DIY Network

Installing the Electronics Find out how to hook up the electronics for your new home theater. From "Home Theater" episode DHTW-104

Rotating Metal Rack System

In the first segment of this fourth episode of DIY's Home Theater Workshop host Corey Greenberg, engineer Mark Midyett and homeowner Peter Moore enhanced the home theater acoustics, and now it's time to hook up the heart of your home theater--the components, speakers and video source electronics.

There are many ways to house your "gear" but for this DIY project a metal racking system (photo on right) that rotates and provides adequate space between components for ventilation will be utilized. These racks actually rotate so you can turn the whole system around without having to go in "back" with a flashlight.

Once you get all the components loaded you simply pull out the rack, spin it around--and then you can make all the connections while you're sitting comfortably. An added bonus to using this system is that all the cables in the back can be managed much easier than the old-fashioned "scattered-everywhere" option.

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	Figure A
	Figure B

Loading the Gear

• A large amplifier (figure A), which powers all the surround-sound speakers, is loaded on the metal rack first.

• Next the surround processor is mounted into the rack. It decodes all the digital surround tracks and acts as a switcher for the audio and video signals.

• The DVD player goes in next.

• Followed by a power conditioner (figure B--at top), which protects the entire system from power surges and provides "cleaner" sound.

  Note: A power conditioner also can provide AC power to all the components in the system. This piece of equipment replaces the need for a surge protector.

  Q: What does a power conditioner bring to the table that a $12 surge protector doesn't?

  A: The first thing a power conditioner does is provide clean power for all of the electronics. This means it takes out any of the radio frequency interference and stabilizes the voltage. And by using clean power you get clean sound.

  The second important thing it does is provide real surge protection for events such as lightning and brownouts--and this protects the investment you have in all the electronic components.

  The quality depends upon what you're willing to pay because a power conditioner can go anywhere from $50 to $5,000.

• Lastly, a VCR and a gaming console are loaded.

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