It's the Holiday Season, and if you're like many of us, that means family get togethers, great sports events and entertaining with friends and family—so if you're thinking of finally putting together that great home theater, here's some help from the experts. There's a wide selection of TVs and speakers and other electronic devices to choose from, but unless you decide to have it all professionally installed for you by a top installation company such as Just One Touch, it's just a matter of making a list of what you want to have, going out to get it and then putting it all together at your own speed. But just as important are some simple tips that can ensure your enjoyment day after day. So here's 10 tips for putting together a great home theater.
1) Decide
Where You Want Your Home Theater To Be
What
and where your home theater components are going to "live" will be
dictated by the space they occupy. If the space is small, then the big TV
you're going to get might do better being put on the wall, rather than on a
cabinet. This is the first, and perhaps the most important decision you will
make about your home theater, so take your time and consider such things as the
whether people will be tramping through it while others are watching, its
distance from the kitchen, bathroom, etc.
2) What
Kind Of Speakers Make Sense
Having
a surround sound audio system is a must for a home theater today. If the space
is large, you might want to have multiple speakers, which also means having an
amplifier connected to them (resulting in plenty of traveling wires). If the
space is small, a sound bar might be a better choice, especially as newer
models are able to "bounce"
sound off of ceilings to simulate multiple speaker placement.
3) Where
To Place The Subwoofer
Without
the deep bass of a subwoofer, audio will sound less real and explosions boring.
Placement can be behind a couch or in a corner of the room, because the bass
sound is omnidirectional. But beware of vibrations that could result in
annoyance (in the case of neighbors on the floor below) or in causing pictures
on the wall to become askew. Test it out before unveiling your home theater to
the family.
4) The
Room's Acoustics
Sound
doesn't travel just in a straight line between the speaker and you, but bounces
all over the place. To help control the sound in the room, employ drapes over
windows and place rugs on the floor if there's no carpeting. The idea being to
"absorb" some of the sound instead of it running wild.
5) Comfortable
Seating
Sitting
to watch a movie isn't the same as just lounging on the couch. Make sure the
seating is comfortable enough for long periods of time (i.e., a 2 hour movie or
more) so that there's no neck strain. In some cases it might be easier to
rearrange the seats in the home theater to accommodate the TV, rather than the
other way around.
6) Remove
Obstacles From The Room
While
aiding the room's acoustics is helpful, just as much is removing or moving
obstacles in the room affecting the viewers eyes and ears. For example, a
stuffed chair needs to be farther back than in the middle of the room so it
doesn't block viewers or impact the sound. Other examples become obvious once
the video and audio components of the home theater are in place.
7) Interior
and Exterior Lighting
A
semi-darkened room will make the TV picture stand out, so interior lights need
to be confined to small "pools" which can also help avoid disasters
when walking to/fro. These can be lamps and ceiling lights, along with others.
Lighting coming from a window or another room or area must be kept to a
minimum, if not eliminated altogether. In all cases, avoiding detail
robbing/resolution degrading glare must be given a high priority.
8) Clean
Up The Cables And Wiring
Keeping
cables and wiring straight and from lurking in areas where feet might find them
is a no-brainer. There are cable ties and wiring conduits that can be used
(again something that a professional installer does as a matter of course).
This not only makes the home theater look better, but keeps everything that's
connected working optimally.
9) Cleaning
Maintenance
Regular
cleaning of the components in your home theater is not restricted to just
wiping the TV screen every now and then (in the proper fashion, using the
proper cleaning fluid and cleaning cloth of course). Dusting off speakers,
amplifiers, Blu-Ray players, among other devices will increase their lifespan
as well as making the environment more pleasant for those watching. Careful
vacuuming should also be part of the mix, but avoiding static electricity and
accidental pulling of cables and wires must always be taken into account.
10)
Read The Manuals
Many of
the components populating your home theater come with "hidden"
features but aren't active due to it coming out of the box with default
settings. Spending a little time perusing a component's manual could result in
better personalization of how it works -- with results that are more suitable
to you.
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