Top 5 Tips

For building a better home theatre

Get your seating sorted
Budget wisely
Select your display
Get expert advice
Consider the environment

Get your seating sorted

Seating arrangements play an important role in your home cinema experience. The idea is to feel a comfortable distance from your screen, taking into account the unique proportions of your room. Your seating requirements will also determine the type of system that will work best for you.

As a rough rule of thumb aim to position your seats two times the width of the screen.

Budget wisely

When budgeting for your home theatre, be realistic about your requirements. Will you use the system every day, or just for viewing the occasional home movie or special event? How much would you consider a reasonable investment in technology? How will the system be used in the future? Would you like the system to be networked to a personal computer?

By starting from the end and working backwards, we can help craft a system that gives you the ideal balance between performance and value for money.

Select your display

Your display forms one of the most important parts of your system. A number of options are available, including:

Conventional TV

For: On the up side, most name brands offer genuine quality at a reasonable price.

Against: The down side is your screen size is limited. Maximum available screen size is 86cm (very rare) and the standard size is 76cm – not ideal for a knock out home theatre experience. Conventional TV’s also have other physical restrictions including large depth and weight which can make installation a challenge, especially in smaller rooms.

Plasma

For: Plasma displays offer a number of important benefits including big screen size, impressive appearance in any room and improving picture quality. In addition there are a variety of installation alternatives due to the compact nature of the thin screens. Plasma screens a favoured by many home theatre enthusiasts for a number of reasons including great colour reproduction, impressive video processing capabilities, quality high resolution output and sheer size. If you like an extra large home theatre experience, a plasma screen could be for you.

Against: This technology has some drawbacks. Firstly, there is a big variation in picture quality from model to model. Secondly, they’re not cheap — at least in comparison to conventional television sets, however prices continue to drop so don’t be put off until you check the latest deals. Then there’s the added responsibility of caring for your screen. They’re not exactly eggshells, but you do need to clean them regularly and be careful not to damage them.

LCD

For: An LCD screen offers a bright, impressive appearance in any room along with proven durability. These screens are light, slim and easy to hang on the wall. The best of these slimline televisions are capable of impressive picture performance.

Against: We’d be picking here, but there are a couple of things you should know. Price, size and image quality vary from screen to screen and the response rate of LCD pixels can be somewhat slow causing a slight blurring in fast moving scenes. However, LCD technology has improved dramatically in recent years and pretty soon response speed will catch up. In fact today’s LCD technology is almost on par with plasma technology in all key performance areas.

Projection

For: A quality projection unit still offers an outstanding home cinema experience. The key factors here are size and resolution. Recent advances in technology have allowed big, wide screen pictures to stay crystal clear right to the edges of your screen. The sheer size of your image makes for a thoroughly absorbing experience. For the size and price, a projection unit is worth a look.

Against: You’ll need a very dark room to get the best image. Also, due to the size of your screen, you’ll need to find a place big enough to install it, keeping in mind that you’ll need to keep an adequate distance between your screen and your first row of seats. This is a solution for larger rooms only.

Expert Advice

Select the right amplifier and receiver combination for your home theatre and enhance your home theatre experience.

Amplifiers

There are two types of amplifiers.

Firstly, a two channel amplifier is ideally suited for music. A two channel amplifier plays stereo sound which mirrors the recording format of most CD’s.

Secondly, a multi channel amplifier is best for home theatre. These amplifiers can contain up to seven smaller amplifiers – Thus the term multi channel. The advantage of this system is that a variety of sounds from a DVD or CD can be processed and individually directed to the speaker of your choice. This is just like what happens in the traditional cinema and is called Dolby Digital or digital surround sound.

As a rule of thumb, buy as big and as powerful as you can afford.

Receivers

There are several speaker arrangements used in today’s home theatre systems. These range from simple setups featuring two speakers and one sub woofer, through to more complex systems featuring up to ten speakers and four sub woofers. A lot depends on your system performance requirements and the type of content you will be showing.

For example, do you watch big blockbuster action movies? If you do, deep base sounds would be very important. Or do you prefer drama orientated world movies? For these kinds of movies a strong mid range is important to carry vocal effects. Answers to these questions will assist you in making the right speaker choice.

Environment

If a custom home theatre is at the top of your wish list, but the budget won’t quiet stretch that far, you may consider converting an existing room, such as a living room or a rumpus room, to suit your needs.

Hear the difference

Acoustics play a big part in the selection and positioning of audio and video equipment. The acoustic performance of your system will be influenced by the shape of your room, the number of walls, the height of your ceiling and the amount of glass in the room.

See the light

External light is one of the big killers of an enjoyable home theatre experience. Take the time to assess your chosen room for light conditions. How much light is coming in and how can you control it?

Cable management is vital

If you can plan your cable system in advance, you can bypass a world of cost and confusion. Try to grasp the project with your mind first. Pay careful attention to wall construction and try to plan cabinet purchases and the general appearance of your home theatre in advance so you can plan a cable system to suit.