Home Theater Essential Components

Ever dream of having a private screening room in your own home? With the innovations today in electronics and design, it's becoming more affordable for anyone to have a fabulous home theater.

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Tom Stone explains the essential components of a home theater.

For the most part, a bit screen TV (anything from 30 to 65 inches) is where the home theater starts. Once the television size is decided, the question is whether it will have HDTV (high-definition television) capability or not. HDTV provides a much sharper and brighter image. The speaker assembly is next, which involves centering the television on the wall and putting speakers on the left, right and in the center. Those are then augmented by two rear channel speakers. Those five speakers plus a subwoofer to put out deep base make up the components of a surround-sound system. A $2,000 budget is good for an entry-level system such as this.

The next level up in home theaters is a dedicated theater space, which allows you to do many different things. The biggest difference is the picture that comes from a projector on the ceiling that can throw up to a 10-foot image. It's everything a surround-sound system is but on a much bigger scale.

Stone thinks home theaters are popular because families love that they can spend time together doing something they enjoy right in their own home.

If money is no object, get a 10-foot screen with speakers mounted directly behind the screen and tiered seating (just like at the movies).

Finally, stick with your old TV to get your home theater. If it's no more than 10 years old, current tapes and DVDs will actually look better on your old set since the video technology hasn't quite caught up with HDTV. To really enhance the home theater experience, make an investment in speakers first.

light-up frame (eBay)
miniature popcorn machine (www.cooking.com)