Home Theater Sound

For your home theater sound you will want home theater seating and a setup that is a multi-speaker sound system that will deliver a jaw-dropping, theater-quality sound to your living room and often to your neighbor's living room if played loud enough! You will want a surround sound system so you will be able to hear explosions and other loud audio effects from your movies and you'll want an audio system good enough so that you feel those sounds in your bones! Also you will want your sound experience to have directional audio so that if someone is yelling off screen, you'll hear that audio from a speaker behind you so you'll feel very involved in the movie's sound and environment!

The most popular furniture and affordable surround sound setups use Dolby 5.1 audio technology. The "5" stands for the number of speakers in the setup, and the ".1" refers to the presence of a subwoofer or speaker like device that produces low-frequency audio. This is typically the deep bass sounds that you can often feel when you’re watching movies like Star Wars with big engine and explosive sounds! Finally, the system's speakers and subwoofer are accompanied by an audio receiver, which is like the brain of the audio system. When you play a movie, your DVD player passes the DVD's audio signal to the speaker system's audio receiver, and the receiver decides how to split all the audio information to the various speakers.

When buying your sounds system, again, there are so many options and different kinds of products available. You can buy each piece separately or you can buy it in an all-in-one package that contains all the needed elements in one box and ready to go. The main difference that distinguishes your entry-level system from more costly options is the receiver's wattage output, which dictates how loud your system can play. In addition, a more expensive sounds system will have better speaker quality, which is the speaker's ability to reproduce subtle sounds that enhance your movie-viewing experience. So finding the happy middle ground between price and performance will be up to you in your search for your sound system.

Now that you have your audio system, it is now time to set up your surround Sound! The most important step in setting up a surround-sound system is speaker placement. Each speaker does a specific job and should be positioned in a particular spot in your "theater" relative to where you'll be sitting. For example, to position each speaker of a 5.1 home theater system you will need a center speaker which is the speaker that handles most movie dialogue, and should be placed directly in front of the viewers and at about ear level. Next left and right speakers tend to handle the bulk of a movie's non-dialogue sound, and should be placed at an angle from where you'll be sitting, again at ear level. These are typically smaller speakers and handle directional audio like effects that should seem like they're coming from a specific place in the movie.  With your Subwoofer, it should be placed on the floor. Positioning isn't so important with a subwoofer, because its bass audio is non-directional.

Place each of these speakers as best as you can and if existing office furniture won't let you put a speaker in the ideal spot, you can make small adjustments. Keep in mind that moving speakers even a few inches can subtly change the audio experience. Also, keep in mind that some rooms are better suited for surround sound than others. Big rooms with bare hardwood floors can create unwanted echoes, whereas rooms with carpeting, rugs, drapes, or lots of plush furniture are well-suited for audio. Once you have your speakers positioned, you'll need to connect all your audio components together. You can typically do this with the speaker wire that shipped with your sound system. Just plug one end of a wire into a speaker, and the other end of the wire into its corresponding jack or port on the surround-sound receiver. Repeat this process for each speaker. In general, higher-quality connectors can improve your sound experience.

Finally, you'll need to plug your sound receiver into your DVD player using a digital fiber-optic cable. Now you can power up your sound system, put in a DVD, sit back, and enjoy the show!

Room Lighting

One of the biggest advantages to a home theater room is the advantage of light control. Most home theaters have very little light leakage and sometimes no windows at all. Controlled lighting has a profound impact on the performance of your projector and the quality of your screen's picture that will wow your audience.

Choosing Your Home Theater Seating/Furniture

A great home theater requires a comfortable seat like a leather recliner. Home theater seating can be one of the most important but overlooked elements in your entertainment space. A comfortable seat for two to three hours of viewing is essential to your home entertainment enjoyment. Comfortable seating can provide a better experience while uncomfortable seating will yield unpleasant experiences, no matter how well the audio, video and other elements.

There are many types of seating, from traditional theater chairs to recliners to just a plain sofa. Your pieces should be designed specifically for home theaters and media rooms and come in leather or fabrics and colors of your choice. Some companies also offer different grades of leather. Many chairs feature cup holders. Some even have hidden cup holders that pop out from the front of the seat or from beneath a sliding panel in the arm. Lounger seats often have motorized controls to allow your upper body to recline and your feet to be raised. Manual recliners have levers and are less expensive, though they don’t offer the range of settings as motorized chairs do. If you have two or more rows of seating, keep the back row in mind. With your home theater seating it is important to think about the layout. Some seats can be coupled with shared armrests to build entire rows of recliners! Also, check for options like storage compartments and swiveling tables like the ones that come out of the armrests.

Conclusion

The home theater experience can be a great one for your living room furniture and these days you can build your own home theater at a reasonable price. If you're a true movie/entertainment lover, there's nothing better than to build a theater of your own, right in your living room! From the TV, video system, audio system, lighting system, and to the furniture, all play a unique and key role in making your home theater experience a great one! With so many options to choose from there is sure to be a perfect combination of all the components that will fit your unique room and make your home theater experience a great one!