Shoppers in this new millennium are much more aware 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. Previous 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 exceptionally exacting and many if not all of the elements involved have been around for at least a few years now. Think about 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. Forget about the modern varieties 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 want, I think that most people will have to buy the elements 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 right. However, some people like to be dominated by the screen and others do not want to wear their glasses, so it is up to individual preference.

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

Most rooms will require at least a 5.1 surround sound speaker set. These ought to be bought as one package to ensure that they are all well-matched. That is five normal speakers and a sub-woofer.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, 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 pretty 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 constant march of technology continues and it is almost impossible 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, in particular 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 occurs. 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 cheaper.

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

One tip if you want to try to save a bit on your acquisition of wireless speakers is to buy online. But, 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 manner. 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 piece, 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.

Many people like to relax after a hard day at work by going to the movie theater. However, if you go directly from work, you are apt to get caught in a traffic jam and you will not have had the chance to freshen up. On the other hand, if you go home first to have a shower and get changed, sometimes you can not be bothered to go out again. That is how it works with me in any case.

So, would it not be nice to be able to reproduce that authentic movie going experience in your own home? Not only can getting to the cinema be a hassle, you can be hassled once you are there too. People talking through the film or giggling right behind you, someone with his feet up on the back of the chair next to you, cell phones ringing, babies crying… It is enough to put you off. And it is not even as if it is a cheap experience anymore.

If you fall into this category, home theater was made for you. It is not necessary to have a spare room in which to set up your home theater, you could just as easily use the living room. The size of the screen is important, but that is a function of the size of your room or, more accurately put, a function of how far away from the screen you will sit.

If you require a very large screen, you could go for a projector, although for most people a 36 – 60 inch screen should be enough. Then speakers. You must have surround sound or you will miss out on a lot of the authenticity of a true movie theater experience. Again, the number of speakers depends on the size of the room. A 5.1 configuration will do for most rooms. That means quadraphonic sound, plus one extra speaker under the screen and a sub-woofer.

If you like to play games, then you could substitute the standard DVD player with an Xbox for a truly awesome experience. Those are the basics of a medium to excellent home theater with possible games functionality, but there are other things you can do as well.

A set of heavy curtains is a good idea. They will not only stop light coming in, but the will muffle sound getting out Seating is a requirement and I would add a few occasional tables too for drinks and snacks. If the room is not near the kitchen, a small fridge would be useful as well.

The seating arrangements are important too. Some people just put a few sofas in the room and that works well enough. Others rather a few armchairs. If it is to be used mainly by kids, half a dozen bean bags is all they require to have fun. However, if you or you and your spouse want to make the experience really something else, why not get a couple of recliners or even better still electric massage chairs? You could be sitting there watching a film with a drink and some snacks on a near-by table while having all your troubles and stress from work being soothingly massaged away.

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

If you want to buy a home theater system, there are a few essential principles that you should bear in mind. However, no matter how much advice you are given, if your level of competency is inadequate to understand it, it is a waste of time. Therefore, you have to be honest with yourself and realize how much you know.

Fortunately for most of us, the Baby Boomers are the most electronically wise older generation ever, because many of today’s older generation grew up in the 70’s when everyone had a TV and a stereo.

Music and sound quality is important to Baby Boomers. However, if you were one of those who was not interested in electronics, a home theater kit is probably for you. On the other hand, if you feel competent to take on the task, you will be better served by a system that you compile yourself.

This is not to say that kits are not any good, it is just that there are certain variables that must be taken into account before buying a home theater system.

Sound or acoustics depends on the measurements of the room where the home theater system is installed, most of us understand that, but because we are unlikely to want to remodel the room to suit the theater, we have to choose a speaker system to fit the room.

Likewise with the screen. Bigger is not always better. There is a ratio that can be used to help you work out the size of the screen you should be thinking about, but even this proportion depends on individual predilection.

The formula says that you should sit 9-15 feet away from a 36 inch screen, but you might have weak eyesight and prefer to have a 48 inch screen. This is where kit fall down.

In general, home theater packages suit regular shaped, smallish rooms. By that, I mean 12 – 20 feet in length and combinations thereof. Then, depending on the room again, you will have to consider the sound system. Stereo is not up to the job, if you want to replicate the sound of a full size movie theater. In order to do that, you will need surround sound with at least three speakers and probably five or more.

All in all, you will get the best system for your home movie theater if you buy the components separately, especially if you have an odd or oblong shaped room or certain personal requirements. However, a standard kit offers a quick and easy, passable solution for many modern, ’standard’ sized rooms.

