Questions from a complete beginner

[sudosilman]

So today I was just looking around the internet and found someone selling some stuff on craigslist because they are moving.
One thing that caught my eye was his home theater system. I have been wanting to set up my own home theater for a while now and although i really wanted to make my own set up by buying an amp (or receiver) and learning to wire up my own bookshelf speakers and subwoofer I decided this was an easy solution and could always be used as a back-up.

The system is a Philips HTS3371D/F7. It did not come with the ipod dock or the FM antenna. But it did have all 5 speakers, the subwoofer and the remote.

The man played a DVD for my to to show that it works and so i snatched it up. For only 60 dollars i figure "why not?"

I set it up in my home and loaded a DVD to test it. The first thing i noticed wear that the front right and left and center speakers were much louder (at least it seemed that way) than the two rears. Is this normal?

Second thing i noticed was when i tried using the 3.5mm mp3 aux in jack. The system only plays songs through the Front Right and Front Left speakers. Is my system broken or is this because songs are only supposed to be played through two speakers? Is there a way to make it so i get surround sound music? Or is 'surround sound music' not really a thing.

I tried using a 3.5 mm to RCA Right and Left cable to plug my ipod into the AUX 1 line (which was a white and red input) and I got some weird results, the song would play through the front right and left and the center speaker, but not the rears. Are songs just not meant to be "surround"?

What advice can you give to a complete beginner that is looking for some general guide. Eventually I do want to learn to wire my own set-up so i dont have to purchase "in-a-box" systems.

 

[mpompey]

Hey man, welcome to audioholics. I hope you stick around. I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.

Your system is known as a "Home Theater in a Box" system. (HTIB) Generally sold for convenience and ease of setup.

#1. It is normal for speakers to play at different volumes, which is why you need to calibrate them. Most of the times in movies and TV shows, the front speakers play louder than the rears. Download the manual for the system and pick up a Sound Meter (SPL Meter) from RadioShack for about $25. It will help you set the appropriate levels for your speakers.

#2. Using the headphone jack and only getting sound out of the left and right speakers is not uncommon. If stereo (L&R channel sound) is played through the input, the system may not be setup/configured to "expand" those 2 channels into 5. Check the manual to see if you can set the sound format to "expand" stereo information into surround format.

#3. Stick around this site. Go through the beginner forums, hit the internet, heck even go to the library to continue learning.

Home Theater is a way of life, not a hobby.