Home Automation Excitement/Woes (1 Viewer)

[chris.big.money]

Okay guys, i haven't been on in a while. My theater is going along nicely, just need to upgrade equipment now (probably not gonna happen soon with the current economy, but i'll start looking around anyway). I'm still in high school (if that wasn't blatantly obvious before) and I just started interning at a home automation solutions company. My boss gave me a touch screen, a processor, a wall switch (12 buttons), and some IR diodes. I have to wire the whole setup into my theater. I've heard that programming Crestron is difficult, but i seem to have a handle on that. My main problem is how do i rewire my speakers (i messed up and used 22gauge (HA!) instead of a more reliable 14-12)? I also wouldn't mind it if anyone knew of some good older models of subs, separate speakers, receivers, projectors, etc. I found a good Polk system online, with a decent Marantz receiver for $339 at amazon. It would be even better if i could find something that would work with 2-way RF, which is an immense help with Crestron.
Another thing. I've been looking online at separate speakers, and that's when wiring comes into play. Currently my extremely cheap HTiB worked well because i already had the wires set, i just had to put in extensions. Now, i want the nicer separates, and i there's a lot i need to learn. On the subwoofers i've looked at, they have the Coax input, but several other speaker ports that i have no idea what the purpose is. When wiring to a receiver, what do the Ohms have to do with it, and the watts per channel? What is the difference between powered and unpowered subs?
I apologize for the long post, i've just got a LOT of questions. Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[chris.big.money]

No one has a decent equipment recommendation? Anyone...?

 

[chris.big.money]

Okay, honestly. This forum is filled with tons of smart men and women, none of which can give me some sort of advice on either new models or old models that i can check out? What am i doing wrong here? (okay maybe posting in the same thread three times is wrong, but come on, these are fairly easy questions that people should probably have some input on.) Is there a different section that i should post this in? Can ANYONE help me out?

 

[Greg_R]

Ohms = impedance of the speaker. Voltage (V) = Current (I) * impedance (R) and Power (watts) = V*I. If the impedance is lower, your amplifier is asked to supply more current. Amplifiers capable of supplying a lot of current tend to be more robust and more expensive. Check your amplifier ratings... if your new speakers present a 4ohm load then you'll want to make sure that the amp can handle it (or it will burn out). Watts per channel is theoretically how much the amplifier can supply to each speaker. However, these ratings are not standardized (i.e. 100W from a Denon receiver does not equal 100W from a Sony). Also keep in mind that it takes a doubling of amplifier power to get a 3dB increase in SPL (sound pressure level). i.e. there is not a huge difference between a 80W and 100W amp in terms of real world performance (all other things being equal). Here's a good website with more information about speaker impedance: Home Toys Article - Speaker Impedance, Your Amplifier And You.

 

[chris.big.money]

Thanks for the reply Greg! i was getting worried that i became secretly blocked or something. I hate to trouble you more, but i just have a couple more questions. What separate speakers do you recommend for $500-$1000? There used to be a website that sponsored this forum and they had packages put together already, but i can't seem to find it anymore. So what do you personally recommend? Also, since my other post was never answered by anyone for some reason, if i got a PS3 and 720p panasonic projector, would i get a 720p image from the Blu-ray? Thanks again!