What to Know Before Buying a Home Theater System?
Updated On July 23, 2021 | by Alex Smith
There are many things to consider when buying a home theater system. There is a lot of information out there, but we want to make sure you know what’s important and what’s not before you buy your next home theater sound system.
Make Sure You Know How to Properly Use the System
If you want to be able to best experience your home theater setup, then make sure that you know how to properly use the system. If not, then spend some time reading your manual so that you can understand what each component does and how they interact with one another.
Ask for a Demonstration of the Sound Quality and Picture Quality Before Making Your Purchase
The demonstration section of retail stores is a great way to demo both sound quality and picture quality. If they’re not demonstrating one in-store that meets your needs, see if another store can provide what you need. Or better yet, find out if any private audio/visual consultants do demonstrations of sound systems and TV equipment.
Read Reviews Online or Ask Friends with Home Theaters About Their Experiences
The best way to know what you’re buying is by reading reviews online or asking friends who have their own sound systems.
We recommend reading online reviews of other customers with experience in buying home theater equipment for both quality and pricing from reputable review websites.
Find Out What Type of System Would Work Best in Your Room, Such as Projector or LCD Screen
The choice depends on the type of presentation or movie you will show or watch most often and your preferences. The key is looking for a system that suits the majority of viewing content.
Projector systems come in all shapes and sizes today, from ultra-compact models to more full-featured professional projectors designed for larger venues with a permanent installation. Professional models are typically some of the best performers in terms of light output levels and contrast performance but they’re also among the more expensive ones. If you’ll be watching television programs on your own personal screen 2-3 hours per week, an LCD flat panel system might suit your needs better as it will offer greater contrast performance than either high brightness LEDs or a projector surface.
The Best Way to Place Your Speakers for Optimal Sound Quality
When buying a home theater sound system, it is important to think about where you want your speakers located. Place the center speaker right above or below your tv, while placing the left and right speakers on each side of the room. If you own a home theatre system, this is where they’ll make the most sense.
The surround sound speakers can be placed anywhere in your room and should fill up to half of the TV’s viewing area. I personally enjoy having these taller than myself which gives off a more theatrical feel to it all.
Figure Out Whether You Want a Wired or Wireless System – Both Have Pros and Cons
A wireless system is good if you need to relocate your speakers for whatever reason. A wiring system is better because a wired speaker will produce clearer sound and one of the most annoying things about wireless systems is when they drop in and out from time to time. Wired connections also don’t have any signal interference issues which could cause static noise on your speaker system. The drawback of a wired system, however, is that it requires drilling holes in walls for the wires where they are being hidden so there are fewer options available than there would be with wireless systems.
