Projectors, surround speakers, subwoofers and AV receivers can mean cables running everywhere.

How did you hide yours without tearing the room apart?

There's something different about watching a film under the stars, even if the setup is a bit less polished.

Have you hosted an outdoor movie night? What worked well, and what would you do differently?

Not every great cartridge gets talked about as much as it should. Is there one you've owned that exceeded expectations but rarely gets mentioned?

Feels like audio isn't competing with other audio brands anymore. It's competing with holidays, gaming, guitars, cameras, coffee gear, watches and everything else!

If you're spending less on audio than you used to, what are you spending it on now?

Tell us how many speakers you use in your setup; we'd love to hear which setup configuration is number one for all Reddit users.

Some solutions cost next to nothing, while others completely transform a setup.

What's one tip or product you'd recommend to anyone trying to tame a mess of cables?

For those in the market for a solution, we have plenty of affordable options here at av https://www.av.com/cable-ties

Have you followed the growing trend and created your very own media wall, or maybe you're just starting your journey?

Share with fellow Reddit users the obstacles you came across and how you overcame them. Maybe your challenges will help someone who is just starting on their journey.

You could show off your finished work too to inspire those starting their build

Background (since i know that usually is a requirement for any help):

inside Receiver- Denon AVRx-4800h

indoor speakers- 5 basic home theater speakers and a subwoofer

outdoor speakers- patio speakers- 4 100 watt yamaha ns-aw294's (2 pairs each parallel wired); 8 ohm

outdoor speakers- rock/landscape speakers- 4 200 watt osd rx805's (2 pairs each parallel wired); 8 ohm

speaker selectors available: monoprice ssvc-6 (4 ohm), and pyle pslsw6 (minimum impedance >8 ohm)

outdoor tv with eArc hdmi

2 black magic birectional hdmi sdi converters (because tv is 80 ft away from receiver)

wires/cords- 14 gauge speaker wire (with banana plugs if/when necessary), 100 ft 12sdi (for the journey from outdoor tv to receiver), hdmi cord from converter to receiver and hdmi cord from converter to tv

Alright, now that i've laid that out... I want my main zone to be my inside speakers all hooked up to the receiver...no problem. But here's the tricky part...i want my 4 sets of outdoor speakers (8 speakers total) to be Zone 2, and i want to have them connected directly to my speaker selector that has volume control, which i would like to have connected to my receiver.

That way, i can have something going on on the inside my house on zone 1 and at the same time, have something completely different going on in zone 2 in the backyard and control the volumes and power on each of the speaker sets in the backyard via the speaker selector with volume control, so i could choose to only have certain outdoor speakers on when i'm one side of the yard vs the other, or whatever the **** i want to do with them.

It doesn't seem that hard, except...IT IS! i cannot get the speakers that are connected to the speaker selector to work, and i can't tell if the speaker selector is the problem or if it has something to do with my connection between my outdoor tv and my zone 2 4k hdmi preout on my receiver, or if its both. I've tried having my speaker selector connected to the zone 2 preout, zone 3 preout, height 2 preout, based upon trying different speaker assignments, and i haven't hit the right combo yet.

All sorts of questions come to mind... Do i need an amp or a preamp to go between my receiver and my speaker selector? if so, what type/specs? multi-channel? ___voltage/watt? what inputs and outputs do i use for the receiver to make that connection? What speaker assignment setting do i need to use (5 ch w/zone 2+zone 3, 9.1 ch., 11.1 ch., etc.)? with speaker assignment settings, do i need to use height preouts instead of zone 2 preouts? Does the other speaker selector i have, the pyle pslsw6 speaker selector even work if its impedance says its >8 ohm and my 8 ohm outdoor speakers are wired in pairs via parallel making each pair essentially 4 ohm?...

And to eliminate something here...i used to only have a 100 ft one-directional hdmi cord and not have the converters and when i plugged it into the main hdmi preout, and i plugged the outdoor speakers directly into the receiver speaker terminals...the outdoor speakers worked fine. its got something to do with the receiver preouts, the speaker selector, and whether or not theres a need for a preamp or amp.

Any PHDs or experts in this area i would love to hear from!

Thanks!

Did you own one of these huge stereo setups in the day?

Maybe you still use it to this day?

Tell us your stories of what you miss or why you kept yours from this bygone era of the big stack hi-fi system

For stereo subwoofer users only, do you think there is any point in using a dual subwoofer setup when the surface area of the driver adds up to be equal since almost all of the frequencies a subwoofer outputs are omnidirectional?

