Need some expertise help.

[Kevman]

I decided I'm going to remake my room to accomodate my gaming needs. I'm only 15 so this is my first time really investing in new furniture. I kind need some help for you older guys who have been through many apartments and lofts.

First off is the TV setup. I was first going to get an HDTV and put it on a TV stand with cabinets for my game consoles. Then I was reading about how some games support vertical screen modes and I though it would be cool to have a rotating wall mount. Then it hit me, all the wires leading up to the TV would look very ugly. Since the only way to fix this which comes to mind is to put the A/V inside the wall, maybe I could get a mutli-switch things so I can still exchange which consoles are hooked up over time, but I want to know what you guys do to fix this problem.

Next is the surround sound system which I've wanted for a long time. I really want to blast the SFX into my ears. Of course these things don't come cheap, but I found one at dollar general for $35. It came with 4 speakers, a sub-woofer, control deck, and remote. The only thing is it wasn't brand name. I know with computers quality is everything but I don't know if the sound system works the same way. Can you save money without a big quality difference when dealing with sound?

The other thing about a surround sound system is positioning the speakers. With my new furniture layout (which I plan to do with the whole makeover) the corners of my room will be occupied with furniture. I know for it to be surround they should be in the corners, right? Should I mount them on the ceiling in the corners of my room or what?

Thanks in advance.

[ZenLogikos]

For wall mounting purposes, retailers usually sell devices like this to cover up exposed wiring:

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/ ... NT&tp=3247

I'm more of a video guy, not much of an audio expert, but I can't imagine any sound system that costs only $35 being anything but crap.

Check out the .pdf's on this page for new or existing layouts of speakers:

http://www.crutchfield.com/diy

Crutchfield's site has many useful FAQ's for free.

[latenitevacancy]

dude im 20 and i cant afford to revamp my room. i'm jealous.

[Niode]

Don't skimp on sound stuff. That system at $35 will sound like trash, have rubbish bass response, no mids and probably won't even be grounded and/or sheilded so it will buzz all the time or only when it's near CPUs/hard drives or monitors. Anything with a frequency basically. Either way it's going to buzz since you're putting it near computer/console equipment.

A rotating wall mount?! Are you kidding me? That will most likely have to be custom made to your TV. Most manufacturers just bundle in a shoddy wall mount if the TV even comes with one. Most are just basic stand. Thats if you get a decent sized TV anyway. Besides the cost of a custom mount is most likely well out of your league if your 15. OR is mummy and/or daddy paying for this?

I think you should set your sights firmly at the ground and just get a HDTV if you can afford it on a normal stand and then save your pocket money and get a decent surround sound system. Don't forget, to hook up your consoles you need to get a decoder. It needs to accept input from optical toslink. Don't bother with surround sound kits. They rarely have the right inputs you need, and are generally aimed at the pc market. Which are no good for consoles. Most modern consoles only output surround over toslink. Most PC surround sound speakers only use TRS 3.5mm jack for input. The PC surround sound systems that do have toslink are generally far more expensive than they should be as they're serving a dual purpose. You might as well just get a decent decoder/amp combo and then buy your speakers seperately. That way, if you're on a tight budget you can just get the stereo speakers for now and save up and get the rest one by one. That kind of setup will last you for ages, and the beauty is, it's modular, so if anything goes wrong or breaks down, you only need to replace one thing, rather than having the entire system useless to you.

If you want anything regarding audio explaining further just shout, I'm an audio professional and have been working in the field for years now. AKA I know my shit.

Hope the above helps.

[Ivo]

Either way it's going to buzz since you're putting it near computer/console equipment.

Crap that explains it. I had these old (but I think decent quality - not grand, but acceptable) Sony woofer+2 tweeters. The tweeters aren't shielded, but as I am not using a CRT monitor I thought I could put them some 10 cm away on each side of the monitor. I've been hearing a slight buzz and probably that is it.

The tweeters say "SRS-002 speaker system" on them and the woofer says "SRS-D2 Active super woofer". It's over 10 years old I think, I used to plug it to the Amiga and it was quite nice back in the day, nice bass from the woofer compared to the standard stuff we used to have. They're probably crapped out or something now

It looks like this:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Music-instrume ... 621802.htm

Ivo.

[fox099]

if you are looking for a rotating screen, id suggest instead of a tv, you get a 24" or 28" lcd monitor with a hdmi input. then get an a/v receiver and a digital tuner, and plug all your consoles into the receiver and you are set to go with a sweet rig. for sound, i personally like panasonic setups. you may have to dish-out close to 200 dollars for a good HTIB (home theater in box).

remember, a good setup isnt cheap! you might want to save your money for a car next year, it will be a better investment in the long run, and will let you make money by actually getting a job. good luck though!

[Niode]

Either way it's going to buzz since you're putting it near computer/console equipment.

Crap that explains it. I had these old (but I think decent quality - not grand, but acceptable) Sony woofer+2 tweeters. The tweeters aren't shielded, but as I am not using a CRT monitor I thought I could put them some 10 cm away on each side of the monitor. I've been hearing a slight buzz and probably that is it.

The tweeters say "SRS-002 speaker system" on them and the woofer says "SRS-D2 Active super woofer". It's over 10 years old I think, I used to plug it to the Amiga and it was quite nice back in the day, nice bass from the woofer compared to the standard stuff we used to have. They're probably crapped out or something now

It looks like this:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Music-instrume ... 621802.htm

Ivo.

Probably. I can't really nail it down to that though without seeing them. Does the buzz go away the further away you move them from computers, or anything with a standing magnet, like a CRT monitor or any kind of magnetic media, like a hard disk drive? If it does it's definately a shielding problem. You can semi shield them your self with some sheet metal, use a nice alloy, like copper alloy. I wouldn't attempt it unless you know what you're doing with electronics though because there's a chance that you could short any exposed wire in the speakers. That said it's probably cheaper to just buy a nice pair of magnetically sheilded speakers really. Your move

[Ivo]

Probably. I can't really nail it down to that though without seeing them. Does the buzz go away the further away you move them from computers, or anything with a standing magnet, like a CRT monitor or any kind of magnetic media, like a hard disk drive? If it does it's definately a shielding problem. You can semi shield them your self with some sheet metal, use a nice alloy, like copper alloy. I wouldn't attempt it unless you know what you're doing with electronics though because there's a chance that you could short any exposed wire in the speakers. That said it's probably cheaper to just buy a nice pair of magnetically sheilded speakers really. Your move

It's a low buzz, I can hear it when I go close to the tweeters. Anyway I was just surprised because the monitor is an LCD and I figured that without a strong magnetic field it wouldn't be a problem. In fact it may just be from the wires that go from the back of the computer to the bass and / or the wires that go from the bass to the tweeters. They're also non-shielded, and in fact sometimes I need to re-adjust them to make the contact better.

Ivo.

[Niode]

Maybe some nice shielded gold/platinum cables will do the trick then?

[Kevman]

This sound stuff is confusing me. I'll put that on the last of my priority list.