How to choose a home theater? Buying Tips

Buying a home theater is not easy. After all, it consists not only of a plasma panel or a TV set. It also includes: DVD player, AV receiver, speaker system. In stores they can sell ready-made sets, but it is better to choose each of them separately. In this we now understand.

Plan of the article:

• Location selection
  
• Player selection
  
• Acoustic selection
  
• TV purchase
  

Selecting the location

The first thing to do is to equip the place for the cinema, since it takes up a lot. In addition to the need to arrange all of its components, you need to properly place the audience, so that viewing would bring only pleasure, not discomfort. To do this, you must adhere to several rules.

• The distance from the viewer to the right and left speakers should be approximately the same. The best option is when all the speakers are located on the same distance and the same distance from the viewer.
  
• Spectator places should not be near the wall itself, since rear columns should be behind. They in turn are about at the height of the listener's head or a little higher.
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• It is necessary to decide in advance with the type of columns. They can stand on special racks or shelves. It is also possible to mount them to the wall with brackets. But remember, not all columns can be put close to the wall. If there is a bore hole in the back of the speaker, then leave a gap between the wall and the speaker, otherwise low frequencies will be lost.
  
• Place the subwoofer on the floor. But this is not a fundamental condition.
  

After determining the location, you can safely choose the components of a home theater.

Player selection

The DVD player is the device that plays the video. The more it reproduces the formats, the better. But there must be support for MPEG-2.And do not forget about audio codecs, that would not get into a silent movie session. Now mostly use DTS and Dolby Digital. More expensive models of players support the formats of 6-channel sound Dolby Digital EX and DTS ES.

For easy viewing of the video that is downloaded from the Internet, you need Xvid and DivX support, otherwise you will have to convert, that is, transfer video from one format to another.


DVD recorders - players that are equipped with the function of recording video from the TV screen. Recording can be performed on the built-in hard drive or on a disk.

Blu-ray format. This is the optical media format that is used for recording with increased density and storing digital data in HD format. To play them, you need the player to support this format. But it's worth remembering that this format is relatively new and so the discs with the right movie are much harder to find.

Acoustic selection

This is the most important point when choosing a home theater. It is with her help that you can fully immerse yourself in the world of the film. Consider the main parameters when choosing a speaker system:

• Power. This parameter directly depends on the area of ​​the room. If the area of ​​the room where the home theater will be located does not exceed 20 square meters, then there will be enough power within 50-70 Watt. For placing up to 30 meters square - about 100 watts. If the area exceeds 30 meters square, then the power can reach 150 watts. Be sure to pay attention to how much power is indicated in the instruction. There are 2 types: peak and nominal. So peak - this is the maximum power that a device can reach and it does not always correspond to reality.
  
• Frequency range. This is the frequency range in which the system can play an audio signal. In general, the higher this indicator, the better. But it is worth considering that the limit that the human ear perceives is 20,000 Hertz. The minimum side-chapel is 20 Hertz. If there is a subwoofer in the speaker system, then what will be the minimum chapel is absolutely not important.
  
• Sensitivity. This parameter is measured in decibels. A louder sound will produce columns with high sensitivity( from 94 to 102 decibels).
  

Let's move on to selecting the columns. As already mentioned, they are floor and ceiling. Columns that are placed on the floor, as a rule, have large dimensions. But their advantage is that they allow you to achieve more powerful and deep bass sound. Ceiling columns will be ideal for a small room, since they do not take up much space. And for the reproduction of bass there is a subwoofer. The best solution is the built-in speakers. As a reward for a complex installation, you will get a natural sound.

If each column has its own amplifier, then such a system is called - active. Passive is a system where there is no amplifier and it needs an external amplifier.

The active system has a much higher range of reproduced frequencies, better sound quality and it's much easier to adjust. Of the minuses, it can be noted the need for voltage and a linear signal to each column.

But to create a surround sound it is important not only to get the right speakers, but also to place them correctly in the room.

• Acoustics of the central channel or simply the central column. She reproduces the voice of the translator and the dialogue in a non-duplicated film. Therefore, it should be placed as close as possible to the TV.Better under him or above him. This column should be magnetically shielded so that it does not affect the image quality.
  
• Front speakers are two front speakers. They reproduce sound and musical effects. Therefore, its technical characteristics should be the best. They are installed to the left and right of the TV and, as a rule, no closer than half a meter from it.
  
• Rear speakers - respectively, these are the two rear speakers. They reproduce special sound effects. They put them either on the sides or behind.
  
• The subwoofer is designed to reproduce low frequencies. Perfectly reproduces percussive sounds, such as an explosion, thunder.
  
• Enclosure type. They come in three types: closed, with a bass reflex and with an audio labyrinth. The simplest are models with a closed casing. But the presence of a closed space negatively affects the transmission of low frequencies. Most modern models come with a bass reflex.
  
• Housing material. This can be plastic or wood. The first one is cheaper and requires a resonant sound, which in turn negatively affects the sound. In the case, which is made of wood, this phenomenon manifests itself much less. Therefore, it is much better to use the second material of the case.
  

Buying a TV

It all depends on the size of the purse. The budget option is a TV with a cathode-ray tube, it is affordable and easy to operate. If you want to get the most out of the movie, we suggest buying a liquid crystal or plasma TV.At the same time, the diagonal should be at least 32 inches. For a larger diagonal, you can purchase a projection TV.




Latest recommendations
Do not forget that in the near future the speaker system will become an indispensable design of your interior, so pay special attention to the choice of colors. It is desirable that the columns would be made of wood. In extreme cases - from the EAF.Since the speakers with plastic coating do not provide high-quality sound, with the most dynamic moments. If you decide to purchase a system with a power of over 150 watts, then do not forget about the neighbors. In this case, it will be most reasonable to install a protection from a soundproof material. It will not be superfluous, as it will favorably influence the quality of the sound track.