Building a home theater can be a valuable investment, especially as the cost of family entertainment continues to rise. Consider home theater design upgrades that offer a top notch experience you can actually afford. Mind the basics and shop wisely, and you’ll be able to replicate a mogul-worthy experience on an extra’s budget.
Follow this home theater script to create a successful theater production in a home of any size.
1. Set design: As with any home improvement, assess the space you have before investing in new home theater components, changing up finishes and rearranging the furniture. The comfortable distances between the placement of your screen, speakers and seating depend on the size of the room, and in turn determine how much power, screen surface area and sound stuff are needed to provide an ideal experience. Bottom line, great home theater doesn’t require a giant screen and a zillion speakers.
2. Screen Dreams: Investing in a new television is a smart starting point when it comes to home theater design, and savvy shoppers can score cheap deals on sets of all sizes any day of the year (but mostly during the holidays).
Make sure you’re purchasing a size and format that’ll work well within your space —a screen that’s too grand and too close for comfort can actually diminish the experience. The ideal viewing distance from the television should be two to two-and-a-half times the width of the TV screen.
This ratio may vary depending on the type of television you select (HDTV-enabled units may allow closer seating depending on their size, for example), so follow the viewing specs provided by the manufacturer, including those for lateral placement of seating.
3. Surround Sound: Generally speaking, the quality of your home theater’s sound should equal that of your picture purchase. Another audio rule of thumb is that all theater sound components come from the same manufacturer in order to ensure system compatibility, easily accomplished thanks to the all-in-one audio packages available at retailers.
If you have a small-to-medium room with fixed seating, shop for a system providing 5.1 Surround: it’s the standard format match for DTS and Dolby Digital surround sound, as found with DVDs and HDTV. A 5.1 Surround system incorporates five main speakers and a subwoofer, and is controlled via a 5.1-channel receiver connected to your digital source components (Blu-ray disc player, set-top box, etc.).
4. Quality Receivers: A receiver is the centerpiece of your home theater’s audio system, connecting all source components and powering the speakers. Cheap receivers however, usually deliver what you paid for. Instead, make sure the one you buy has enough inputs to accommodate all of your components, and video output to match the video input of your TV (an HDTV, for example, will call for HDMI, a.k.a. High Definition Multimedia Interface).
If you think you may be upgrading or expanding your home theater over time, purchase a receiver that will accommodate those changes. Going with a 6.1- or 7.1-channel system will work with your 5.1 Surround speaker system today and give you wiggle room for later additions.
5. The Right Connections: One low-cost, high-impact home theater investment is cabling. You’ll get better picture and sound, extended life and reduced interference when you replace component-accompanying cables with more heavy-duty varieties.
6. Boxed-Set Bargains: The home-theater-in-a-box is a budget-cheap option that can yield great quality and trim down the guesswork when you’re working with a limited home theater budget. Most of these come with all the speakers you’ll need, a surround sound receiver, and such components as DVD/CD players and recorders.
7. Fun Furnishings: No need to spend big on new home theater furnishings or room redesigns, because you probably already have most of what you’ll need both for comfort and optimal acoustics. Fabric-upholstered couches and chairs are ideal, and you can easily enhance the sound-absorption qualities of floors, windows and even walls with minor adjustments (i.e., a generous area rug on a tiled or hardwood floor, and insulating curtains or blinds trimming windows).
8. Sound Investments: Further prevent unwanted sound reflections by adding acoustic seals around doors and windows – they’ll keep outside sounds from sneaking in and prevent action movie antics from escaping to disturb the neighbors.
9. Lights, Camera, Action: Finally, remember that strategic lighting in your home theater space adds to viewing comfort and enhances safety. Dimmable lamps can be posted around the room, including one situated behind a larger-size viewing screen for eye-easing fill around its picture. Avoid placements that will lead to on-screen reflections, and make sure all windows have treatments that adequately block natural light when needed.
Follow these cheap tips for home theaters and you’re guaranteed to have plenty of money left for popcorn — gourmet popcorn, of course.
This made my day, I've always wanted a real home theater but could never afford it. For a long time I couldn't find any really consistent information on the internet, but thanks to this article I am able to build my own cheap home theater sometime soon. Cant wait!