From Robert Silva,
The Painless Way To A Home Theater System
You LOVE going to the movies, but don't always have the time to gather up the family and trek to the local cinema, or are able to shell out the money to pay for the tickets and the popcorn. Thus, you often resort to renting movies at the local video store, but watching them on your 27" TV just doesn't quite cut it. Not only does the picture from your VCR look awful, but the sound is even worse through those 4" speakers in your TV.
You've been hearing a lot about "Home Theater"; your neighbor has this huge big screen TV, DVD Player, powerful surround sound receiver, huge speakers, and a subwoofer that you can "feel" when you are trying to sleep. Your kids are begging you to get a system, just like the neighbors, but your partner is saying "no way" to remodeling the living room to accommodate "all that junk".
So how can you:
1. Keep your movie-going costs down?
2. Improve your TV viewing experience?
3. Please the kids?
4. Satisfy your Partner?
The answer just might be: Home Theater-In-A-Box.
Home theater-in-a-box is becoming quite popular amongst mainstream consumers. These systems are a great introduction to
the fun of home theater.
Here are some benefits:
First: Home theater-in-a-box systems are reasonably priced. Complete systems start as low as $200, but can go as high
$2,000 or more. You will find these home theater systems at just about any consumer electronics retailer, including
Best Buy, Circuit City, and even Wal-Mart
Second: Home theater-in-a-box systems are designed to optimize sound for home theater use more than for music listening.
If you are a serious listener to music from CD, SACD, DVD-Audio, or even Vinyl, you might not be happy with the
performance of most home theater-in-box sytems.
Third: Many home theater-in-a-box systems do not deliver the "clean" power that you might need for a larger room. The specifications may indicate a large wattage output, but you must also consider what distortion levels are present at the system's rated power output. In fact, some of the more expensive home theater-in-box systems may actually deliver better sound, even though they may have a lower power output than a "cheaper" system. For additional information on this issue, refer to my article Power Mad!
Fourth: If you have other devices, such as a VCR, video game console, digital cable or satellite, make sure the system you get has enough auxillary inputs to plug everything in. Most systems have provisions for at least one or two additional audio/video device(s).
The Bottom Line
Depsite the above concerns, at a price range from $200 to $2,000, there is a home theater-in-a-box system available that will fill basic needs for home theater and casual music listening, whether for an apartment, meeting room, or moderately-sized living room. My advice is to check out how the system sounds at a local dealer before making a decision. In addition, make sure you can return the system in a reasonable time if it doesn't fit your listen needs once you try it out at home.
You are taking the first step into the joys of home theater, just remember to get out of the house once-in-a-while!
Don't buy anything without reading the Ten Biggest Mistakes of
Home Theater Shopping
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