How to Buy a Home Theater

From LoveToKnow Buy

Home theaters have become increasingly popular ways to watch movies and television. You can go all-out and get gigantic televisions or projectors, or keep it simple with a good DVD player and television. These steps will help you chose a home theater that meets your needs.

Tips on buying a home theater

First, realize that home theaters can range from elaborate rooms with large screens and rows of seats to simply having a nice television connected to great speakers. While home theaters have basic components such as screens, DVD players and surround sound speakers, there are many ways in which to configure a specific home theater. One of the best ways to decide which style or brand of components you want is to try out the systems owned by friends or coworkers. They can advise you on what features to include.
Since you have many options in creating your home theater, it is best to begin with a budget. Decide how much you want to spend. You can decide to buy a home theater-in-a-box for $200 to $300, or you can spend several thousand dollars. And there are many options in-between. If you know what you want to spend, you won’t waste time and effort shopping for home theaters that are not in your budget.
A home theater-in-a-box is simply a set of surround sound speakers, a DVD/CD player and the cables to attach them to your existing television. Home theater-in-a-box is a good place to start for people who do not want to spend a lot of money and who are new to home theater systems. Remember, however, that these systems do not deliver sound as well as more expensive ones.
Buying home theater components off the shelf is not as difficult as it seems. With your budget in mind, choose the components you need. For a screen, check out the largest screen you can afford. After all, you are trying to recreate a theater experience. Most other home theater components are compatible with plasma screens, flat panels and HDTV. If you have the space and the money, you can also install an actual screen and show movies with a front or rear projection system.
You will also want a DVD player, and perhaps a DVD recorder. Many people include CD players in their home theater systems as well, since they already have the great speakers for listening to music.
Surround sound speaker systems are vital to any home theater. Surround sound brings out all of the details of a movie soundtrack and delivers them to you with clarity. Speakers and subwoofers are vital to true enjoyment of a home theater, so be sure to test them out at an electronics store. Also, ask about the return policy before you buy in case the speakers do not sound as good in your home as they did in the store.

Caution

If you buy a home theater-in-a-box, you want to make sure that it is compatible with the television you currently own. The cables that come with the system must be able to connect to the outlets on the television in order for the system to work.