AV Tip: Where to Look for Home Theater Help

We know, we know...you are an expert in everything. Mounting a TV, wiring an outlet, framing a wall, programming a home automation system, or building a DIY speaker—you've got it covered. If only that were true. The truth is, we all need help. Coming from the custom install world, I can attest to the horrible mistakes that can be made when someone chooses not to ask for help. Depending on what you're doing, the consequences of guessing could be minor (having a speaker a few dB too loud/quiet) to all-out catastrophic (having a TV fall down, which scares the cat who then darts off and knocks over a candle, which then catches the curtains on fire, and then your entire home burns down, but the fire spreads over a clothes line and burns down the entire city block, which causes a local chemical factory to catch fire and explode, leading to a toxic cloud floating across the world and hurting millions of people). Seriously, don't create a toxic cloud, ask for help.

Audio Video Resources

• Forums - Online AV forums are a great place to look for information, as long as you can avoid the trolls. Our forums boast over 50,000 users who are ready to tackle any question, big or small. Also try to search for existing threads on the forums before asking a question, chances are your question has already been answered.
  
• AV University - Got a question about a complex AV topic, you can bet the answer is somewhere in our university.
  
• Tips and Tricks - We have an extensive Tips and Tricks section that can help you with basic to advanced home theater setup help. Once on the AV University or Tips and Tricks portions of Audioholics, select a subsection on the blue navigation bar to drill down to the specific topic area you want to know about.
• Google - If you can't find anything on the resources we already listed, just try to Google the issue. You will likely find an answer to your question, but be sure to sift out the good answers from the bad.
• Custom Installer - There are plenty of incredible home theater installers out there, but there are also many sub-par installers. From our experience, most installers can help with the physical work (mounting a TV, running wire), but lack the advanced knowledge to really dive into the settings of your equipment and optimize it. Try to find an installer with THX, ISF, and/or HAA certification to help ensure you are hiring a true expert.

And listen, if all that fails to work...perhaps you need to take up a hobby that's a little less complicated. Like knitting.