One last bit of advice though, if you do buy a package, make sure it is one that you can upgrade, especially in the sound section. A TV screen is just a matter of a connection and they are all the same, but if your home theater package comes with three or five speakers, maybe you will want to add some more one day. You may also want to think about adding games functionality to your system too.

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.

A home theater takes a sizable investment of money, thought and installation, especially if you have a high quality home theater. Therefore, it is a shame that so may people just connect all the pieces in a room without giving any thought to what else they should be doing to improve it. Unless you hire a professional adviser, you might not achieve the full potential of your home cinema system. However, it is not necessary to hire an adviser, if you just pay attention to a few common mistakes made by a lot of home theater owners

The lighting in any cinema is very important, as I am sure you already know. Why is it then that many people do not treat it as important in their own home cinema? You never see external light – sun light – in a specialized movie theater and you should not want any in yours either. Hang heavy curtains over every window in the room and let them overlap the window by a good border.

Heavy curtains will not only keep exterior light out, but they will also dampen street sounds, something else you never hear in a real movie theater. If you have neighbours close by, it will also help to preclude them from being bothered by your loud films or music.

Do not try to save money by purchasing poor quality speakers. Do not mix and try to match speakers either, unless you are sure you know what you are doing. If you need five speakers and a sub-woofer, but can only afford three and the sub-woofer, buy speakers from a well-known brand that you know you can get hold of again.

Do not buy end of line speakers, as you will find upgrading hard. The best approach for the novice is to get a 5.1 surround sound set of speakers. Then, if at some point in the future you want to upgrade, you can quite easily, either by buying more or swapping the lot in one go. One thing is for sure, a lot of the magic of going to the theater these days lies in the surround sound and you need to recreate it at home.

It is not rocket science to put a home theater together whether it comes in kit form or not. However, if you do not feel happy setting it up, you would be better off having it done for you. Obviously, it is up to you how you go about this, but you could ask a relative or friend or neighbour or hire someone from the shop where you bought it. My speculation is though that any moderately experienced eighteen year old has already seen one set up before and can do it for you.

Your movie theater, if it came in a kit, will or should have detailed instructions for you to follow. Please read the handbook before you start plugging things into each other. Read the handbook and inspect the parts until you are well acquainted with the installation process and the recommended positioning of the equipment.

Make sure that the voltage is adjusted appropriately before you plug it into the mains. Most equipment is made abroad for sale to many countries, so they usually have some sort of selector for the voltage. Get it wrong and you could blow a part of the equipment, probably the amplifier, the DVD player or the screen. that could mean replacement of the module or poor reproduction of sound or picture.

It is not hard to get the installation of your home theater right, but you do have to pay some attention to detail, if you want to get the best out of it.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, 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.

Home theaters are very popular in the West now for many reasons, but partly due to the recession. However, I predict that after the recession is over, home theaters will take off like a rocket. In my estimation, this is because, the slump has forced people to examine their spending, which usually means cutting back. Going out, eating out and movies are all in the front line of these cuts. However, the slump is upsetting and people have to get some enjoyment from somewhere.

In the medium to long term, it is cheaper to put together a home theater for a family than take them to a real movie theater every week. Taking a family of four to the movies costs $50-$100, whereas a decent home theater might cost $1,000. It does not take long to recoup those costs. And it saves you the hassle of travelling there and back, the din and mobile phones during the film and high prices for candy and snacks.

OK, maybe people at the moment are buying cheap packages of home theaters, but one of the first things they will replace when they get a bit of money again will be the speakers, I bet. Evidently, you need a good quality, large screen, but after that, it is the sound and the bulwark to good sound is usually poor speakers.

The most important factor in the design of your home theater is the dimensions of your room. If the room is small, you will not have need of so many speakers. Perhaps three speakers will be sufficient, if the room is small. However, if you only need three speakers and a sub-woofer, get good ones.

If you have a bigger room however, the basic three home theater speakers may not be enough. You may need to put up to six speakers and a sub-woofer around the room. The position of these speakers is up to you and can depend on the shape or and size of the room anyway, but typical layouts are:

3.1 system: one speaker to the left of the screen, one to the right and one underneath it. You can put the sub-woofer on top of the central speaker or at the back of the room. Try it and see.

5.1 system: as 3.1, but with two speakers at the back of the room too.

6.1 system: as 5.1, but with another speaker between the rear speakers, as in the front.

7.1 system: as 6.1, but with two speakers central rear, slightly apart. You can move the existing rear speakers around to the sides too.

This set-up requires a lot of wiring as you can imagine. Now, you could staple the wires to the skirting board, but you should only do that after you are dead sure that you have the speakers in the right places. Or you could hang the speakers on the walls. However, although that sounds good for music, it does not always sound all right for a movie.

