4 Great Accessories for Any Surround Sound System of Your Choice

This article is based on a number of suggestions sent to our cranky inbox. People have been having issues selecting the right accessories for their awesome surround sound systems – Therefore we decided to pile it all up in one informative heap. Read on…

This Guide is For Those Who Have:

• Bose Surround Sound Speakers

• Energy Take Classic 5.1 Speakers

• Bose Cinemate GS Series ii or Bose Cinemate Series Speakers

• Denon Surround Sound Speakers

• Any other Top Quality Home Theater Brand of Your Choice!

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number of recent queries were about surround sound accessories conundrums. It looks like you are having a great dream without the right kind of aroma therapy. You have this so-called home theater, or a set of 2.1, or maybe 5.1 speakers but that’s as far as it goes.

Once you have unboxed the product and hooked it to the power outlet, something always seems amiss, doesn’t it? That special ingredient could be the right kind of speaker cable, the perfect AV receiver or maybe your entire home theater speakers settings need to be changed. Believe me, it’s an odd ball to figure out in one go; the process takes a bit of patience and testing.

Take a look at the following questions as some of these might seem a like a common household problem to you:

• Hey I have an LG / Samsung TV System but my so-and-so 2.1/ 5.1 or 7.1 speakers don’t work. What should I do?
• Hey I have a very good AV receiver component but my Energy Take Classic/ Cose Cinemate Series ii/ Audio Technica speakers etc. are not working. What’s the solution?
• Do I need a special accessory to further enhance my surround sound speaker performance?

Before I go on with explaining any of these dilemmas, do bear in mind that the following products CAN BE USED with any surround sound system. I just used some common brand names to properly illustrate a my examples – that’s it. As a matter of fact you could even use them with a 7.1 Surround Sound configuration, if you’re not using the 5.1 standard setup.

1. Atlantic Satellite (77305018) Speaker Stands (Black):

First of all, these speaker stands are available in Black color only. There was a Titanium model for $500+ but it is no longer available. You can see the Atlantic Satellite 2 Speaker Stands Titanium Model here.

Anyway, coming back to the subject, the original and currently available Atlantic Satellite 77305018 Speaker Stands are hailed by existing owners as a pristine long lasting product for all kinds of audiophile. The kinky stands, even though they are delicate like tree branches, stand their ground like a ton of bricks.

• These speaker stands are available for $40.99 only. It’s almost half the price of most of the speaker stands that are out there in the market.
• There are over 600 reviews about this product at Amazon. 90% of the users are completely satisfied. 10% gave a 4 star rating because they needed more real estate/ room for attaching bigger speakers.
• Atlantic is a properly established old brand. Most of the complaints about this product are bogus. Even if there are any complaints, Amazon is more than happy to address to them directly.
• If you’re going to place an order for these speaker stands, you will be getting 2 stands, which are generally usable with most of the surround sound, desktop surround sound systems and home audio systems.

More Perks in Atlantic Satellite (77305018) Speaker Stands:

Speaking of perks, these surround sound stands come with something special, such as;

-          The stands’ height is adjustable up to 50 inches. You can increase or decrease the stand distance individually to suit your listening requirements.

-          The base for each speaker totally conceals the wire. There is no way as to letting anyone know where the wires are coming in from, or going out to. Besides, with wired speakers, it kind of looks ugly if they are all hanging around. Kids can also trip over them quite easily.

-           Cast iron construction ensures a well rounded finishing and heavy duty long shelf life.

-          Product comes with double sided tapes to help you firmly stick the speaker base and stand’s base in one place.

Common Wire Management Issues with Atlantic Satellite (77305018) Speaker Stands:

Following are some of the most common wire management issues with Satellite (77305018) Speaker Stands.

The speaker wire should be ordered in abundance if it is your first time fiddling around with home theater speaker setup. If you will look around the base area where the speakers are to be placed, there is a “U” shaped opening both on the top and on the front foot at the bottom of the pole.

Most of the surround sound stands don’t come with such level of creativity. However, with this baby, the wire goes in all the way through the rod and comes down at the base opening. That pretty much sums it all up, as you don’t have to hang the wire or duct tape it to the outside surface.

