What is a home theater? And how do you set one up? Both good questions and both have fairly simple answers, thankfully! A home theater, also known as a home theater system, is generally a combination of a theater quality television (or video projector), a DVD player, and a high quality sound system (usually featuring Surround Sound, but not always).
Let's first examine what constitutes a theater quality television. By today's standards, your best bet is a big screen HDTV. This can be a regular HDTV, plasma, LCD, etc. Quality TV screens are not as expensive as they used to be, so you can get a good sized screen for a modest amount. If you want a really large screen, though, a projector may be the better option. You may opt to have your TV on a nice TV stand or hang it from the wall for that special, modern touch.
Another option is to purchase a projector, also known as a DLP projector or LCD projector. You'll also need to purchase a screen for the projector to project onto. This will obviously be more theater-like than a regular TV. But bear in mind that an HD projector is really going to run you a lot more money than most HDTVs on the market today. However, you have the advantage of a larger screen and, again, a more theater-like experience.
Another disadvantage to using a projector is the room generally needs to be dark. This means you'll need to keep blinds closed on your windows when using it during the day. Sun lovers, beware! Night owls, never fear! There can be some serious set-up issues involved with using a projector, and for the largest screen size, you’ll need a relatively large room.
When it comes to choosing a DVD player, you may want to get a Blu-Ray DVD Player. If you have a HD screen or projector, you may really notice the difference of quality. As of December 2008, over 1,220 DVD titles are available on Blu-ray discs. Almost all Blu-ray DVD players can also read standard DVDs and CDs, so there is really no downside to choosing a blu-ray DVD player, except for the price. A normal DVD player can be purchased for as low as $20, but you can expect to pay $200-400 for a blu-ray player. Prices will likely go down as the technology becomes more widespread, though.
As far as a sound system, get a surround sound system with subwoofer for the best experience. A 300-500 watt system will be plenty for most people, but if you really like your movies to shake your chairs, you could go large 1,000 watts or more. Look for a system that gives good quality sound in all registers - high to low. Remember that not all surround sound systems sound great, so try them at the store if at all possible. Big names, like Philips or Logitech tend to deliver what they promise. The off-brands may save you money but might not hold up over time and may not deliver the true home theater experience you desire. Philips is one well-known brand that has a wide variety of home theater components, including DVD players and TVs.
You were so proud of yourself, you put together all of the components of your home theater system and everything works, except for one thing. The sound sucks! Sometimes it is because you bought poor quality equipment or because you crossed different makes of speakers which can result in voice match failures but many times the problems can be easily rectified and you can stop pulling your hair out and kick back and enjoy your investment. Let's take a look at how to avoid these problems.
The sound system is just as important as the TV in a home theater system, maybe even more important because it is the sound system that makes it a home theater system instead of just a television in a corner. Having a quality sound system can make your movie watching experiences much more enjoyable.
I am not going to attempt to cover every possible situation here but I will try to give you some helpful advice to help you decide if you have a fixable problem or if you need to replace a component. In a lot of cases you may just need to makes some simple modifications.
The first thing that comes to mind for most of us when we hear a problem with the sound is that it is the speakers and we need to go out and buy new ones but in most cases this is not the problem. There are many other problems that can cause the sound to be weak or distorted that have nothing at all to do with the speakers. You could have a weak amplifier or a bad connection. The most common problem I see is that of low amplification. This is especially true when someone tries to use an all in one approach that typically comes with a low powered amp that just will not push the sound needed for a larger room.
A quick and easy way to test the system and see if the problem is with the speakers is to hook them up to a regular stereo and see what kind of sound you get, it will probably be perfect which tells you the problem is probably your amp. If the speakers still perform the same then the problem is with them.
Poor cabling or inferior speaker wire can also cause sound problems and the cables that are included in the box with your system are often the culprit as they are often cheap quality. If you are having sound related problems check the connections and the cables first because it is normally the ancillary things like this that are causing the problem, not the component itself.
To avoid sound problems just follow these guidelines. Make sure that everything id connected properly and that you have a powerful enough amplifier to do the job of pushing the speakers you have. Next, be sure that you are using quality cables. These tips can help save you some time and aggravation.
Both Alex Gwen Thomson & Gregg Hall are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.