Today, home theatre systems have become an integral part of every home. After all, who would not like to watch a movie with his family every weekend, and that too, on his own home theater system. This article puts a spotlight on different kinds of home theatre systems, along with a checklist which you should keep in your mind before buying one for your home.
Home Theater Options
- Home Theater In a Box (HTIB) systems
It comprises of 5.1 channel surround sound system, a disk player and a sub-woofer. Wiring is also included. Sold in a box, hence the name.
- Components
Your choice of a disk player, an audio video receiver and speakers.
- Sound Bars
They are long, rectangular and thin bars embedded with various loudspeakers. This technology provides virtual surround sound.
- Separates
Components with separate preamplifier/processor and a power amplifier which replace the receiver.
Choice of Home Theater System Depending upon the Room size:
The Room where you intend to set up your system should dictate what you’ll need. A large speaker system can overwhelm a small room. And a sound bar won’t be able to fill a large room with sound. When planning to install a system keep in mind and prepare routes for the wires to the surround speakers, furniture, and electrical power.
- For Bed Rooms: HTIB combined with sound bars is recommended.
- For Large Living room: Component systems are sufficient, but HTIBs can also be chosen if one is addicted to movies.
These days, a dedicated home theater room is in trend. For that, you can contact a reputed speaker firm in your area and design a home theatre system that suits your budget and fulfil your requirements too.
A Few Tips:
- Channels are important. In case you are going to install it in a large living room, a 5.1 channel would be sufficient, as you would get 5 speakers and one 10-inch woofer cone. For an extra-large room, go for one marked with 7.1.
- Though it is recommended to choose a player which can up convert the DVD quality provided by your TV to high definition, you can also choose to spend a little more and go for a Blu-ray disc player.
- Try to go for a player which has an HDMI port as a single cable would then be required for audio/video and with the traditional options, there are a lot of cables that you would need to worry about.
- Gone are the days when people used to put in DVDs or CDs to watch movies. These days, people prefer to plug in a USB drive or even a memory card. So, make sure that the home theater that you choose has enough ports to fulfil this requirement.
The accessories such as the HDMI cable must be chosen wisely. In the long run, these accessories would make all the difference. As a last tip, it is recommended that you buy an HDTV for the home theater system if you don’t already have one in your home, as your movie experience would be certainly enhanced by it.