Side Note for Energy Take Classic Speaker Owners: Here is a special tip for you: If your energy take classic surround sound speakers are not properly settling in on the Atlantic Speaker Stands, perhaps you can set the speakers upside down. A lot of people have done it and found this position to be tremendously effective.

Any Stability Issues with Atlantic Speaker Stand (77305018)?

The common question which we are normally asked is this:

Hey, my Atlantic Speaker Stands Wobble on carpet. What should I do to fix this issue?

First of all, you can remove the carpet if it is not too damn necessary to have it under the stands. If your berber carpet it too damn expensive, then you are going to have to avoid extending the speaker stands to full length.

Logically speaking, the base of these speaker stands is rubber padded. Atlantic made them this way to ensure that they stand firmly on hard floors or tiled surfaces. With a solid surface underneath, the speaker stand rod can be opened to its full extent, without the fear of toppling, wobbling or anything else for that matter.

1. RCA AH16100SN 100 Ft. 16-Gauge Speaker Wire

Well, what can I say about the ‘RCA AH16100SN 100 Ft. 16-Gauge Speaker Wire’; it is one of the cheapest and probably the most effective speaker wire ever seen.

• Plastic spool formation for easy maneuvering.
• 100 Feet of speaker wire length doesn’t let you worry about running short anytime soon!
• You can connect your speakers to the Audio Video Receiver or Amplifier, even if they are way back in the room.
• Easy to follow spool shaped instruction manual makes RCA AH16100SN Speaker Wire installation easy as pie.

People who have bought the RCA AH16100SN speaker cable, did so because of 300+ positive reviews at Amazon. Compared to other speaker cables, this one is brandished or marred by some kind of funky advertisement. At the end of the day, you will not be able to tell the difference between this speaker cable and an expensive one because RCA does what it was made to do.

1. Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver

Finally, at number three, the Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver is what I’d like to call cherry on top of the cake. Yes, at some online retail websites, this piece of beauty can cost you more than $500, but Amazon is selling it in refurbished condition. It is only 4 left in the stock with $150 to match your budget.

The question is, is a refurbished or used Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver going to create any problems for you? No, it won’t. Even if it does, Amazon is so damn good with its customer service that you will get a refund in no time.

Moving on, what exactly is the Onkyo TX-SR606 AV receiver all about? At its core, it is a simple but yet highly effective 7.1 HD surround sound receiver with amazing audio-video up scaling. You don’t have to confuse yourself with the 7.1 tag on this thing because it works just fine with 5.1 audio surround sound systems and lower versions as well.

Other great features of having a Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel HT System are:

• HDMI Cable 1.3a support, with 4 input ports, 1 output port and 1080p compatibility.
• Thought that 1080p was all? How about 1080i support as advertised by Faroudja DCDi Edge company? They have been working long and hard to bring unparalleled sound to their listeners – Onkyo was just the right kind of platform.
• TrueHD, Dolby Digital DTS , Dolby DTS HD Decoding and so much more in one package!

Normally, people who are a little shy of using AV receivers don’t do so because they don’t know how to properly handle them. Yeah, I have to admit that the Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 does look like an old VCR. Fear not, you can fiddle with its controls, rear side settings and channel inputs to see which speakers are emitting your movie sound and which ones are not.

For instance, if you have set it up in 5.1 configuration, the system will work great with BluRay movies and games. If you are thinking how to actually connect your 5.1 surround sound system with the Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver, you just have to follow the color codes on the cables and the ports behind this device. The rest is self-explanatory.

PS: The automatic speaker calibration is a nice tutorial in Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 AV receiver to let every thing fall right in its place. There are three different listener positions where you can set up your mic. While it is being calibrated, the system makes a lot of noise at various frequency levels. However, once the Onkyo TX-SR606 optimal settings wizard is done with, you will have no trouble ever again.

Where’s The Fourth Accessory? 

Hmm, great question. Perhaps you didn’t even notice that i wrote about only three great accessories for surround sound-a-holics. The 4th accessory is kind of a special treat. You will have to wait for it for a while, until we notch up the final recommendation.