Essentials Of Home Theater System Planning
Home theater systems provide users with an excellent experience when listening and viewing any form of media.
What Are Home Theater Systems?
Home theater systems are audio-visual systems configured to emulate the experience one receives in a movie theater. A home theater system is basically for home entertainment. Its purpose is to improve the audio and visual quality that one receives while playing any form of media, be it sound or visual. It is essential to read customers’ reviews at reputable websites like ReviewsBird to assist you in choosing trusted brands.
Types of Home Theaters Available
Home theaters are of different types, and each one of them delivers a particular type of audio and visual experience. The type of home theater that you buy depends on the amount of money you have to spend on it, and the types include:
1. Soundbars
A soundbar is an all-in-one sound system that provides stereo and surrounds sound that creates a standard cinema experience. This type of home theater does not require much space, is not expensive, and is not complex compared to other types. In other words, a soundbar is the simplest form of a theater system.
2. A Multi-channel Home Theater System
A component system has different video and audio components connected, either wirelessly or through cables. Setting up a component system may be difficult if you don't know how to do it. It comprises a stand-alone AV receiver, a subwoofer, separate loudspeakers, and a source component such as a DVD and CD player.
One of the advantages of getting a Multi-Channel home theatre is that it allows you to customize your audio-visual configuration the way you want it and remove and add any part.
Home Theater In-a-box
This type is less expensive than the multi-channel home theater, and it comes as an all-in-one package. The primary things that one needs to create a cinema-like experience are contained in the box. The parts are connected through wires and cannot be customized by the user. The benefit of this type is that it helps to maximize space.
Essential Materials You Need in Setting Up a Home Theater System
You cannot talk about setting up a home theater system without knowing the materials required to do so. Therefore, the following items should be on your shopping list.
1. Home Theater Curtains
This is an essential item when planning to set up a home theater. It helps decrease the light filtering out of the television and reduce the impact of echo and external noise. Get home theater curtains that are not of light material, and the clout should be between black and red variations.
2. Home Theatre Power Manager
This is an electronic appliance that helps to protect all the electrical devices that are connected to the audio and visual configuration from a dirty power supply, electrical fluctuations, and lightning surges. To ensure that you buy a quality home theater power manager, you should read online shopping reviews of previous customers to make informed decisions.
3. TV or Video Projector
Arguably, the most essential thing that you need to set up the best home theater system is the screen. It can either be a television screen or a high-end video projector. Before you use a TV or video projector or if you want to buy, make sure that it has at least 720p to 4k ultra HD resolution images if you want to have the best experience.
4. Home Theater Chairs
Watching a movie in a home theater room with no chairs is undoubtedly uncomfortable and creates a bad experience. The chairs in your home theater room should be made out of leather, padded, have armrests, and have features for holding cups and snacks to make good home theater seating.
5. Speakers
It is recommended that one should make use of multi-channel home theater speakers when setting up a home theater to distribute sounds around the room evenly. After adding loudspeakers to the setting, make sure to add a subwoofer–a subwoofer is a specialized home theater speaker that produces bass sounds.
6. Source Components
A source component is the means through which one can play media in a home theater. It can be a DVD player, Blu-ray disc player, a CD player, turntable, cable or satellite, or an internet streaming device. Without a source component, your home theater is as good as useless.
7. Preamplifier/Amplifier Combination and Receivers
This is an essential part of the sound system that helps to improve the sound quality that comes out of a speaker. The home theater receiver acts as an amplifier, a radio tuner, and it helps send signals to the networks of speakers.
8. Home Theater Concession Stand
This is part of the home theater room where one can get snacks or food items while listening or viewing a movie. The home theater concession stand should contain snacks such as popcorn, soft drinks, candy, cookies, and fruit snacks. Your concession stand should be portable and should not be cumbersome.
Other materials include concession cables, remotes, power surge controllers, power strips, etc.
How to Set Up Your Home Theater
You can either set up your home theater system yourself if you know how to or call a professional to set it up for you. If you are going for the former, these are what to consider:
1. Purchase an All-in-one Package
Instead of stressing yourself to buy all the items you need one after the other, you should buy an all-in-one theater for your home from a reputable company. An all-in-one comes with everything you need, such as a television or a home theater projector, speakers and receivers, remote control, home theatre power manager, etc.
But one thing that you should have in mind is that the quality you will get when you buy the items individually may be higher than when you buy an all-in-one package.
2. Know the Amount of Space You Have
Sometimes people don't consider the amount of space available in their home before setting up a home theater system. You can either set up one in your living room or have an entire room dedicated to it, but whichever way, know the amount of space you have.
3. Set a Budget
Before you start setting up a theater system, you should consider knowing the amount of money you will be able to spend on it before you buy. This will help you not to overspend and also help you to narrow your search.
4. Purchase Power Strips or Extensions
Buying a power strip will help the wires used to connect the audio-visual equipment be organized and remain in place and avoid any risk of electrocution.
5. Buy Multipurpose Equipment
This applies especially to people with minimal space to set up multiple appliances. Instead of buying equipment that has a single-use, buy one that will serve two or more purposes at once to maximize your space.
Where Can You Buy Custom Made Home Theaters?
You can either choose to buy your products such as home theaters offline or at online stores, and below is a detailed explanation:
1. Offline Stores
When you are buying your home theater offline, you should make sure that you get them from a credible store and specialize in electronics such as Sony, LG, etc. This will help you to get the best product. One of the benefits of buying from offline stores is that you won't wait long for delivery; there are quick returns in case of a damaged product.
2. Online Stores
Since the introduction of e-commerce, many people now prefer to buy what they need from online stores. One has to be cautious when buying online to avoid scams. If you want to get a good home theater, you can shop at reputable brands like Amazon, Aliexpress, etc.
The benefits of buying online are that it is convenient, there are huge discounts, many varieties, and you can also compare the price of products before you buy.
How Can Customers Use Reviews To Their Advantage?
Product reviews are indispensable to both customers and producers. To the customers, product reviews serve so many purposes, and these include:
1. Customers Use it to Know How Credible a Company is
A product review shows whether the brand you want to buy from is credible. Without product reviews, many customers will lose their money. That is why you will find many customer reviews of home theater products on online retail stores like Amazon.
A good example is the reviews of the Klipsch Theater pack on Amazon. The product had massive 5-star reviews until a particular customer who gave it a 1-star rating complained about missing parts and subsequent incompetence of the brand’s customer service. This particular review may cause prospective buyers to think twice before buying from the brand.
2. It Helps Customers to Buy High-Quality Products
Customers use reviews to make informed decisions before buying a home theater. It will help them know if the product is of high quality or less.
For instance, if customer reviews of a home theater product largely show dissatisfaction with the quality of sound produced by the speakers in the pack, many audiophiles may decide not to purchase from such a brand.
3. It Helps to Have Alternatives
If you want to buy anything, there should be alternatives to the brand you want to buy from. Home theater products are numerous, and their prices and specifications are different. This means costs will also vary.
Product reviews of these home theaters will help customers with different information so that they have many options to buy from if their first choice isn't available or sells at a higher price they cannot afford.
Planning and installing a home theater is very easy if you go through the right processes and know what you want to do. The above is a detailed explanation of home theater system planning and how to go about it.
