Would someone give me a brief and *basic* home audio primer?

[xboxist]

I know next-to-nothing about home audio. I just bought a badass TV for the first time in my life and I just want something fairly simple to along with it. I have a DVD player and a Gamecube. Now I want to add some speakers - something I've never had to deal with before. Here's what I know/need answered:

I do not need/want an elaborate surround system. Room has hardwood floors, and there would not be an easy way to run the wiring, unless wireless speaker systems exist and are fairly cheap. Otherwise, I would like to keep any speakers up by the TV itself. I only want to spend a couple hundred or so. When I search BestBuy.com for stuff, they keep throwing "Home Theater" systems in my face and they all have like 8 speakers and a DVD player. I don't want 8 speakers and the DVD player is already bought. Can't I just buy something like a sub and two other speakers? And what is a receiver used for exactly? I guess that any speakers that I buy would go into a receiver, and the receiver would plug into the audio-out jacks on the back of my tv?

Ugh, sorry - I know this is a jumble. Just respond with what you want to. Thanks in advance.

 

[Alptraum]

Reciever = Basically a pre-amp/amp/ and tuner rolled into one. You would connect whatever source you wanted (DVD for isntance) to it and then it would send that source to the speakers (with power).

As far as speakers go, I would recommend stopping by one of your local stereo shops if you have one. I am not referring to best buy. Usually privately owned ones carry nice stuff and have helpful nice people. Some have your typical high pressure ass as a salesman though. Basically listen to a few speakers and try to find what you want. You don't need a sub. Though they can be helpful. In the "couple hundred or so" range I would recommend a nice set of bookshelf speakers. I would look at Klipsch and PSB. I am a big fan of Klipsch myself but I mainly have their large speakers. PSB used to make a KICK ASS pair of speakers called Alpha's that were only like $200 to $350 or so. I think that model is no longer around but I am sure they have a similiar one out now. For small speakers they sounded fantastic. I never owned any but I heard a few pairs and they were a great bargain.

 

[Savij]

"guess that any speakers that I buy would go into a receiver, and the receiver would plug into the audio-out jacks on the back of my tv?"

You are correct, Sir.

If you've got a CRT TV, then you're going to want to make sure that your speakers are magnetically shielded or you'll have to keep them away from your TV.

 

[xboxist]

Originally posted by: Savij
If you've got a CRT TV, then you're going to want to make sure that your speakers are magnetically shielded or you'll have to keep them away from your TV.

Ohhh... very good thing to know, since I do have a CRT. Thanks, you two.