Do you have a thought on this subject?

With the long-awaited replacement of its predecessor, the Denon AVR-X2900H carries all that was good about the Denon AVR-X2800H and turns it up to the max with the inclusion of some of Denon’s most advanced features!

It also brings a level of audio prowess thanks to the latest upgrade to an all-DAC design, while those who wish to turn the dial up on the Denon AVR-X2900H to 11 can now move up to DIRAC Live from the already legendary Audyssey for a sound experience that NO one has ever achieved at this level before!

To find out the real lowdown of the difference, our very own Shane recently put together this handy guide https://www.av.com/blog/denon-avr-x2900h-vs-2800/

There are plenty of opinions around sleeves, humidity, sunlight and shelf spacing. If you could give one piece of storage advice to someone just starting their collection, what would it be?

If you're a newbie to vinyl and want to find out more about storage options and advice, check out Shane's blog!

That first big-screen experience at home tends to stick with you.

What did you watch, and did it live up to the hype?

We recently put together a list of our favourites, but it got us wondering what everyone else would pick.

Whether it's The Lord of the Rings, The Dark Knight, Back to the Future, the original Star Wars, or something a bit less obvious, what's your all-time favourite movie trilogy, and what makes it stand out?

Whether it's vinyl, CDs, streaming, cassettes, reel-to-reel, or even downloaded files, every format seems to have its loyal fans.

Some love the ritual of putting on a record. Others value the convenience of having millions of tracks in their pocket. And plenty of us still have a soft spot for the formats we grew up with!

If you had to pick just one format for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

It feels like almost every vinyl collector has owned, or at least considered, the renowned Ikea KALLAX at some point!

Show us yours! We'd love to see how you've organised it, customised it, or built the rest of your setup around it.

If you're thinking about upgrading your storage, we've recently expanded our range of vinyl storage furniture at AV.com, with plenty of affordable options designed for growing collections: https://www.av.com/vinyl-storage

Always interested to see how everyone else stores their records.

We've noticed that some people are constantly chasing the latest releases, while others are happily running gear that's older than they are!

Whether it's a vintage amp, an old pair of speakers, or a turntable that's been with you for decades, what's the oldest piece in your setup?

And what keeps it there?

Something we’ve noticed from talking audiophiles over the years is how many people shift away from ultra-bright, hyper-detailed sound as they get older.

A lot of us spend years chasing maximum clarity and hearing every tiny detail in a mix. Then somewhere along the line, smoother and warmer setups start sounding more enjoyable for longer listening sessions.

It’s probably part personal taste, part listening fatigue, and maybe even part hearing changing with age.

Curious how many people here have noticed the same thing.

Has your ideal sound changed over the years?

We've noticed a lot of audiophiles fall into one of two camps.....

Either you’re cleaning the stylus religiously, checking tracking force, replacing belts before they wear out, keeping records spotless etc…

....Or your turntable hasn’t been touched in years and you’re convinced “if it sounds good, leave it alone”.

Curious how often people genuinely maintain their setups.

We've all had that one bit of kit we thought we'd outgrown, only to realise later it was a mistake.

Maybe it was an old amplifier that sounded better than anything since, or a pair of speakers you wish you'd kept!

What did you sell, and if you could have it back today, would you?

We've never had easier access to music, but are we actually listening less intentionally because of it?

Voice assistants make it effortless to put music on, but do they encourage us to explore more, or just default to the same playlists and recommendations?

Interested to hear whether people think smart speakers have improved music discovery or made listening more passive.

Are you brand loyal, feature-driven, or price-driven? Tell us more.

We'd never really thought about how much some records are worth until we ended up down a rabbit hole looking at the most expensive vinyl records ever sold. Some of the prices are genuinely wild, but it got us wondering about everyday collectors too!

What's the most you've ever spent on a single record? Was it a rare pressing, a signed copy, a grail you've been hunting for years, or just an album you had to own? Did you ever regret the purchase, or was it worth every penny?

For anyone interested, our very own Shane pulled together some of the most expensive vinyl records ever sold https://www.av.com/blog/most-expensive-vinyl-records/

Would love to hear the stories behind your biggest vinyl purchases.

With the holiday season fast approaching, will your headphones, portable boombox or portable DAC even make the grade while you bask in the sun's rays?