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Setting up a Home TheaterWith the advent of laser discs and DVDs and surround sound speaker systems, home theaters have become more and more popular in the last 10 years. For a few thousand dollars, the average household can have their own private movie theater experience at home. The biggest cost is normally the large, widescreen TV. In the past, rear projection TVs were the only ones big enough (40"+), although some people used actual projection systems beamed onto a large screen. Today, LCD and Plasma TVs have become more affordable and have grown in size, rivaling their rear-projection cousins. Inexpensive surround speaker systems abound - for a few hundred dollars you can get a more than adequate solution, although many audiophiles willingly spend several times that amount for sonic perfection. Below we will cover some reviews of home theater systems and recommendations on what to look for in a home theater.
Home Theater Advice and Tips - Buying to InstallationFor home theater tips, stop by hometheaterhifi.com. They have reviews of tuners, speakers, and TVs, along with in-depth monthly product guides. One good site for home theater reviews and advice is HomeTheaterMag.com. They have a shopping tips section, covering things like How To Shop for a TV, How to Shop For a Surround Sound System, How To Shop for a Digital Video Recorder. One of your first concerns will be on HDTV (what is HDTV? - high definition TV). Traditional TV screens have very low resolution (just over 300,000 pixels), resulting in the graininess you see when you get close to the screen (or when it is blown up on a big screen). High Definition TV comes in 2 different resolutions, 720p with 900K pixels, and 1080i with over 2M pixels. If you go to any electronics store and look at the TVs they have on display, they almost always show HD programming, making the TV looks much brighter, detailed, and lifelike versus ordinary TV broadcasts. So that is the main benefit of HDTV - much sharper, clearer pictures. Within a few years, all programming will be shown in HD, so you will need a TV with HD decoder built-in, or a setup box that connects to your HD-ready TV. Surround sound systems for your home theater are another necessity - nothing brings a film to life like booming sound effects and music all around you.Best Home Theater systemIs there a "best home theater system"? Probably not, as many factors are involved - from price, to room design, to styling issues. Many stores that sell "home theater systems" really mean speaker and DVD systems, no TV. These are also known as "home theater in a box". Some popular home theater systems are: the Sony HT 6900DP, which comes with 1000 watt tuner, Dolby Digital sound, 10 inch subwoofer, 5 disc DVD player, and 5 satellite speakers; the JVC TH-C6, with slim speaker designs, 150 watt powered subwoofer, and a receiver with DVD player built into it; Onkyo HT and LS systems, also with center channel speaker and 4 satellites and subwoofer; Sony DAV-X1, Panasonic SC-HT930, and Samsung HT-DS660T are a few others. In terms of price, the JVC system runs just shy of $500, while the Sony can be had for closer to $400. You'll find lower cost package deals available on sound systems, sometimes for as little as $150. Make sure you get a powered subwoofer (bass), a center speaker and 4 satellites, and a Dolby surround sound receiver/tuner for plugging your speakers into.Home Theater TVs - Plasma vs. LCDThe first thing you see in a home theater is the TV. Ads these days show people mounting TVs on the wall, over the fireplace, etc. In terms of best size, most people start with a minimum 40" screen for a home theater. 46", 50", 60" and more are also becoming more popular, although the cost can increase dramatically as you go up in size. On screens over 42", plasma is usually cheaper than LCD. Rear projection TVs are still around and have been slimmed down considerably. While you cant hang them on your wall, they often are only 18" or less in depth, and they are a lot cheaper than LCDs or plasmas - a 50" rear projection TV can be found for about $2000, which would only buy you a 36" or 40" fancier model. So decide first how much you want to spend and what size screen you are going for. Almost all high-end TVs now come in widescreen format (16:9) ratio, which is also the format for HDTV. Make sure you spend time at Circuit City or Best Buy actually viewing and comparing the different screens. A magazine might declare "the best large screen TV", but to your eyes, something else might look even better. Some lower prices brands like Samsung look as good as the Sony's or Hitachi's to many people - why spend 50% more for "quality" you can't see? And remember that the sparkling HD images you are watching in a showroom will not be the same as the normal broadcast shows you see at home (unless you already have HD via digital cable or satellite). Some of the most popular bigscreen TVs are the Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK, which goes for about $3000; the Sony KDS-R60XBR1, which goes for about $3500, the Pioneer PDP-5060HD, which goes for about $4000.
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