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When you were a kid a home theater system probably meant that there was a tv in the living room, and if you were really good, you could turn off the lights and sit with a bowl of popcorn to watch some scary movie. Today, the home theater is more like its title, a theater for your home. In some cases, people are able to dedicate an entire room to their home theater. They go in there to watch movies or important sporting events, but most other television watching is done in the living room. In many cases, the home theater is just another name for the living room.
With home theaters becoming more popular, they are getting less and less expensive to purchase. There are boxed sets now that are sold to add to your existing television set and create your own home theater. There are sets that are marketed together with a discount that would create your own home theater. There are so many options for today's shopper that a wise shopper will spend weeks making the decision on which system to purchase.
With today's technology getting better and better, the cost of things is really dropping rather than increasing. Technology that could only have been afforded by the movie theaters twenty years ago is now commonplace in many homes. Theater quality surround sound can now be achieved with as little as three speakers placed strategically around the room. When shopping for audio components, you may find that they will vary in cost from very inexpensive to way over your budget. Keep in mind that the cost is not always a direct representation of the quality.
Several years ago, home video projectors were found only in the homes of the rich and famous. Now, they too are more commonplace than you may think. The technology advancements are bringing down the cost of so many home theater components that one day, everyone will be able to afford to have their own. In just the last couple of years, the home projection system has become more affordable than even some of the large screen televisions that have been on the market for many years.
Not only are home theaters common in the homes of your millionaires, they are creeping into the homes of the middle class American, and they are getting more and more use every day. Again, with the technology making such great advances at such speeds, the costs are dropping and more and more people are affording the components.
You may find that it is less expensive to purchase a home theater system that has already been put together as a package for you, and you may find that the quality of certain items is not there. Make sure to do your research before buying any component of the home theater system. One error in judgment of purchase could cause many headaches and costly problems in future dealings with changes to your home theater.
The eclectic Austin home owner wants a theater system that can effectively replace the need for public cinema. Many turn to stores that offer q convenient source of equipment that promises exceptionally high resolution video and surround sound audio effects. Getting this equipment to work, however, requires much more than electronics know-how. It requires an advanced understanding of new home wiring, home architecture, how it creates acoustics in the room, and how to make home theater equipment work within the context of a specific setting to yield superior results.
This is exactly what custom homeowners in Austin can expect from Illuminations Lighting and Design home theater specialists. Our unique combination of consultation, manufacturer relationships, and customized home system intergration services are what differentiate us as one-source vendor of both equipment and installation know-how that ensures the best possible results in home entertainment.
The first step in the process is a consultation with the homeowner and a close examination of the home's interior architecture. Most Austin home theater clients live in homes ranging anywhere from 10,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet. These homes always have several rooms which can be converted into home theaters. However, each room is unique and has its own acoustical qualities. Homeowners are typically unaware of which room will work best as a high-tech entertainment center, and even electrical contractors are often challenged in this arena due to the highly specialize nature of their training in home wiring.
Our team, however, has cross-trained in many different disciplines in addition to home electrical remodeling. One of the most important skills we have picked up is a strong working knowledge of home architecture and interior acoustics. We have also learned to speak the lingo, so to speak, of the industry, and can quickly add in a consultation with the architect or builder to determine which room will best serve as the media center. We include this service with our complimentary consultation and with no obligation to purchase the equipment we subsequently propose.
Once the room location is determined, we select the appropriate type of projector, screen, audio processor, video processor, amplifier, and speakers to compliment the sound dynamics of its interior. While these components are standard to almost all home theater systems and available at a number of retail stores throughout Austin, our equipment comes straight from the factory and is rated at the highest level of specification grade quality. Our knowledge of residential home theater design enables us to efficiently install this equipment with a number of additional options not typically available through stores. We can integrate a home theater system into the home's lighting control system, or go one step further and install it as one of many subsystems on a home automation network.
Such integration allows for a cinematic experience even better than the one available at public cinemas. Pre-programmed lighting control systems can be activated with the simple push of a button to set the mood for certain genres of film. Horror movies are exceptionally frightening under low, dark red lighting. Dim, but brighter colour temperature lights, can often add an upbeat tone to comedies and action movies.
One of the most important things that Austin residents can confidently expect from our one-source design, equipment and home automation installation services is a much better sound quality than retail equipment typically provides. Since third party installers who actually setup theaters in homes rarely have the time or knowledge to study the acoustics of interior architecture the way we do, they often tune the acoustics to only a satisfactory level. While this is certainly better than the speakers on any television set, it does not justify the expenditure one makes on such equipment, nor does it offer the truly exceptional experience that justifies home entertainment as a substitute for a night on the town.
If you are going to make that type of investment in a home theater system, do it with experts who can customize every aspect of the system to the home and room it resides in, and who can also personalize it with lighting controls and home automation controls that make it intuitive and user friendly for everything from family gatherings to formal parties and special occasions.