You just got yourself a 50″ HDTV and you’re thinking, man … isn’t life grand?  You never felt so good watching Miss Congeniality on your crisp 1080p display until… you raise the volume.  As good as the picture looks, most tvs have really crappy speakers.  It is time, my friend, to look into getting a home theater system.

Surround Sound Basics
Surround sound can be a very confusing purchase.  Just looking at the specifications can be a daunting task.  Here’s a quick glossary guide that explains some typical terms that you’ll need to know when buying a home theater system.

Receiver – Unit that decodes and amplifies the sound coming out of your speakers.
Satellite Speakers – These are the speakers that are connected to your receiver.  There are actually 3 types of speaker drivers: tweeters, mid-range, and subwoofer.
Tweeter – Produces the high frequency sounds.    Think how Mickey Mouse sounds like.
Subwoofer – Produces low frequency sounds.  Think Barry White.
Mid-Range – Produces all the sounds in between the tweeter and subwoofer.
Surround Channels – This refers to the number of speakers your surround sound system is capable of.  So a 5.1 system supports 5 satellite speakers with an additional subwoofer.  The .1 refers to the subwoofer.
Watts – Refers to the measurement of power that the receiver is capable to produce.  More watts usually equates to a louder sound system.
Ohms – Measures the resistance in the flow of electricity.  The more ohms, the more resistance it will cause.  You want this number to be low.

2.1, 5.1, 7.1?  How many speakers should I get?
First, find what out room will be used to setup the home theater system.  If the setup is going in a small bedroom, a 2.1 stereo setup should be sufficient.  Although a 2.1 system isn’t true surround sound, it’ll still be an upgrade from the standard tv speakers because of the extra bass that the subwoofer provides.  But a 2.1 system won’t really satisfy your needs in a living room setup.

For a living room, 5.1 is the way to go.  5.1 systems consist of 3 speakers in the front, and 2 in the rear.  All of these speakers add an additional layer of immersion for the viewer’s entertainment.  While watching a movie scene taking place in a storm, the surround speakers emit little fine details like rain droplets falling on the roof and the rolling thunder rumbling in the distance.  Sure these sounds can also be heard through the standard tv speakers, but you won’t get the crystal clear sound quality that home theater systems produce.  If you’re an avid gamer, then 5.1 is simply a must.  The surround sound not only makes blowing stuff up sound great, but it also offers players a higher sense of awareness since you can hear anything creeping up from behind.

7.1 systems aren’t really necessary in my opinion.  First off, a lot of the DVDs don’t really take advantage of the the 2 extra sound channels, and there’s not a lot of games that support it either.  I would only go with 7.1 surround for these reasons: 1) Your room is big enough to hold all those speakers.  2)  You’re a total audiophile and want to have everything top of the line.  3) You just have too much money that you need to spend.  Otherwise, 5.1 is more than enough.

Home Theatre In A Box
This is by far the most convenient way to go.  With a home theatre in a box setup (HTIB), everything is covered as it’s pre-bundled with a digital receiver, speakers, and subwoofer.  With a HTIB setup, there are 2 main things to look out for.  First, does the bundled receiver have enough inputs for all your devices?  In other words, make a list of every device that will be plugged into the receiver (i.e. DVD player, Playstation, VCR, etc.) and verify if the receiver will have enough ports for them.  Secondly, what’s the total wattage the receiver is capable of.  In general, look for systems that provide at least 100 Watts per channel.  That means for a 5.1 system, it should be capable of producing at least 500 Watts.

What about HTIB systems that are bundled with a DVD player?  Having a bundled DVD player is convenient since it saves a ton of space.  However, DVD/receiver combos don’t offer as much input options that a normal receiver provides.  Since the DVD player is included, the manufacturer assumes that you won’t need to connect anything else to the receiver, so a lot of the input connections are taken away.  If you don’t plan to connect anything to the receiver, then there’s no harm with getting this setup.  Just make sure to pick one with an upconverterting DVD player that’s compatible with different media formats (i.e. CD-R, CD+R, DivX, WMA, MP3, etc).

HTIB setups can range from $100-$500 for the lower-end models, $500-$1,000 for the mid-end models, and $1,000+ for the high-end models.  Each tier should be considered based on the size of the room.  Based on CNET’s guide, the lower-end models are good for rooms under 200 sq. ft, mid-end models for rooms under 300 sq. ft, and high-end models for rooms over 300 sq. ft.  So if you live in a studio apartment, you really don’t need a decked out $3000 Bose system.  Not only will your neighbors constantly complain, but you won’t be able to crank it up to its full potential.  Likewise, a lower-end system won’t benefit if you’re living in a mansion either.

HTIB systems are great if all you want is simplicity and don’t really care for the details of each component.  However, if you’re a spec-whore and want to customize every inch of the home theater system, then HTIB setups are not for you.  Our next 101 post will focus on custom home theater setups and will cover what to look for in receivers and speakers.  Stay tuned.

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