Home Theater Buying Guide

If you want to get that full cinema experience in your own home you may be considering purchasing a home theater system. But where do you start? It can help to begin by posing a series of questions aimed at uncovering your requirements.

Q. What kind of home theater do I need?
A. Perhaps you want a completehome theater in a box or you might want to build your own. If you're building your own you may want to use existing devicesor you might want to buy everything new.
Q. What kind of screenor TVdo I want?
A. Depending on how largea screen you want, and how important picture qualityis to you, you may want a Plasma, LCDor CRTscreen. You will need to determine whether you want to have your TV screen on a stand, attached to a wall or hanging from the ceiling.
Q. How important is sound qualityto me?
A. Maybe you want a complete state-of-the-artsurround soundsystem, and have a designated entertainment room. Perhaps you just want one that's an improvement on the current capabilities of your TV, and which will fit in to your existing space. You will also need to consider the acoustics in the room. Rooms with a lot of glass or floorboards tend to distort sound quality.
Q. What will I use a home theater for?
A. Perhaps you will simply watch TV or movies on your home theater or use it to play musicand games. If you wantto hook it up to your PC, you will have to look at compatibility issues.

Now, consider this overview of home theater features in light of your needs:

• Type - Home theater in a box, self-built from individually selected components; home theater in a box systems offer convenience and come complete, ready to install but don't offer flexibility when choosing components.
• Speakers - Floor-standing, or wall-mountable; there are usually a set of 5 or 7 speakers and a sub-woofer.
• Receiver - The heart of the system. Consider channel number, power output and supported sound formats.
• Compatibility - HDMI, DVI, optical or co-axial audio; consider compatibility with any existing audio-visual equipment including cameras and game consoles.

The receiveris the center of any great home theater system. It is what everything is connected to; the speakers, the CD player, the DVD player, the VCR, turntable and the cassette player - basically every component you have is first plugged into your receiver. Make sure it has the correct number of channels and the number and type of connections you require. You want at least as many channels as there are speakers. And you need at least as many connections on the back of your receiver as you have components.

Tip: Don't assume the components and speakers you currently own will work seamlessly with your new home theater system. Carefully compare the requirements and formatting of each piece in your system.

For everything you need to know about buying the right Home Theater System go to Buyz123.com: Home Theater Buying Guide

Richard Block is the webmaster for Buyz123.com and has written and edited hundreds of their buying guides.

Renovating The Exterior