What is Home Theater? Simply put, home theater is the integration of high quality video and sound. As with most types of technology, there are many levels of sophistication that can be reached with home theater. However, the range of products and prices available today makes home theater an obtainable goal for the majority of audio/video enthusiasts.

No matter what the end goal - impress your Monday Night Football friends or look like a rock star - every home theater has five basic components: surround sound, video display, source components, cables, and furniture.

1. Surround Sound. Imagine popping in a DVD and immediately feeling like you've jumped into the world behind your television screen. Surround sound does this - blurring the line between reality and make believe - seating you in the Jurassic Park Jeep as heavy thuds from the T-Rex thump closer and closer behind you. What kind of equipment does it take to have this type of all-engrossing AV experience, to hear helicopters swirl around your head and the sirens whirl to your right and left in the midst of a bang-em up car chase? To get all this (along with the rat-a-tat-tat of the rain falling in your favorite love scene), you will need the following basic components:

Loudspeakers - unlike the typical "stereo system" which places two speakers in front of the listener, a surround sound system includes five to seven speakers, three in front and two to four speakers located to the rear or side of the listener. To add low-bass frequencies, home theaters include one to four subwoofers.

Audio/video (A/V) Receiver - the A/V receiver receives signals from television shows, DVDs and other source components and separates them for use by the front, side and rear speakers in your surround sound system.

Selection and placement of your surround sound equipment is the key to a great sounding home theater. For more on surround sound, our services and product lines >> click here

2. Video Displays. Surround sound lets you hear the action, now you need to see it. There are basically five video display options for today's home theaters:

Direct View Television: direct view television sets are standard televisions, seen everywhere from sports bars to your Aunt Helen's house, that use cathode-ray tubes (CRT) to create an image. Direct view televisions are perfectly suitable for home theater purposes - but, a 27" screen (measured diagonally across the screen) is generally considered the starting point for home theaters. Given the importance of quality in home theater, it is also important to buy a high-definition television (HDTV) or high-definition compatible or upgradeable television.

Rear Projection Television: rear projection televisions, which project an image using mirrors onto the screen, have come a long way in recent years. Rear projection televisions offer the advantage of size over the direct view television (uncustomized models are available up to 80") but may not provide the same image quality.

Front Projectors: front projectors offer the best of both direct view and rear projection worlds in terms of image size and quality. Front projection televisions are located in front of a film screen, projecting an image directly onto the screen. There are several types of front projection technology available to the home theater owner; however, projectors using Digital Light Processing (DLP) technology, such as SharpVision and Infocus, provide brighter and lower maintenance solutions than CRT projectors.

LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays): Some of the most recent innovations to hit the market are based on LCD technology. Once relegated to the world of watches and computer screens, LCD technology has been used recently to design several HD compatible midsize televisions. While choice in the LCD market is still limited, we expect further progress and more great LCD products in the future.

Plasma Television: plasma televisions are a favorite for the modern, design-conscious home theater owner who may be unwilling or unable to commit an entire room to a theater. As plasma technology matures, price breaks are making the higher resolution plasma televisions increasingly popular.

The quality difference between similarly priced televisions and projectors is often unbelievable. >> Click here to learn more about the video display options we recommend and the product lines we carry, including DLP projectors and screens.

3. Source Components. A great sounding system and a killer display won't get you anywhere without something to watch. Today's home theater owners skip the VHS tapes and go straight for the best looking and sounding source components, DVD players, Digital Satellite Systems and HDTV signals.

Want to watch a foreign language channel or see your favorite out-of-town sports team? If so, having the right satellite system will make all the difference. >> Click here to learn about our satellite installation services, as well as our DVD and HDTV product lines.

4. Cables. Two home theater owners can have the same television, same speakers and receiver, same DVD player but have systems that sound and look worlds apart - all because of different quality or improperly run cables. High quality cables are made from specially prepared materials that minimize their influence on signals sent from source components to video display or surround sound equipment. Having the right type of cables and interlinking your components properly will limit the degradation of sound and video quality in your theater.

We carry a full line of high quality cables and can help you set up and interlink your components properly. To learn more about cables and the right cables for your system >> click here.

5. Furniture. Want to look high tech or at least organized? Racks and stands specially designed for home theater equipment can do both while also helping to ventilate your system. Ventilation is especially important as closed cabinets and other poorly designed AV furniture can result in components overheating during the best (i.e. the loudest) parts of your movie or television show.

Seating: Looks great..sounds great, but you're sitting on hand me downs from the living room? The home theater owner now has a multitude of seating options from full couch-style to comfortable love seats and individual movie chair thrones. But don't think seating is just about style.seating placement and design, including elevated platform seating, are also critical to sound quality.

Make sure your furniture adds to and doesn't subtract from the experience - >> click here to see some of the best home theater racks and seating options on the market today.

Still have questions about what you need for your home theater? Contact us to discuss how your home theater dreams can become a reality.
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