The space/time continuum
Because I had answered the three questions, I arrived home with the Onkyo HT-S760, ready to set it up. With me was everything from my shopping list, including the speaker stands and the cables I anticipated I'd need for hookup. I actually had more cables than I needed but that was fine ? better safe than sorry (especially if you keep the receipts).

At first glance this can look pretty scary.

I soon discovered another important consideration when setting up a home theater system (or any kind of A/V gear): space. By the time I had emptied the box of components, accessories and packing material, I had effectively covered most of the floor. Had this been a holiday with a lot of other presents scattered about, the task would have magnified in complexity and frustration for the assembler (me). As it was, I had the whole floor to myself. With everything spread out before me it was easy to locate the piece I wanted when I was ready for it.

I also gave myself time. I didn?t want to repeat my experience of setting up our stereo on Christmas: rooting through the tangle of cables to find the one I needed; then frantically trying to wrest it from the Gordian knot of connectors while various family members repeatedly asked ?Is it ready now?? This time I blocked out an entire Saturday for the home theater setup. It turned out I didn?t need it, but having the whole day before me allowed me a leisurely walk-through of all the components and cables.

With the help of Onkyo's color-coded diagrams and components, it all made sense.

Like many self-contained systems these days, the Onkyo HT-S760 had user-friendly instructions. Virtually everything was color-coded to ensure easy setup. Each speaker?s terminals were color-coded to match the corresponding terminals on the back of the receiver. The provided cables were also appropriately colored to indicate which speaker they belonged to. Even the packing tape used on the plastic bag for each speaker was the matching color!

The simple illustrated guide laid out virtually every possible combination of hookups to the receiver from TV, VCR, camcorder, etc., taking the mystery out of connecting the new system to what I already had. In cases where more than one kind of cable hookup was possible, the directions consistently outlined each possible connection, in order of good, better, best. As a result, it took only about an hour and a half from opening the box to turning on the system in order to check the connections.

Of course, not every pre-packaged system comes with such a helpful manual. If you?re not sure the system you want will have thorough setup instructions, be sure to buy from a company who can provide after-sale connection help.

Get with the program(ming)
It?s tempting to think that once sound starts coming through the speakers, you?re finished. Although it didn?t take as long as the physical setup, there was still a little more to do; I had to tweak a few settings in the receiver and balance the speakers in order to experience surround sound properly.

Most home theater systems have some kind of test tones to help you set up and balance the system in relation to the room. Onkyo made this process simple with a series of setup prompts. Each prompt gave me some preset selections, as well as the option of making my own adjustments. Following the prompts, I told the receiver how many speakers were hooked up, adjusted the subwoofer, and told the receiver how far away each speaker was from the central listening spot, so it could balance the system. Then I tested and adjusted the volumes of each speaker individually, and assigned all the A/V sources.

Although it sounds really involved, within 20 minutes I was finished. We were finally ready to officially fire up our new home theater system and to answer the most important question of all — is it worth the trouble?