So your thinking about investing in a home theater? With so many options available today it can be very confusing when choosing what’s right for you and your family. This article will help you with making the right decisions and getting a system which is easy to operate, that your family will enjoy for years to come.
The first thing you should consider, is how do you want the system to preform? Do you want a dedicated room (home cinema) or a family media area for both gaming and movie viewing? Lets talk about the home cinema dedicated room, this is a great choice if you have an extra room or unfinished basement. One benefit of a dedicated room is you can make it just like a theater meaning, stadium style seating and decorated to give you that theater feel. Most importantly, the room can be sound deadened to keep it isolated from the rest of your home. So listen to it as loud as you like without keeping the rest of the family up at night. The equipment used in this type of installation is a screen size determined by room depth along with a rear projector. The sound system usually consist of a seven channel or more speaker array, this will be accompanied with at least two to four sub woofers. In addition to your system it is recommended that you use a universal remote to control the equipment, having multiple remotes can be very confusing when trying to operate the system. There are many styles of universal remotes on the market today, most will do every thing needed to run the system flawlessly. Things to look for are the ability to turn on the equipment in a sequence (one button push and your watching TV). Another if you choose is lighting, blinds, and curtains, some of the higher end remotes allow you to control these from the same remote. It is well worth the investment just for the ease of operation.
Now we will talk about media rooms or what we call simple theater rooms. A media room differs from a dedicated room because it’s usually located in the family room, great room or rec room. In other words upgrading your TV and equipment or adding new, such as a gaming station, internet browsing, etc. This is usually accomplished with a flat panel television, “size” well, the bigger the better. The sound system, depending on the room layout, can be five channels or more. Remember if your room is open (like a great room) you may not be able to have the speakers in their proper location. It’s a waste to have a seven channel system if you can’t position the surround speakers correctly. When using sub woofers it’s a simple choice, the more subs used, the bigger the boom. Ceiling height should also be considered for the acoustics of a room, all of the above should be considered before you buy. The available equipment list is a long one. Today’s technology allows you to stream video straight to your TV and with a media server allowing you to access all of your stored media (photos, movies, music, etc.) to the system as well. For movies you also have choices, for example DVD/CD players or Blu-ray players, remember that a Blu-ray plays all (DVD, CD, Blu-ray) but a DVD/CD will not play a Blu-ray. For gaming it’s your choice, all game consoles can be connected to system with ease. As stated above the use of a universal remote is highly recommended, this will make your system more user friendly, and with the whole family using the system this is a very important consideration.
Now that we have gone over the basics of theater systems for your home we can touch base on integrating the system into the whole house. With manufactures offering endless products to allow sourcing of audio and video from one room to the other room, you can enjoy all types of media through out the house. You can choose to add audio in some locations, such as in your dinning room for dinner parties, etc., you may also add both audio and video to rooms such as your bedroom. Now you can start a movie in the theater room and finish it in bed with out having to purchase extra equipment for each room. A remote will be required, and needs to be able to provide a signal to your main system, this can usually be accomplished by a RF remote. If not you may need a RF repeater or a wired IR sensor that can be placed in the wall and are not noticeable. Just so you understand remote options, RF or radio frequency is the best and can go trough walls, etc.. A standard remote is an IR or infrared red signal, this type of remote needs to be in line of site of your equipment. When using a wired system IR is fine because you will have a IR receiver in each room.
With the availability of marine grade flat panel TV’s and high end audio you can even add a sourced system outside. Just think, you could watch the game outside by the grill with your friends and family or even floating on the raft in pool on a nice evening. If you just want audio, outside speakers come in many shapes and sizes, from the typical swivel small stand alone speakers, to in-wall outdoor speakers. You can also use landscape speakers which are shaped like rocks, flower pots, etc., and can blend into your garden with out being noticeable. As for video, marine flat panels come in sizes from seven inches to fifty five inches, and you can even have surround sound with a marine grade speaker bar. (simulates five channel surround and mounts under the television)
The installation of these systems can be very complicated, from the design to the actual installation of the equipment. Unless you have performed this kind of installation before, we recommend that you have it professionally installed. One thing to consider is that most installation companies also sell what they install. Use this to your advantage because they know what works well and most importantly what components are compatible with each other. The installation is as important as the equipment you choose. When and if you plan to build a home make sure you think about having it pre-wired. This step can save you money in the long run making it easier to add AV through out the home later. Again you should talk to an AV company first, Serious About Sound LLC can help you with your questions, design and installation. We hope you find this information useful. It’s a big investment and if done correctly it can give you and your family years of happiness.
Friends Link : Optoma DX617 Projector 32 inch LCD TV
