Home theatre systems have come a long way from the days of placing two huge speakers on either side of your television and listening to records while watching Saturday Night Fever on your VCR and television. These days there are as many ways to design a home theatre system as there are customers to buy them.
“The basics of the home entertainment system haven’t changed much in the last 15 years or so. What have changed are people’s tastes and priorities,” explains Adam Bowden of Bose Home Theatre. “Fifteen to 20 years ago a home entertainment system meant music. People would spend hours in stores and bring in a variety of music and listen to the various speakers before selecting a unit to buy. Today a home entertainment system is a visual experience focused on movies, and people make decisions based on aesthetics, under the assumption (and rightly so) that the sound will be exceptional. They will purchase a home theatre system that is visually appealing and assume that the sound will be appealing as well.”
“Prices are falling on flat panel televisions and the quality is going up so more people are incorporating bigger flat panels and surround sound into their home theatre system design,” says Joe Strang, President of Show Case Home Theatres in Alberta. “The other big thing is the all-in-one touch pad controls.”
The price of a home theatre system depends on how seriously you take your entertainment needs. According to Strang, you can buy a “big box” system for $5,000. But to really get the whole experience, he recommends having a custom system installed.
“You have to start with speakers, remote control, and flat panel all installed and you can do that for about $9, 000,” he says.
But if money’s no object then there’s no end of fun to be had. “We’ve done media rooms that are $500,000 for one room. For that you get projectors that have better than movie theatre quality, sound so good that when someone’s whispering on screen it feels like they’re whispering in your ear.”
Some homeowners go for the total theatre experience and have custom theatre seating installed in their media rooms, with one-touch remote controls in the arm of each chair, massage units and heated seats.
“We’ve even put motion in the seats so that when there’s motion in the movie you feel it in your seat,” he says. “And I don’t mean it just vibrates…it actually moves.”
Other options for your home theatre system include custom draperies, acoustic paint, and sound-proofing. This may seem like overkill but Strang says that most homes over $700,000 now come with a media room or dedicated home theatre room.
“I find that we usually install home theatre systems that are about 10 per cent of the value of the home, not just in the home theatre room but throughout the house, multi-room sound, lighting, automation and such. So for a $1.5 million home, you’re looking at $150,000 worth of home entertainment equipment.”
By: Amy Bostock
Posts Tagged ‘Home Entertainment System’
Lights, Camera, Action – Building the Perfect Home Theatre System
March 8th, 2010Home Theater Video
February 7th, 2010
Today, the possibilities for building a home entertainment system are nearly inexhaustible. Different variations and combinations of high-tech components allow viewers to re-create the movie theater experience in their own living rooms. Consumers have a world of equipment to choose from. With so many options available, it’s best to have a little information prior to purchase.
Next to audio capability, the most important element in home theater, is, of course, video. Large-screen direct-view televisions are an affordable way to go. However, if you’re looking to invest in a fancier model, front-projection and rear-projection sets are also available.
Direct-view sets are conventional TVs, the kind most viewers know well. They have cathode ray tubes and a phosphor coated screen. The tube restricts the size of this kind of TV. In fact, the largest direct-view TV on the market has a screen of 40 inches. Image contrast is an important factor to consider when comparing direct-view TVs. If the set has a darker screen, you’ll get a superior picture. This is because the contrast between light and dark will be more pronounced. Sets with flatter screens also provide a better picture, because distortion and glare are minimized. A direct-view set can be purchased for about $300.
Viewers interested in larger screens should consider purchasing a projection television. Because projection TVs don’t employ cathode ray tubes, there are no limitations with these models where size is concerned. These TV use projection screens, and they produce a picture through the use of three cathode ray tubes. The tubes divide the video signal into colors (red, blue, and green). The three tubes project onto a mirror in the set. The mirror then sends the color image onto the screen. Shoppers can purchase rear-projection models with 45-inch screens for about $1500.
A front-projection TV functions in a manner similar to a rear-projection set. A front-projection set is somewhat like a film projector, though. The operating system of the set is not stored in a traditional TV case. Instead, the TVs cathode ray tubes are kept in a single unit. The TV image is projected onto a fabric screen, which means that there is almost no limitation on screen size. 200-inch screens are available. Projection TVs can be hard to set up, and they work best in a darkened room. They must be installed at the proper distance from the screen, and the cathode ray tubes have to be set up properly. Viewers who are considering the purchase of a front-projection set should keep in mind that these TVs are designed to operate in a designated home theater space rather than a den or living room. Front-projection sets cost around $7,000.
By: Julia Hall
Home Theater Receiver Reviews
January 13th, 2010
The brain of a surround sound system is the receiver, which delivers surround sound systems, amplifiers and changing capabilities. The receiver is one of the important parts of a surround sound system because there are a lot of devices that connect to it, as well as all kinds of audio equipment like speakers, TV, VCR, CD players, DVD players, disco light and many more.
The receivers also tend to lose key audio parts that are no longer in use by the people which is “old” now like tape monitors and phono inputs. I would say Sony is one of the top selling brand names and here are other quality brand names; Kenwood, Panasonic, Pioneer, JVC, Onkyo, Yamaha, Denon and RCA. I don’t know if you have noticed that all the different receiver models are now digital. Most people are more than impressed with these receivers with a flawless combination and system that eliminates all most all of the feedback and noise that passes through your surround sound system.
Here are a few tips on finding the right receiver for your home entertainment system. If you buy almost any receiver today it must have DTS (Digital true Surround) and it should be able to handle surround sound systems, what that means is that the sound coming out of your surround sound system will sound more practical to you than the monophonic option.
With the multi channel outputs you get the occasion to widen your sound to different speakers in you entertainment room and set their volumes each at a different level. By doing that you get what you call DTS (Digital Tue Surround) were you can literally hear all the different sounds approaching you from all the different speakers, angles and directions.
As for monophonic sound you can only widen one indicator to all the different channels evenly. Before you buy a receiver you should do some research on them first by finding out if the receiver that you want to buy will be compatible with your surround sound system, what that means is that you should check if your DSTV, DVD, TV, CD player and mp3 player will be able to connect in the receiver and it should deliver sound, otherwise you will have a problem.
By making your receiver that you bought the main brain of your surround sound system you will be able to manage between all the different audio/video components that you have by only using only one remote for all the components and you only have to press one button to select them.
There are a very big variety of receivers to buy you should search online for one that you like and that it do what you want it to do. If you bought one of the top brand receivers you should be able use your new receiver for all your different components in your home and send signals any place in your house without interruptions.
These receivers are great they can use multiple components at the same time so you could be watching a DVD and your children can watch a cartoon on another TV in the house and there can play a song in one of the other rooms isn’t that great. Just a last piece of advice before purchasing your receiver make sure to ask about the receivers warranty just to be save in case something happens to the receiver.
By: Abel Konel
