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Frequently Asked Questions

Can you help me with hooking up the home theatre system I bought from you?
No worries, we are here to help you every step of the way. Call (Brisbane: 3832 1111 / Australia Local Call 1300 308 711) or email us to talk with our Home Theater Guru.

What type of surround speaker should I use?
Monopole, or direct radiating, speakers are designed for a localised sound. They can spread a diffuse sound if it's in the DVD soundtrack, but not as diffuse of a sound as dipole or bipole. Monopole speakers work best for multi-channel music and when you want to really hear where those bullets are coming from. Generally speaking they are the most versatile surround speaker.

Dipole speakers are designed to spread sound everywhere except forward, so they work best when your surround speakers have to be placed close to the listening area, and especially when they're positioned at your side. They spread a very diffuse sound that is difficult to localise.

Bipole speakers are designed to bring together the best of both worlds, so-to-speak. They provide a diffuse sound, like the dipoles, but they have some of the localised characteristics of a monopole, so you can sense more where the sound is coming from. They work very well as side surrounds, or back surrounds, in a 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 speaker configuration.

What subwoofer will work best for me?

Firstly you should match the size of the sub to the size of your room. As a rule of thumb, if your room is around 4m x 5m or larger, a 12” subwoofer is the better choice - especially if home theatre is a priority. For rooms smaller than 4m x 5m we would commonly recommend a 10” sub as they tend to deliver a faster, tighter bass wave which better suits a smaller room. We have found that people more interested in a faster and tighter musical bass actually prefer a smaller subwoofer over the larger models as they do tend to be more controlled for musical reproduction.

Another important consideration are the differences between front firing and down firing subwoofers. Generally speaking down firing subwoofers are not a great choice for the majority of rooms, as a front firing sub will deliver a far more accurate and tighter sound than their down firing cousins. Down firing subs tend to deliver a very muddy style of bass that isn’t particularly accurate and a common complaint from customers about down firing subs is that they are very “boomy” and become annoying after the first week of novelty wears off.

There are three main factors that combine to make a great subwoofer that you'll be happy with for years to come. They are:

1 Quality of in-built amplifier
Many subwoofers use a poor quality or low powered amplifier board that does not have control over the driver, resulting in poor quality “boomy” or distorted sound quality. Amplifier boards should ideally be a high current “toroidal” design and have good capacitors and heat sink in their design.

2 Box design and cabinet quality
Likewise with many budget subs the cabinet is generally only built to look good on the outside and not too much thought goes into the structure and flow design of the enclosure. The subwoofer box can add as much as 30% to the overall performance of a subwoofer when designed and built to a high standard.

3 The driver unit
There are various styles and designs of woofer drivers on the market and some of the materials include pulp, polypropylene, and aluminium. All have different performance styles and ideally the type of cone material should be chosen as part of the overall design as they have quite different bass characteristics. The performance is also affected by the quality of driver and factors such as the size of the rolled suspension rim and the size of the voice coil and magnet.

Don't compromise on these three basic factors and you will be getting a quality subwoofer for your money.

What type of speaker wire should I use?
Generally we recommend 12-17 gauge wire. If the run is longer than 40-50 feet, we recommend you use a thicker 12-gauge speaker wire for best performance. Remember to make sure that your wires are the same length within a given plane (front, surround and rear or back). For example, if the longest speaker wire for the left front, centre and right front speakers is 10', all three front channel wires should be 10' as well. Use the same formula for the surround and rear speakers.

How does the banana plugs work?
Banana plugs provide a better connection than bare wire, and they are easier to use than spade type connectors.

What receiver should I get?
It’s like a marriage. You want your receiver to have a soul mate connection with your speakers. Things to consider will be the size of your system, amplification, programmability and expandability. The rule of thumb is this: the more features and power per channel, the more the cost will go up. We’ll help you strike that ideal balance between features and price.