Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with stereo and home

My stubby amplifier...

rleamon — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:12:01 -0800

Home amp filter: Shallow cabinet, 5.1-channel, three-input-HDMI, two-zone, good-quality amplifier-receiver -- does it exist? The missus and I just moved into our remodeled house -- the custom bookshelves are only 12" deep, so my 16" deep Denon amp that does most of what I want juts out unacceptably.

Is there such thing as a 13" (or less) deep, 5.1 or better surround, three-input-HDMI amp/receiver, that can play to two or more zones (i.e., 5.1 in the living room and 2 only in the kitchen?).

Home Audio 101

10ch — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 06:49:09 -0800

What components do I need to buy to have a solid stereo system for my home? I know nothing about home audio and I want to buy a quality turntable for playing records (including 78s) as a gift for my one and only.

I took a look at other mefi questions about turntables and found some good resources, but I quickly realized that there's a lot of vocabulary and hip-bone-connected-to-the-assumptions going on that leave me clueless. I need someone that isn't trying to sell me something to help me figure out what I need.

Fer'instance... am I better going with separate parts (and if so, what are those parts specifically) or with a "home system" (I want to avoid crappy parts just to get the 78 feature, for example).

Here are the things I'd like the system to do, in priority:

- Cost around $500
- Sound good
- Play records (78s, 33s and 45s)
- Play cds
- Play cassettes
- Play FM/AM radio
- BONUS, BUT NOT REQUIRED: Record across the above (ideally on CD)
- BONUS, BUT NOT REQUIRED: Be aesthetically pleasing

Speak jargon as long as you provide clarification (parenthetically). Links and specific make/model recommendations are appreciated. I'll be happy to converse in thread if I'm leaving details out. Thanks for your help.

Feedback from my amplifier's phono setting?

Ber — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 20:10:56 -0800

When I have my integrated amplifier set on "phono", I get an annoying 60 cycle hum buzzing out my speakers. I have eliminated the amplifier, turntable, power strip, and TV. BUT, when I take the inputs from the DVD player and VCR out from the amp, the hum vanishes. So my question is, how do I get to run my VCR and DVD through my stereo sytem and not have this annoying hum.

My stereo's not ready to come out of the closet

adamrice — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 07:29:10 -0800

Building a media closet in an existing home... The wife and I will be buying a new house soon, and we know we're going to move a couple of walls around. We are considering building a media closet. I've been reading up on structured wiring panels, multi-room amps, etc, but I'm still unsure what my best options are.

We want to distribute video to the living room and bedroom, and audio to those two rooms plus the office and backyard. Thanks to wifi and multi-extension cordless phones, it's not that important to distribute data or phone. The closet would be attached to the office. The house has stick framing, unfinished attic, and crawl-space underneath. I'm thinking of using a Mac mini as a media center. We want the whole thing out of sight and remote-controllable as much as possible.

So:

1. How hard would it be to do the installation myself? The distribution points will be on existing walls; the hub will be on new framing.
2. All the systems I've read about use coax for video, but this seems to be the lowest-quality option (compared to component/S-video/digital). Is there a more future-proof and high-quality option for video?
3. What's the best way to distribute audio to 4 points?

Any other advice much appreciated.

Multimedia Jukebox with Web Interface?

bryanzera — Thu, 12 May 2005 22:51:23 -0800

Does anyone have any reccomendations for multimedia jukebox software with a web interface? I want to connect a linux box to my home stereo and be able to control it from a web interface hosted on that box. I want it not to require X to keep it thin, so XMMS plus a plugin won't work. The ability to rescan watch folders from the interface because I'll be moving my music collection from work back to home often.

Am I stuck rolling my own or does someone know of a magical piece of software that will make my life complete? Freshmeat and Sourceforge provided lukewarm results.

SACD: worth upgrading my CD player?

lola — Fri, 16 Jan 2004 09:24:25 -0800

About 5 months ago, we bought an awsome Sony home theater system. At the time, I was focusing on buying a system that would play fully loaded DVD's, and did no research concening audio CDs. Consequently, I've become aware of SACD Cds. Unfortunately, the DVD/CD player does not have that capability. Is the sound of SACD CDs worth upgrading my DVD/CD player?

FM Transmitter That Plugs Into PC And Transmits to House Appliances?

Jimbob — Sat, 13 Dec 2003 03:43:53 -0800

I'm looking for a gadget - essentially a low powered stereo FM transmitter I can plug into the sound output of my PC and broadcast the music on my harddrive to the various clock radios and stereos around my house. I guess a 30m range would be ample (although it does have to get through some pretty thick walls). So far the closest thing I've found are tiny battery-powered transmitters designed to plug into a CD-walkman and sit next to your car stereo while you drive - pretty useless for my purposes. Does anyone out there know of a suitable transmitter? And here's the crunch - do you think it would even be legal in Australia?