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   Question    posted to Home Audio & Theater Dealers on 11/13/08 07:34 PM, Cortlandt Manor, NY 10567
We renovated our house & wired for speakers.  Now we've bought a new flat screen and we need to set up a home theatre system.  What kind of tuner do we need to control multiple speakers?  
Specialist Answer 1 of 1
   Answered By     Media Stratego, Inc., 11/14/08 10:57 AM

Congratulations on having the foresight to prewire your home during renovation.  Here's a few recommendations made from a few assumptions from your question.

1.  Assuming  you have wired for speakers for just 1 room (home theatre space) you would want to consider an AV surround sound receiver capable of supporting either a 5:1 or 7:1 surround system.  Such receivers often offer AM/FM/satellite radio features as well.  5:1 systems are configured as Left channel/Center channel/Right channel/Left surround/Right surround/Subwoofer.  A 7:1 system adds an additional Left & Right side channel for a more immersive movie watching experience.  The surround sound receiver has several surround sound decoding  "modes" that can be selected based upon what was encoded on the master movie when released.  Surround sound decoding options commonly found within a typical AV receiver include Dolby ProLogic, Dolby ProLogic II,  Dolby ProLogic IIx, DTS Neo:6, Dolby Digital & DTS.l  Rest assured that your AV surround sound receiver will in effect "control" what parts of a movie's soundtrack get routed to the appropriate speaker.

2.  Assuming you have wired for additional speakers in other parts of your home you may want to consider what is ofetn referred to as a " whole-house" or "multi-zone" distribution system.  Acting as a sort of switching system, this set-up allows you to take multiple input sources (music from an AM/FM/satellite radio, iPod, ripped CDs, even the audio from your DVD play or cable TV, etc.) and route them to any combination of speaker destinations.  Control is often achieved via a keypad, handheld controller  ... even an iPhone these days.  These systems are the modern day equivalent to those old clunky speaker selector switches where you pushed buttons to add additional speakers (but were limited to a single, maybe 2 input sources).

Therefore, a little more understanding of which scenario you have pre-wired for will help better determine what options are available that best cater to your particular needs. 

Realizing that dealing with big box consumer electronics outlets, and technology in general can be a daunting experience for many, Media Stratego specializes in helping homeowners make better informed decisions when planning for and purchasing electronics systems of all kinds for the home.

The elevation of the quality of life at home is our ultimate pursuit.  To learn more go to www.mediastratego.com.

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