Music somehow has a way of influencing just how we actually think and feel. The right kind of music can make us feel invincible and let us take actions that would normally be difficult, or at least challenging to us, while the wrong kind can make us feel inferior and sometimes even powerless. And unlike most other forms of stimulants that can alter perception, music seems like a better alternative, considering that we just need to listen to it.  ...

A receiver is that big, heavy thing that you plug your speakers and other components into (like a DVD player, TV, CD player, Xbox, PlayStation, iPod, and etc.). It's the "brain" of the show, really. The idea of connecting all your components to a receiver is the concept of audio/video switching, allowing you to switch to different video sources (like TV, DVD, camcorder) on your TV and thus changing the audio source accordingly - all without touching anything but the...

I will make the assumption that you have a surround sound or home theater receiver and start from there. There are 3 main home theater speaker setups which you will see termed 5.1, 6.1, and 7.1 channel surround. You will also see mentioned the terms Dolby Digital, DTS, and Dolby Pro Logic. Let's dispense with the latter first: if your receiver is only Pro Logic (only older receivers at this point) you do not need to worry about 6.1 or...