The best option is wireless speakers. Wireless speakers can be moved around to suit the number of people watching the film or moved out for cleaning or redecorating purposes. You do not want to bash your nice, new, expensive speakers with the vacuum cleaner, do you?

Owen Jones, the author 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.

There are several video game systems on the market, but if you are looking for a game console that also can be utilized for home theater entertainment, then the right choice has to be the Xbox game console. Very often, it is the case that children will want to play games in the daytime on holidays and before bed during the week, whereas parents will want to watch films at night before going to bed. Therefore, the two age groups need not clash often with their use of the home theater console.

Therefore, if you can get a piece of equipment that fulfills both the roles of playing games and playing films, you can save some money. The Xbox game console fulfills this role, because the Xbox is one of the new generation of video game consoles that can also play films on DVD or whatever disk format.

The Xbox is actually a very hi-tech piece of equipment, something that non-game players might not have realized. It meshes easily with a home theater system because it has wide screen video capability, HDTV screen resolutions and Dolby Digital and DTS sound support, making it a perfect home theater set-up component.

The Xbox is also a good looking piece of equipment, which will match any existing black home theater equipment you may already own. It does not look like just a plastic toy. It was invented by Microsoft and has a powerful, stylish look. The Xbox’s case is black with an X on it and a green Xbox logo similar to a jewel.

The Xbox is essentially a cut-down computer as it has many parts of a personal computer like an Intel processor, NVidia graphic chips and an internal hard drive among others. PC’s are general purpose tools, whereas the Xbox is designed for playing DVD’s in more ways than one. In other words, it is a dedicated computer. It is dedicated to the task of playing DVD’s and it does it very well.

However, it also has four controller sockets in the front of the box for connections and it has an Ethernet socket for multi player games that allows other gamers on the Internet to take part in the game. The Xbox system includes as standard: the controllers with a 9 ft cable, a standard AV cable, and an AC power cord. It also comes with a DVD loading tray and a multi signal audio-video connector for easy connection to televisions and other home theater systems.

The Xbox will transform the way you think about games and how you play them, because it is so committed to making interactive games a reality and as exciting as possible. Games are written especially for it such as the Dead or Alive series and the Halo series too.

However, their are sports games to be had too such as football and Formula 1 motor car racing. The graphics, sound and overall reality are remarkable. Finally, for parents who are worried about what their kids are watching, playing or doing, there are parental controls built into the Xbox.

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

Do you love going to the movie theater and get lost in the realism that their superior sound systems create? If you do, then I bet you are also one of those people who dislikes going there, only to have a potentially wonderful evening ruined by irresponsible people talking through the movie or letting their cell phones ring.

I used to be fond of the movie theater, but that was in the days when people respected the rights of others to listen to a movie in silence. There were no crying babies, ringing mobile phones or noisy youths in cinemas and if they got in they were soon kicked out if there was any row.

Nowadays, cinema managers seem to take the easy route of letting these people spoil it for others. As a result, more and more quiet people are staying at home and the cinemas are getting even noisier. If you are one of the stay-at-homes, but miss the cinema, why not recreate one in your home?

Build yourself a home cinema with surround sound. You will never be sorry for installing surround sound in your home, because you will be able to play your favourite films, the TV and your music through it. The distinction between surround sound and stereo or even quadraphonics is breath-taking.

Different people have different requirements, aspirations, finances and even hearing ability, so it is tricky to recommend a system to a mass audience, but there are strategies for going about the purchase of your own home theater system. A lot of people buy a kit home theater. This is fine, if funds are limited, but you will want to upgrade the screen and the speakers before very long. If you just want to put a home theater in a small spare bedroom and do it quickly and easily, then this method is for you.

If, however, you want a bit more, then you might prefer to get a bigger screen but make do with the speakers that came with the kit. These can easily be upgraded later. If you want to get everything part by part, you will need a screen, speakers and DVD player. If you would like to play games too, replace the DVD player with an Xbox.

But back to the speakers, whether you are renewing or putting your own system together, the strategy I suggest hold true. Write down the dimensions of your room or better still do a little plan of it to scale. Take this around the shops and malls and try to listen to a few installations in a room similar to your own. This could be difficult, but you might be lucky.

Work out whether you need a 3.1; 4.1; 5.1; 6.1 or even 7.1 set of compatible surround sound speakers. Basically, it all depends on the size of your room, but the shop assistant will be able to show and advise you. As a guideline, a 5.1 surround sound set will be sufficient for most rooms. The figures stand for normal speakers and sub-woofers: ie 5.1 means five normal speakers and one sub-woofer.

