Home Theater: A Hollywood Luxury For Your Home

Part One

by: Liz Roberts

A home theater is the ultimate luxury addition to any house. It enables you to watch favorite movies without ever having to going into a cineplex. Friends can come over for movie marathons or star salutes. Best of all , you can sit there in your pajamas and cry uncontrollably over the new DVD issue of “Casablanca.” There’ won’t be a crabby person behind you shushing. You can just sit there and enjoy Bergman and Bogart.

Before you can do anything, sit down and plan out where the home theater will go. Most people opt for the basement simply because of the space and quiet You can have it installed in a first or second floor family room as well . Just make sure there’s enough room to not only accommodate the screen and speakers but the residual noise. Once you and your family have decided on the location, it’s now time to decide on the brand. If you have a large floor and wall area you can spring for HDTV or high definition television. With this, you can opt for a plasma TV which is a simply a TV without a cathode ray. This does allow for a clearer picture, similar to a computer screen however plasma screens are very expensive. Then there is the projector. A decent priced one will set you back two thousand dollars. If you want to save you could go with analog TV. This is a set without the high definition properties and has a maximum resolution of 480 interlaced scan lines. This is the standard that has been around for the past fifty years.(it’s sometimes called NTSC). Don’t go with what the salesperson recommends. Of course he or she will want you to buy the biggest and the most expensive. It’s part of the job. Go with what you and your family feel best.

Another important component is the DVD player. Here again there are several different types. You can select high end ones that come with HDMI connections. These will give you the best possible audio and video reproductions. These can come in single or multi disc variations with the single disc being the least expensive. You can also opt for a progressive scan DVD player which is recommended for HDTVs. It will provide you with a sharper more defined image on the screen. DVD players also come in combos with recorders and VCRs so you can use your home theater to watch taped favorite shows and family tapes.

Perhaps the most important feature of any home theater are the speakers. You want a good set, ones that will allow you to hear every tender word in “Ghost” and every wand swoosh in the Harry Potter series. Figure out what will work well in your designated room. Choose the speaker system you like the best and build your home theater around it. Every set should contain a front left and right set of speakers known as mains. There should also be a back set known as the rears and a center one called the subwoofer. Subwoofers are the most vital part of the audio. They are responsible for the realistic movie sounds whether it is an explosion or a rainfall. You should feel them. One of the most convenient things about subwoofers are that they emanate sound in all directions. A good one should have sounds that make you and your guests feel like they’re being pushed back in their seats. These components can sit anywhere and still produce good quality sound. The only concern you may have is experimenting with where to put it. Place your subwoofer in a corner and it will lose its’ dynamic range.

Remember with any home theater package, you can update every few years. Technology changes all the time and so do screens and speakers.

After you’ve brought all your equipment collect all warranties and keep everything in their separate boxes. Too many wires or cables lying around may be come confusing. The most important thing to remember is wire placement. A proliferation of wires not only looks messy but is potentially dangerous. They could cause a fire even. Guests can trip on them as well. Run wires along baseboards and up along doorways. A smart investment is wire covers which not only hide them but protect them from pets and kids.

Run the wires to where you’ll be installing your rear speakers. Place them about equidistance form the primary viewing seat, off to the side. If you want, you can mount them on the wall but make sure they are slanting downwards towards the seats. If your rear speakers are smaller than your mains then consider also acquiring satellite speakers. These are about 5” by 3” versions that can be situated anywhere. Most even come with wall brackets for easy mounting. Place these in the room’s corners, facing outwards at angles. Remember to have a little give for the wires. There is nothing worse than dealing with tight wires, especially when cleaning around the speakers. The rule of thumb is to allow an extra foot of wiring around every speaker for leeway and to ease up on any tension.

Now place the center speaker on top or directly below your screen. Make sure all speakers are magnetically shielded. This will not only protect your TV screen but also any VHS tape lying nearby. The last speaker to install is the subwoofer. Remember this is the most important speaker of the set. It will reproduce every decibel from loud explosions to hushed whispers from the movie. It also adds more “bottom” or bass to regular audio. There are two types of subwoofers; passive and powered. The passive needs no additional power. The powered one does. You’ll need a power cord to connect it to an outlet. Don’t be afraid to do sound tests. You may have to move the speakers around once or twice to get everything calibrated.

This is the first step in installing your home theater. The audio is perhaps more important than the video (after all you don’t want to run a silent movie house) Put the speakers so you get the optimum effect on your DVDs. It may take a couple of tries but once all the speakers are set, you’re on your way to having the home theater of your dreams.

Part two of the article on Home Theaters