Basic Home Theater, Vol. 1

Most non-hi-fi-geeks who attempt to connect up home theater systems without professional help discover it's really a piece of cake...as long as they're well-grounded in calculus, quantum physics, voodoo and are familiar with the Secret Code for Translating AV Equipment Instruction Manuals. Failing all that, it's probably best to call in an expert. Basic Home Theater, Vol. 1 brings a hi-fi guy, Milo Young by name, right into your home to show you how to hook up a TV (with PIP capability), tape deck, VCR, surround sound speaker system and surge suppresser together with the brain of the system: a Dolby Pro Logic receiver. Young covers the necessary wires and cables needed, placement and connection of the components and the speakers, operation of the system (skimpy), setting up picture-in-picture, and basic troubleshooting (also skimpy). My gut level opinion: a true novice could get lost. First off, many receivers today are equipped with AC-3 sound and sport optical digital connections (nary a word is said about either). Secondly, if I were a real greenhorn, I'm not sure I would intuitively grasp that the tape decks "in" cable should be connected to the "rec out" jacks on the receiver, unless I was specifically told to plug into the "rec out" jacks (and we are not specifically told here). Still, there is enough to get your basic neophyte out of the boxes and at least to a point where they can call their local retailer or 911 for help. Therefore, this is an optional, but not optimum, purchase. (R. Pitman)