The arrangement of the speakers depends on the size and shape of the room and on your personal preference, but the standard layout would be: one speaker the far left and far right of the screen and one beneath it with two more speakers a little apart from each other at the rear of the audience. The sub-woofer can go at the front or the rear.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, 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 all began about nine months ago, when my wife and I decided it would be a good idea to remodel our home. It took a lot of talking about because neither of us really wanted to take the project on as we both have active business lives. However, one Sunday afternoon, I took the bull by the horns and started to strip the paper off the walls and the ceiling in the kitchen. My wife soon joined in.

It took us a month to finish it, because we only had Saturday afternoons and Sunday, but we found that we enjoyed the physical work, we both have desk jobs, and we really enjoyed working and planning together. It was a new but pleasing experience for us.

So, on the day we finished, we prepared a special meal and laid the table by the book. After the meal, we sat down to watch a film on TV. But neither of us had been able to do that for a month and we both felt restless. My wife said something like: ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to have another project to do?’ and I reckon we both had the same idea at the same time.

The spare bedroom! Well, our kids had families of their own now, so we actually had three spare bedrooms. We decided to turn one of them into a home theater. Neither of us especially liked watching TV, but we both liked films which are normally ruined by too much advertising.

We went up to the smallest room, but it was too small so, like Goldilocks we went to the next, but ended up in the largest room, so that we could entertain friends or family too. Neither of knew what to do next about the home movie centre, but we knew that we could clear the room out and measure it, which is what we did. All the furniture went into the garage until the charity shop could take it away and we went to the Internet to get assistance.

There was tons of advice on websites and in articles and we soon felt confident enough to take the project on. We transferred the dimensions of the room in scale onto a sheet of paper and drew in where the screen would go and where we would be sitting. The distance left between us and the screen would be about 15 feet.

We had read that the optimum viewing distance is between three times and five times the diameter of the screen, so we could choose a screen between sixty inches and 36 inches. Being in our fifties, we though we would make it easier on our eyes and opted for a forty-eight inch plasma screen.

We ordered that from the Internet. We had also read that the Xbox was a good double as a DVD player and we knew that our grandson was always on about one, so that was next. We were a bit stuck with the speakers, but my brother could help me on that one. We had about a week before our equipment would arrive, so we determined to redecorate in the evenings.

Once complete, we installed all our equipment with my brother’s assistance and we were away. At first we used a couple of sun loungers as seating, but we fairly soon got two beautifully comfortable reclining chairs and two couches for visitors. We may upgrade those later and put in dimmable lighting too, but for now we are very happy with our home movie system and so is our grandson.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, 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.

After you have finished planning the layout of your home theater, the next step is to decide on the accessories. Things like floor covering, lighting, decoration, drapes, and fixtures, like a small fridge, some small tables and seating. If you are planning your home cinema just for yourself, then maybe you can afford to really splash out on a really top end home cinema chair.

After a hard day’s work or exercise, your muscles can become taut, especially in your neck and shoulders. The best way of relieving this is some destressing exercise like yoga or a massage, but most people do not want to take up yoga postures after work, so they would go for a massage.

This is all well and good, but then you would have to shower, get changed and drive down there and sometimes you just can not be bothered. You could phone a massage parlour and have them send someone to your house! That sounds great, but no, you are not going to do that either.

So, why not go for the next best thing. Get yourself an electric massage chair for your home theater? You could kill two birds with one stone. You could spend an hour and a half watching a film, while getting all those aches and pains gently worked away.

A massage chair can never totally replace a masseur or masseuse, but many regular massage parlour goers say that it is a good second best. The point is though, that you can have a soothing massage every day of the week, which some people say is preferable to one heavy massage once a week. You masseur or masseuse right there in your own home cinema willing to work for pennies a massage any time of the day or night and while you are at the movies too! Think of it!

Using an electric massage chair as your home cinema chair (or one of them) is a fantastic idea. While your mind is being taken off your daily troubles and worries, so your body is being relieved of the tensions that have built up there too. You can recline in your home cinema chair and have the head rest massage your neck, while the back rest massages your lumber region, soothing away those aches and pains in a gentle, but efficient manner.

The great majority of these electric massage chairs come with a remote control, so it is very easy to switch cycles on and off or repeat them at will. Some are programmable too, so that you could build up your own massage cycle, once you get used to what your new home cinema massage chair can do.

Imagine having it start at your neck and calves at the same time with the two massage points slowly converging on the small of your back. Or beginning at the small of your back and then radiating up and down your body at the same time. You would need two masseurs to do that and all while you are sitting in your home cinema chair watching a movie.

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