Home Theater
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- What are the good brands to consider?
- What kind of costs can I expect?
- How big a screen can I use in the room?
- What is the optimum distance to the screen and where is the best seating position?
- What products will yield the best sound in the space?
- Should I use one subwoofer or more, and where should they be placed?
The first place to start is the room you intend to house the home theater in. The size of the room will determine the size and type of video display
device (plasma TV, LCD TV, LED TV, rear or front projector) that would be best to use. Additional room items to consider are:
- How much ambient light is present?
- What type of wall construction do you have (drywall, glass, etc.)?
- Will you be placing your home theater system components in a cabinet or closet?
- Will you be installing your speakers in the wall or ceiling?
This is the first component to consider, as it is the core of every home theater. After all, the idea of home theater is to bring the giant movie theater experience home, and generally, nothing does a more realistic job of that than a good front projection TV. The other options mentioned earlier (i.e. LCD, plasma) will also do well, but there are very few choices available above a 70 inch screen size in these types of televisions. Additionally, factors such as room light, control, seating position and viewing angle all play a role in the type and size of display.
The most essential element of the movie theater experience is sound. The way sound is implemented in a home theater system is critical to the overall experience and possibly even more so than the picture. The impact and excitement of a movie or sporting event is delivered through the audio system! When choosing the audio system, there are several different components you need to consider. Let's start with the electronics.
Receivers are made up of three components:
a) an amplifier for powering the loudspeakers
b) a pre-amplifier for processing the sound
c) a tuner for picking up radio stations (optional)
A/V receivers or separate components need to be matched to the room and the speakers in order to optimize audio performance. Surround sound processors have the ability to make the room larger or smaller. Your mind knows when you are in a small jazz club or when you are in a large concert hall, and the processing capability of your electronics delays sounds to each speaker in order to recreate these kinds of environments in your room.
The next components to consider for your home theater system are the loudspeakers. You will need at least five
to seven speakers. The center channel speaker placed above or below the screen will deliver the dialogue/voices. The left
and right front speakers will be placed on either side and will create the width of the scene on the screen, and the left
and right rear speakers will create the depth of the environment. When utilizing seven speakers, two more speakers are
placed on the side walls. The last speaker(s) you will need is called the subwoofer. Its job is to recreate the deep bass sounds that deliver
impact and help you feel the home theater experience. In many systems you can get away with one subwoofer, but THX recommends four.
It is important to consider that your picture and sound will only be as good as the signal or information you give to them. HDTV will require
a service provider such as Dish Network or Comcast, etc. Additionally, you can obtain a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) for recording
your favorite shows. Other source components include DVD, CD player, Blu-Ray player, turntable and even HD radio.
Each component in a home theater system comes with its own remote, leading to a collection that can number half a dozen or more. One solution is to opt for a sophisticated but easy-to-use universal remote that can control most of the functions of each of your components.
You have a fancy home theater system; now you need some comfortable furniture that will make you want to spend your time with your
home theater. Your furniture can be of the traditional sofa and chair variety, or you can opt for specialized home theater furniture that
includes features such as built-in cup holders and extra-overstuffed padding.
These are panels or objects that compensate for the amount of glass, floors, wood and other materials used in the room construction. These
will all have an effect on the video, sound and control of the experience. You don't want the room to be too "live" or too "dead."
There are a myriad of things to consider when planning your home theater and your budget. Remember: Your goal is to do it right, so you may want to consider what aspects of the room and system are most important to you in order to maximize the result.
Using a device like an Apple TV, Roku or Fire Stick will add control and distribution to your phone or other mobile devices. Connect the two devices, program that input on your home theater receiver to look for PCM audio; set it to play it back in two-channel or a music surround mode and prepare to be amazed! Connecting the Apple TV's outputs to your home theater gear provides complete control of your entire music collection from the iPod, in the palm of your hand.
The advent of home theater has put multi-channel sound (a.k.a. surround sound) into our lives forever, and while that was an elevating experience for movies, it couldn't quite replace the warmth and finesse of a good stereo when it came to reproducing music. There was something emotionally uplifting about putting on your favorite, record or CD! Certainly, surround sound is extremely cool, but listening to music the way most of it was recorded, in two channels, takes us beyond the physical sounds or words and brings us closer to that emotional connection to our past, present and future.
