Home Theater Guide

What is a home theater and why is it important? Well a home theater does not actually refer to your television, couch, speakers, or your top of the line DVR receiver. A home theater refers to the ambience of the entire room. It is your “theater”. Do you understand? A home theater has one purpose and possibly two. Its main purpose is to watch television or movies. A second purpose could be for listening to music and high quality audio.

With the recent advancements over the past couple of decades, you can really get yourself squared away with a great looking room, filled with top notch equipment. Newer and bigger television sets are dropping in their price due to the flood of them on the market and the demand. Video quality has been improved with the release of high definition television. Last but certainly not least is the improvement of audio quality. In fact, audio quality is much more important than video quality. Try sitting down and watch a movie in high definition, but with a muffled crackling audio. Then try watching the same movie on an old analog TV set, with superb audio quality.

There are a few things you want to consider when setting up your home theater. First, is there any interfering light that can really ruin the effect of my theater room? Second, how many people are normally going to be in here and how far away are they going to be sitting? Third, do I have enough room for all of the equipment I plan to buy? You must ask yourself these questions if you want your room to appeal to yourself and your friends and family.

You want a television that is larger than 25 inches. Many people say 35 inches but a 25 inch television can produce a very nice picture if you have a small to medium size room. Of course if you have the money for a 80 inch plasma then please by all means, get one. I myself prefer a home theater screen and DLP projector but that is another story.

What kind of audio system do you plan to have? Will there be many people in the room? Do you want to put the speakers in the wall of the room? (This would really impress your girlfriend) Would you rather have the speakers match your couch, or on a stand perhaps? Most folks today are going to go with your standard 5.1 surround sound audio setup. Is this a top of the line home theater? Well, yes and no. It can be top of the line for the basic category but there are certainly much better options in the higher priced end of things. Remember, audio comes first. For some reason you will get very annoyed if the sound is off, compared to the picture.

What about your service? Do you have digital cable or satellite television? If you have satellite TV you have a digital service. Do you also have a HDTV package? In that case I would highly suggest that you invest in a HDTV capable television in order to really experience an awesome picture on your screen. With 1080 lines of information, the resolution is outstanding people.

I suggest placing speakers in a circle if possible. The ear hears well when sounds come from all angles, not just the front and the back. We hear well from the sides too. If you can afford a 7.1 surround sound system I suggest you do so. It will benefit your viewing experience and help you enjoy your shows more.