What home theater systems should I look at?
I’m starting to look at my own home theater system for my room because I want surround sound. I don’t know what I should look at though. I want a 4.1 or 5.1….And I just want the speakers/subwoofer, no DVD or Blu-ray player with it. What I don’t understand is whether I need floor speakers or just the smaller ones for my room. And where do you position the 4 or 5 speakers if they are all small ones?
Please help, I’m very new to this.
Well, what size is your room?
If it is small – medium, then floor standers may be too much…although, they do relieve the need of a subwoofer to some extent unless you want room-shaking-bass.
Many bookshelf speakers these days are sufficient – and able to fill even a large room full of sound- you do need a sub to assist.
Usually, receivers power 5- 7 satellites… This includes a centre channel- which usually handles most of the vocals. All DVD or bluray movies are recorded in Dolby digital or dts: 5.1 or 7.1 formats… Which means that your 4.1 system option is incompatible and would have to do a conversion for it to work.
This is why 5.1 / 7.1 systems are more abundant vs. 4.1 (which I’ve only seen in computer gaming systems).
As far as positioning…
Any 5.1 or 7.1 system that is sold would give placement instructions… And some supply also an auto-calibration mic and module.
Hope this helps!
June 16th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
Well, what size is your room?
If it is small – medium, then floor standers may be too much…although, they do relieve the need of a subwoofer to some extent unless you want room-shaking-bass.
Many bookshelf speakers these days are sufficient – and able to fill even a large room full of sound- you do need a sub to assist.
Usually, receivers power 5- 7 satellites… This includes a centre channel- which usually handles most of the vocals. All DVD or bluray movies are recorded in Dolby digital or dts: 5.1 or 7.1 formats… Which means that your 4.1 system option is incompatible and would have to do a conversion for it to work.
This is why 5.1 / 7.1 systems are more abundant vs. 4.1 (which I’ve only seen in computer gaming systems).
As far as positioning…
Any 5.1 or 7.1 system that is sold would give placement instructions… And some supply also an auto-calibration mic and module.
Hope this helps!
References :
June 16th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
Small room needs small speakers because space is a premium. If you do indeed have a small room, then a compact stereo system is the order of the day. The idea is to have one subwoofer for strong bass notes, and small speakers positioned in the four corners of the room. If you have an ipod, this should factor into the equation. What I am going suggest is not surround sound proper, but I believe it is probably one of your best choices.
I like the ideas of Audioengine speakers A5 series. Recently, I learned its possible to plug in your ipod, plug in one of the speakers to a wall outlet and presto you are up and at it. A subwoofer can be purchased with the unit. It has the compact size for a bedroom, for instance. While I have not heard these speakers, they are widely acclaimed for great build and sound quality. If you read the link below, this can be your home theater system. You get a lot for the money.
The second link is how to set up a broader home theater system. The last link is the so called best home theatre systems under $399 with specifics.
Best.
References :
http://www.audioengineusa.com/a5_home.php
http://hometheater.about.com/od/beforeyoubuy/ht/htbasicsetup.htm
http://hometheater.about.com/od/avreceiversreviews/tp/budgetreceiver.htm