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The second most essential part of a good home theater set-up is its loudspeakers. You simply cannot achieve that authentic theater atmosphere, if you do not have good speakers. It goes without saying too, that the amplifier and player must be equally as good, because any system is only as good as its weakest part.

However, if you do it right, you can easily recreate the sound quality achieved in a full size movie theater. Regrettably though, many people seem to get confused about which speakers they should have, when they go to buy for their home theater in order to create proper surround sound.

The minimum requirements for a good set of surround sound speakers are a left and right channel speaker, a centre channel speaker and a sub-woofer. The following are the basic speakers that are required to make up a good home theater: front left and right speakers, a centre channel speaker, surround sound speakers. Often people try to do without the centre channel speaker, but this speaker provides a good proportion of the soundtrack in many movies as well as adding depth to the dialogue.

The surround sound makes the film seem more realistic. It is what makes the difference between watching TV at home and going to the movie theater. The option of having this at home has only recently become affordable. The most common systems are: 5.1 channel, 6.1 channel, or 7.1 channel surround sound. The first digit refers to the number of normal loud speakers and the second one to the number of sub-woofers. The amount of speakers that is the best for you, depends on the size and shape of the room you are sitting in. The more is not always the merrier.

The sub-woofer is the cause of the deep bass sound that underscores so many movie soundtracks and these are the sounds that are responsible for heightening the drama in a film. A good sub-woofer is an essential element of your home theater speaker package, if you do not have one, you will miss out on this.

There are many makes on the market and some are cheaper than others, but it is important that you pick speakers that will work well together. They have to be compatible. If you do not know how to make sure that they are, the best choice for this is to purchase all your speakers together in one package by one maker. It may be tempting to save money by mixing and trying to match speakers, but if you get it wrong, you will not create the true quality of sound you are eager to achieve in your home theater.

Some speakers are made to place on the floor and others are made to hang on the wall. Floor standing speakers are the best for home theater, but they also take up the most room and can have wires traipsing everywhere. If this is not a problem to you, then fine, but if it is, you can solve it by purchasing wireless speakers.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with home theater speaker placement. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.

Wireless speakers are not the height of technology that they were not so long ago, but they are still fairly new. The good news is though that the price of good quality wireless speakers has come down to an affordable level for most people. However, the incessant march of technology continues and it is almost unfeasible to be on the forefront of it for more than six months before something new comes out.

So, I have come to a conscious decision not to be on the forefront of technology any more. Twelve months behind is good enough for me these days. It can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars to take that decision. I am sure that you are already aware how much items like computers, especially laptops, and plasma TV screens have come down in recent years.

So, now is the time to get into wireless speakers. They are a good idea in any situation, because you can move speakers around without needing extension leads, but they are particularly practical in a home theater because people will not be able to trip over the wires in the dark.

Wireless speakers have come down in price because there are more manufacturers making them, which is the normal reason why this happens. Many of the newer manufacturers are in the Far East, which is also nothing new, but the quality is just as good. They are just less expensive.

Wireless speakers are one of the first up-grades you should think about if your system is a couple of years old. Wireless speakers allow so much more freedom to move your speakers around to get the best sound out of your home theater set-up.

One suggestion if you want to try to save a bit on your purchase of wireless speakers is to buy online. However, do not rush into it. First of all do the round of the shopping malls and find out which wireless speaker systems you like. Take a note of three brands or models. Then go online and check the prices for these models.

You should note down the models, the online prices and the URL of the store where you saw them online. Then, go back to the stores where you first saw those models and ask if they are willing to equal, or better, the price. If they are willing to price match, all well and good. You have won because, if there is a problem you can return them locally. If they will not, you must weigh up the value of a local purchase to you.

You can easily end up with a top quality home theater system with wireless speakers by going about buying your up-grades in this way. You really ought to go the way of wireless speakers and if you do not believe me, just walk around the shopping mall one Saturday afternoon, you will soon be persuaded.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with wireless home theater systems. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.

It is sure that the most important consideration in setting up a home theater system is the size of the room where you will set up the home theater system. Therefore, the size of the most important part of a home theater set-up, which is the screen, is also reliant on the size of the room. Regardless of the size of the room, the minimum suggested size of the screen is 28 inches.

A flat screen television is also recommended, because it will cut down on reflections and glare. Speakers are also dependent on the size of the room. Clearly, you would require more speakers in a very large room than in a small one.

You might want to put a lot of small speakers in a large room or one large speaker in a small room. The acoustics of the room is an important issue in this. Therefore, I recommend that you either get an expert in or get a wireless sound set-up that can be built upon.

The average number of speakers in a starter system in an average sized room would be five or six. The more speakers you use, up to a point, the greater the reality, but lots of speakers also means that you do not need thunderous volume too. There are many considerations when it comes to the sound – far more than with the screen.

You will want surround sound, with woofers, sub woofers, treble and bass speakers all with the Dolby control set-up, probably all controlled by a graphic equalizer. All these controls can be confusing, but once you have the sound right, you will know it. It will sound like a full-sized movie theater.

Another important component of your home theater system is the DVD player. Your DVD player really must have a progressive scan. This is because a progressive scan produces sharp and flicker-free pictures. However, the progressive scan facility depends on the television unit, because not all television sets support progressive scan signals.

