Introduction to Home Theaters

This is a general introductory article to explain to you what components are needed for your home theater, and how to set it up. If you read this article, you should gain a greater knowledge on how to set up a home theater system in your home. Home theaters often look quite complicated to the non-technically minded, but they are really not that complex. Let me start with a general outline of what a home theater actually is.

What is a home theater?
Having a home theater is trying to make an environment in a particular room of your house that closely depicts that of a movie theater. This is done using technology in both the audio and visual electronics sector.

You can usually buy a whole home theater set, consisting of everything that you need. However, these are not usually the as good as if you were to buy the separate components. If you want to buy everything separately and put it together yourself, then you are reading the right article.

How much money will this cost me?
If you wish to have a substantial home theater, you will need to fork out a considerable amount of money. First, you will need a source, such as a DVD player or a satellite. You will the need a several speakers, a home theater receiver/amplifier and, preferably, a reasonably large television.

Here is a general minimum for the components in a home theater. (USD)
Receiver: $100
Six Speakers: $200
Flat Screen Television: $800
DVD Player $50

Prices vary from store to store, country to country. But you generally need a minimum of $1K US to buy all the components of a home theater. This is if you do not have a TV or any other components reserved for this already. Keep in mind that almost any CRT television today can be used within a home theater, so it is not necessary to be forking out large sums of money for a large flat screen if you’re comfortable with the one you have.

The receiver is a big part of the home theater. Most people think that good speakers make up a good sound system. But it is the combination or speakers and a receiver that produces great sound. There is no point in getting top of the range 200Watt speakers if you only have an 80Watt receiver to power them. I cannot give you specific information about every receiver and speaker system out. When purchasing your speakers and amplifier, you should ask a trusted salesperson for some guidance. If you have any doubts or queries, no matter how stupid you think they are, don’t hesitate to leave a comment.

The speakers you purchase generally make up a 5.1 system, 5 speakers and a subwoofer. The 5 speakers consist of a center speaker, front left, front right, back left and back right. If this is not ample, many people go to a 6.1 or a 7.1 system by adding a speaker at the back or two at the sides. The center speaker is placed as close as possible to the television. The subwoofer, generally, can be placed in any part of the room. After purchasing these speakers, you should buy copper wire long enough to connect all of your speakers to your receiver. Then, simply connect all the speakers to the receiver, along with the DVD player in one of the inputs.

Now, let’s talk about that dream television. Is there any way to get a huge television for a cheap price? Well... no. Generally, the more money you spend, the bigger the screen. Plasma screens are usually a bit cheaper and LCD, however, one of their downsides is screen burn. When you have the same image on a part of the screen for a long period of time it can burn the image to a plasma television. This is really not going to come into play unless you use your plasma to play video games or as a computer screen.

I hope you have learnt a lot about this article. If you have any questions/queries, please post a comment. If it is something you don’t want to be on a website, just email me or post anonymously. Thanks.