Home Theater Setup

Cables You May Need For Your Home Theater Set-Up

Everyone dreams of making their home theater system just as good — or better — than any commercial venue. To achieve true audio and video perfection, though, you’ll need the help of some high-quality cables. Here are a few of the most important cables required to set up the best home theater system possible.

Audio

  • Optical Cables
    Optical audio cables are good for 5.1 surround sound signals. They use light to carry a digital audio stream from DVD and Blu-ray players. However, be warned: they may not be able to support the absolute highest sound quality available on all Blu-ray player makes and models.
  • Digital Coax Cables
    Alternatively, you can use digital coax cables for 5.1 surround sound. They, too, connect to DVD and Blu-ray players, but use an RCA cable to pass sound signals.
  • Stereo Audio
    If 5.1 isn’t a feasible option for your home theater system, you can still get better-than-average sound out of regular stereo audio with two RCA cables to give you two channels of audio. It won’t support 5.1 surround sound or digital audio, but it’s better than television speakers.

HDMI

  • Standard Cables
    There are three kinds of standard speed HDMI cables: the regular, straightforward HDMI Standard, the HDMI Standard with Ethernet, and the HDMI Standard Automotive. Any standard speed cables will give you speeds up to 1080i.
  • High Speed Cables
    If you’re looking for a little more juice, high speed cables can handle speeds well beyond 1080p. There are two different kinds of HDMI High Speed cables — again, with or without Ethernet.

Speaker Wires

For home theater systems, you’re likely going to need speaker cables that can run long, withstand high power applications, and pair with 4 or 6 ohm low-impedance speakers. In that case, it’s recommended to use a thick 12- or 14-gauge wire.

With each of these components in place, you’ll have your home theater system up and running in no time — guaranteed to give any commercial venue a run for its money.

Leave a Reply