In-Wall speakers are nice, yeah, but you're really not a fan of butchering up your walls just to get some audio from up there. but, what can you do?

Hold it right there!
You can now experience fantastic audio in your home with a rather brilliantly designed set of speakers from SpeakerCraft. Whats more, these do not stick out sorely in your lovingly modelled interiors. Sounds pretty wonderful, uhu?

SpeakerCraft, one of the largest selling custom installed audio/video product brands, have introduced their radical new loudspeakers, dubbed the Sound Pillows.

Yeah, they are 'pillows' all right. In a radical departure from your run-of-the-mill standard in-wall speakers, the SpeakerCraft Sound Pillows are "softly sculpted" surface mount speakers that can be mounted on any solid surface. They only require a small cutout for wire terminations. This gives you the advantage of installing them in discrete places without the necessity of ripping up your building walls and plaster.

Speaker Installation in a snap

Dave Donald, SpeakerCraft VP of marketing says,"Making things easy for the installers is one of our prime concerns". The speakers are available in round and square versions with identical driver configuration.

The SpeakerCraft Sound Pillows can be mounted onto your surface of choice in two ways, depending on the surface in question:

1. One has flip-out dogs that sandwich the drywall to create a "dog frame" that a mounting plate can be attached to. The plate contains all the speaker wire connections. Then the speaker needs just two push-in tabs to hook the speaker to the plate and wire connections.

2. The plate can also mount directly onto a wall surface or junction box, also with the simple push-in of the mounting tabs connecting the speaker to the wires.

Sound Pillows Specifications:
Round or Square versions
5.25 inch Kevlar woofer
1 inch coaxially mounted pivoting silk-dome tweeter
Efficiency of 87dB 1W/1m
Impedance of 8 ohms
Power Handling of 50 Watts
Frequency response of 70Hz - 20kHz

Dimensions
Round : 11 1/2" Diameter x 3 3/16" Depth
Square : 11 1/2" H x 11 1/2" W x 3 3/16" Depth

There are always certain situations where the use of in-wall or in-ceiling speakers are simply not feasible. The Multiple Dwelling Unit or MDU is a perfect example. These are great speakers for MDU applications where cutting into the wall is either not allowed or not preferred. The SpeakerCraft Sound Pillows allow for great sound reproduction in these situations with an elegant and functional solution.

Since the speakers technically reside in the room instead of in the wall there are also no sound transmission concerns that are often a problem in luxury apartments or condominiums. The speakers can also be easily removed and taken to another location when the owner moves.

Far better than the standard flush mounted speakers, the Sound Pillows will fill any room in a condo, town home, or apartment with an incredible musical experience. No word on how much these beauties will cost, but you can check with a SpeakerCraft dealer for pricing and availability, and get ready to show off your new 'Pillows' on your next Gladiator movie night.

-end of story-

Read the rest of the story >>

The hardest part of setting up your home for a complete digital entertainment experience is the wiring/cabling or whatever you call it. Figuring out the types of cables, wires provided, the myriad number of connections in your Digital entertainment components is enough to make you take that fateful decision to go and become a monk in the Himalayas. Come on, admit it, you are afraid as I am.

You fear that chaotic nest of wires behind your home entertainment system, you get nightmares of a slithering mass of wires and cables reaching out to you. Yes, I've been there. Not to worry, PopCola is here.

For both the newcomer and the old hand alike, connecting equipment in the most efficient and effective manner can be a painful chore. The following information will improve your background knowledge concerning potential A/V system connection schemes and where each is most appropriate. The next time you find yourself in a "connectivity quandary" perhaps the ideas shared here will help you to quickly solve the riddle of which wire goes where and why!

There's more after the turn...
Here's a rundown of all those wires, cables and connectors.

Audio Cables
Audio cables in home theaters take the form of either analog or digital interconnects.

Analog Audio:

• RCA Connectors
• BNC Bayonet-Style Connection
• XLR Audio Connection

Digital Audio:

• AES/EBU Digital Audio
• SPDIF Digital Connectors
• Toshiba Link, or TOSLINK

Video Cables
Video Cables are available as either analog or digital interconnects, with the majority of analog video interconnects being based on the same type of RCA or BNC connectors found in home theater sound systems.

Analog Video:

• Coaxial RF Cable
• Composite Video
• S-Video
• Component Video
• RGB Video and the SCART A/V Connector

Digital Video:

• i.LINK
• DVI
• HDMI

There are many more types of connectors for both audio and video, but the list featured above is more then enough for most people.



















Practical Home Theater Guide has a more detailed guide for selecting AV cables and Connectors for setting up your Home Theater. Do Click here for the Guide.

With the vast selection of options available, choosing the right cables and connectors will be downright confusing for the beginner. Familiarity with the options available on contemporary components will allow you to make an informed decision and, when all is said and done, end up with a home theater or music system that provides the level of performance and convenience you envisioned.

Important: The Cables & Interconnects that are shipped with the components are not always the best choice. Sometimes replacing them with the optimum choice will result in substantial improvement in system performance.

Read the rest of the story >>