An optional upgrade might be a five-disk carousel DVD player. All of these things also depend on the amount of money you have, of course. However, if money is tight, begin with the best DVD player you can afford and use a few old speakers and the biggest television set you can get hold of. Later, you can upgrade the television or the speakers.

The furniture is crucial too. You have to feel as if you are undergoing a special experience. The goal is to have reclining seats, but you can start with large bean bags. Add air conditioning and a fridge for cold drinks and a few tables for nuts and candy and you are almost there.

My concluding touches would be old movie posters, photos of movie stars, a collection of autographs would be great, a replica Oscar and any other memorabilia you can think of. Then set all this off with some subtle lighting that you can raise or dim as required.

Sound, camera, action!

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Home Movie Theatre. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site.

If you do not buy your home theater in one box, as many people do, then you will have to choose a screen at some point or another. However, not only that, but you may be faced with deciding between a TV-cum-monitor unit and a drop down canvas screen.

It really all depends on the size of the room you want to use as your home theater. If you are going to convert the box bedroom into a movie theater, then a 28 inch TV screen might be enough for you, but if you are going to use a long room and people might be quite a few yards from the screen, then a projector and drop-down screen would almost certainly be the right answer.

However, for most people, a normal TV screen would be sufficient. There are several types of television sets on the market at the moment, so we will take a look at them in turn later. Firstly, I would like to mention the dimensions. It has been standard practice for hundreds of years to hang a painting five times the diagonal of that painting from the viewer’s eyes. In other words, if a painting or a screen or a window, is two feet diagonally, then the best place to view it from is ten feet away.

This is a broad rule, it is not written in stone. Personal preference and eyesight come into it too. Therefore, if you used a 28 inch television set, the optimum viewing distance would be about 12 feet away. So, 28 inches would be ample for most spare bedrooms, but maybe not for a converted attic or basement. This relationship between screen and room size is the most important to get correct, otherwise the rest is a waste of money.

It all boils down to: do you like to sit in the front of the movie house or at the back? [We are only discussing viewing the film here]. If you like to be dominated by a huge screen, then the proportions I gave you must be decreased, otherwise they should be about accurate. Assess yourself: how far do you like to sit from your TV? Is it more or less than 5:1?

There are basically three types of view screens and they are: plasma, rear projection and front projection screens. The first is the modern flat screen TV, the second the conventional TV and the third a system with a projector.

Plasma Televisions

These televisions provide the best quality, especially for watching movies that are formatted for wide screen viewing. They have a much larger viewing area than traditional televisions and they also come in a wide variety of sizes in order to adapt to many varieties of home theater needs. The biggest problem with these beauties is the price, but that is dropping every month too.

Rear Projection Televisions

This is the standard cathode ray tube TV that we have all been watching since were born. Their major problem is that they are big and deep, but that was not a problem for decades, so if it suits your room, do not let it be a problem to you now,

Front Projectors

This is what you see at the movies or on old Cine 8mm – the drop-down projection screen. But, do not write it off. It still produces high-quality images and for larger rooms, it is really the only screen for your home theater.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Home Theater Screens. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site.

Shoppers in this new millennium are much more knowledgeable about electronic goods than people were at any time earlier. The older generation of today grew up in the 1960′s and 1970′s when everyone in the West had a television set and a stereo. Earlier generations were not so lucky for financial and technological reasons. Therefore, most shoppers nowadays have no compunctions about going shopping for complex electronic equipment like a home theater.

It is in the shoppers’ best interest to study and understand about the components that go into making up a good home theater. It is not particularly exacting and many if not all of the elements involved have been around for at least a few years now. Consider what goes into a home theater:

a screen – can be a television screen, a canvas screen for a projector or a modern plasma or LCD screen. Stop thinking about the modern types of screen, they are still fundamentally TV screens and they have been around for 80 years or so. Same with a projector.

a player – a DVD player is just an improved CD player and they have been out for 20-30 years. You have probably had one for most of that time. (You can add another dimension to your home theater here by swapping an Xbox for the DVD player, but games machines are not new).

speakers – they are nothing new either. Speakers have been about as long as the television set.

So you see, there is nothing in that package which you should feel awkward about buying. Fair enough, you will be buying state of the art examples of what I listed above, but they are fundamentally the same. You attach them all together with their special plugs and wires and then plug them into the mains. Switch on and it will work.

So the next question is: do you purchase a package or do you buy the elements and build your own home theater? The answer to that question really depends on your level of competency. A package is easy and may work out cheaper too, but will it have the flexibility that you want? If you have a standard sized and standard shaped room, then I am sure that you will be able to buy a package that will suit you. If you think that the speakers are sub-standard, you could always sell them on and upgrade after a period.

if you want to be sure of getting exactly what you need, I think that most people will have to buy the components separately: that is screen, player and speakers.

The size of the screen depends on the size of the room and how close you are sitting to it: a distance of between three times and five times the diagonal of the screen is about correct. However, some people like to be dominated by the screen and others do not want to wear their glasses, so it is up to personal choice.

The DVD player is a question of personal preference too. They are all much of a muchness, but some people favour Sanyo while others prefer Philips. If you want gaming functionality too, use an Xbox instead of an regular DVD player.

Most rooms will require at least a 5.1 surround sound speaker set. These should be acquired as one package to make certain that they are all compatible. That is five normal speakers and a sub-woofer.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Home Theater Screens. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site.