Back in my youth, I always kept up on the latest in hi-fi and stereo equipment. Oh, I couldn't afford much, but I stayed up to date on the technology and always had a system that was at least "respectable". I had a tape deck (actually a reel-to-reel) player in my car long before they were commonly available - 1966 or so.
My last set of stereo speakers had 15" woofers and could really pound out some rock 'n roll. When we moved to Raleigh about 10 years ago, my wife decided that we needed a big entertainment center and that all the components (TV included) had to fit inside and not to be visible when the doors were closed. But we had a big room, and she relented and let me keep the big speakers.
Upon moving here to a much smaller house, she put her foot down (ouch) and decided that the speakers had to go. The last time I saw them was in the hands of some smiling guy walking up the driveway from our moving sale. The wall unit, however, survived and with many groans and bruised knuckles we got it installed here. The question now was: what speakers?
I am sure this relates to all the wives out there - but you can't realize how difficult it is to go into a high-end audio store and tell the salesperson that the primary criterion for buying new speakers was that they had to fit in the wall unit. At that point, you get a sneer and they move off to more lucrative customers. In the mean time, I dragged out an old set of speakers that I had.
A little history: these are Acoustic Research AR-4 speakers - my very first purchase after getting a job when I graduated college. They were bought back up in Kingston NY and I have kept them ever since for sentimental value. They actually don't sound very good any more, but they fit on the entertainment center. So, I connected them and waited for the right moment to upgrade.
Last year, my family gave me a DVD player. The pictures are great, but the sound through those old speakers was pretty bad. And, of course, just plain stereo - not full surround sound.
Well, this past weekend the moment came. I plunked down my hard earned money for a new Audio/Visual receiver and new speakers. Yes, the speakers fit inside the entertainment center, but they actually sound pretty good. The center channel that I was missing for playing DVDs is awesome and the subwoofer literally shakes the house.
So, I dragged the big boxes up into my living room and proceeded to TRY to put everything together. Now, I have an advantage here. I have a Master's Degree in Engineering and I know what 5.1 Dolby sound is. I know what component video is, I know what fiber optic links are, and I know how to connect speakers. But the sheer number of options and parameters was mind-boggling. Not only did I have to configure the receiver itself, but it also had to work with my DVD player, VCR, cable box, and CD player. Some devices used one kind of connection, some used others. For example: the DVD has component video out, but the cable box and VCR have standard baseband video out. It was like finding my way through a maze.
Once I got everything operational, I was then faced with the dreaded multiple-remote-control problem. I had six (count 'em) remote controls sitting in front of me. The new receiver has a universal remote that can be programmed to take the place of all those other remotes, but figuring out which buttons to use for which function was difficult. Even when I got it running, I had to print out diagrams for my wife and me to remember what was what.
I am seriously considering adding surround system hookups to my consulting business. As a challenge, it was harder to set this stuff up then to fix the average computer problem. Ah, technology!
Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport / Oak Island area. You can visit his website at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail him at bsc@bobseidel.com).