 percent of a movie’s soundtrack. The centre speaker has a big job. So invest 30 percent of your 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 system...