Tips for Choosing a Home Theater System
A home theater system is a collection of components that work together to give you the best possible entertainment experience at home. Video and audio equipment for a home theater can be obtained separately or as a complete system from one manufacturer. In this article, we will provide some simple tips on ways to get the most out of your investment in an affordable home theater system.
Tip #1: The Way You Use Your Home Theater Most Often May Not Be The Best For You
So what do you want to do most often? Watch movies? Listen to CDs? Play video games? Watch sporting events with surround sound effects? With all the choices available, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the options when choosing your ideal home theater set up. So how do you make the best decision for your needs?
The general rule of thumb is that the more money you spend, the better quality of experience you will get. However, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes it’s wiser to purchase a less expensive system that meets your specific needs instead of overspending on features you won’t use. For example, if you only watch movies and don’t listen to music, then you may not need a surround sound system.
Tip #2: Consider The Size of Your Room
Before making any purchases, take the time to measure the dimensions of your room and consider how much space you will need for the various components. You’ll also want to allow some extra space for maneuvering around equipment, so try to buy equipment that will fit well in your room.
Tip #3: Identify Your Needs Before You Shop for Speakers
You’d think this would be pretty basic, but people often get carried away by all the bells and whistles when shopping for speakers. If you can’t afford many speakers, then don’t buy more than two pairs of the same type if possible. Also, keep in mind that your main front speakers should not be smaller than 2-way models because they won’t put out enough bass to properly reproduce low frequencies, which are part of what makes music sound full and rich. And unless you have a very large room, avoid surround sound setups with 6 or more total speakers, including four rear surrounds. The more speakers you have, the more money you will spend on amplifiers.
Finally, when considering speakers for your theater system, there are four basic types of cone materials. The most common are paper and polypropylene, which are used in inexpensive speakers. Next is the more expensive but better-sounding aluminum dome tweeter, which is found in mid-priced equipment. More expensive types of speaker materials include ceramic, titanium, beryllium, and diamond tweeters.
Tip #4: Use Good Quality Cables For All Connections
A home theater setup requires many different cables to connect one piece of equipment to another. If you skimp on buying quality cables or just use any old cable that came with the unit, then you’re cheating yourself out of experiencing your system at its best potential. Keep in mind that even a cheap cable will improve the sound quality over no cable at all, so don’t let a tight budget keep you from making this important purchase.
When looking for cables, always go for those that are as shielded as possible to reduce interference and noise. And make sure that the cables are long enough to reach from your components to where you want them to be. You don’t want any unsightly cables running across your room or hanging down from the ceiling.
