Looking for a good HT book for the novice (1 Viewer)

[Debbie_L]

Hi all,

I have been something of a "lurker" here for the past couple of months, doing A LOT of reading, but no thread posting (until now). Can anyone recommend a good book for the novice on the subject of home theater? I am interested in something that covers all aspects of HT purchase, set-up, technology, etc.... and which is written in plain English with the novice in mind. Any suggestions?

BTW....this is an incredible web site, glad I found it. Thanks to all of you for your wonderfully informative posts -- very enjoyable reading!

 

[Cees Alons]

Debbie,

Welcome to the HTF.
No, I 'm not familiar enough with HTF books on the US market. Others will undoubtedly answer that for you! (If you want to start looking yourself, a search on Amazon often gives good results for a start.)

But my question/suggestion is: did you go through our primer already?
Lots of information of the type you're aiming for!

Cees

 

[Debbie_L]

Cees,

OK, feeling a bit embarrassed at the moment.......:b ....... no, I have not read the HTF primer yet, in fact, I wasn't even aware of it's existence until now -- thanks for pointing it out to me. Time to get reading!

Debbie

 

[Cees Alons]

Debbie,

No problem! See you back in a week or two (or three) then!

Cees

 

[Jack Briggs]

Robert Harley, editor of The Perfect Vision, has authored a lucid and comprehensive book of use to newcomers and veterans alike: Home Theater For Everyone. It costs $19.95 plus $5 shipping. You may order the book at ...

http://www.hifibooks.com

or

http://theperfectvision.com

 

[Ted Lee]

i also recommend at least one subscription to an a/v magazine.

for beginners, i like Sound and Vision Magazine

their articles about technology are always well written and easy to understand. plus, it'll give you a chance to see what's new in the a/v world. their reviews are somewhat biased in that they never give a totally negative review...but then very few magazines do.

for something like 15 bucks a year it's hard to go wrong.

 

[Ronnie Schildha]

Books A Million and Barnes & Noble both stock "Home Theater For Everyone" and it is actually cheaper than the mail order price. It is a very good book and not overly technical.

 

[John Gido]

Here are some PDF files that I found to be very informative:

From Polk Audio's Web Site: Home Theater Handbook

From Crutchfield's Web Site: Home Theater Installation Guide

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Debbie: skim through the Primer and the links provided and take notes about what you dont understand. Then post specific questions here, or in the more specialize forums.

The problem with books are:

- They wont tell you what the current, well-respected equipment is. They can only talk 'in general' and mention specific equipment after getting the wording approved by that companies legal department.

- They are somewhat dated and wont tell you about features of this-years HDTV models, or why a PVR (Personal Video Recorder) can dramatically change the way you watch TV.

The internet can do a better job.

And dont worry about showing ignorance in your questions. This forum is a safe-haven for people that love movies/television and equipment. While we do get ... passionate about some topics, we insist that people show respect for each other.

So dont be afraid to ask TV questions in the "Display Devices" forum, or speaker questions in the "Speakers/Subwoofers" fourm. The "Show Respect" rules apply to all parts of HTF.

Enjoy your stay.

 

[Dougie]

Hey Debbie,
I agree with pretty much everyone above, Bob makes some good points. However, the problem with being to newcomer to home theater and higher end audio (if that's an accepted term here) is there's a huge void between a bunch of info that's too simple and a bunch of info that's too complex.:frowning:
Although I think the primer is a great idea and is a pretty good starting place, one very quickly goes through it and there's still alot to learn. What us newcomers need is some of you real experts out there to teach us mortals about your debates and etc. It's like reading the newspaper about the politics in a foreign country with which you're not familiar, you understand it somewhat but have no underlying basic understanding with which to form your own opinions. Stick with it and ask lots of questions, the cool people to snob ratio is very low in the HTF and dang these little smiley faces are fun to use !!

 

[Michael Mathius]

Debbie:

the information you will find on this site is much more comprehensive than any book out there.

Welcome

 

[Phill O]

Hello there, Go to this web site and download the free abridged version of his book. Or buy the complete Ebook version for $8.00

http://www.htexplained.com/buy.htm

Good luck and enjoy the voyage!

 

[Debbie_L]

Thank you all for your excellent advice and suggestions and for taking the time to so thoughtfully and articulately answer this newbies question. Guess what I am doing this weekend (besides watching the Super Bowl)? I am up to my ears in HT reading material/research and enjoying every minute of it. You are a great bunch -- thanks for making me feel so welcome.

Debbie