Home Theatre Surround Sound Basics
The Place To Start!

Surround Sound Basics
What It All Boils Down To!

It's great that there is a ton of different types of surround sound system equipment you can purchase to create an ultimate home theater surround sound system. The problem is that "There Is A Ton Of Different Types Of Surround Sound Equipment" for you to create you home theatre system. So how in the world do you sort it all out? Start here and start thinking about what you'll need on our Home Theatre Surround Sound Basics page.

This is the most important thing to do before even looking at your first surround sound system is to come up with your budget. If you don't do that and go to your local electronics store, more than likely things will start to add up and before you know it you'll pay much more than you wanted and feel disgusted.

Depending on the brand and where you buy your system components and whether it's a total box system or bought separately or new and used you can expect to pay more than $200 and up, way up for the top of the line systems.

But don't get discouraged the right system is out there for you, just start with a budget and work within it to come up with the perfect system for your favorite room in your home.

Whether you believe it or not room size and shape does come into play when thinking of the type of surround sound system to purchase. If you have a small room or are placing the system in your bedroom for example you won't want huge speakers taking up corner space and it'll just be too loud. You'd be better off with a compact system with in-wall speakers or ceiling /wall mounted surround sound speakers.

If you're adding home theatre surround sound to your basement game room then you're talking about something totally different. You'll need speakers loud enough to reach out from the corners and to cut through the noise that a home game room has. You don't want to blast it but you want to hear it in surround sound.

Also carpet, curtains, hollow walls and more could all affect the sound quality in your room. So remember what you hear in the store won't be what you'll hear in your home.

This is what you'll need to make the whole thing work like you want it too. The type of surround sound receiver you purchase will have an effect and even dictate how you'll set up your whole system.

And basically how it works is that the more you spend the more bells and whistles you'll get. Honestly you probably won't use everything they give you but there are a few biggies to consider like inputs and outputs.

You'll want to make sure there are enough inputs to handle all your equipment. From DVD and VCR players to your TV and Surround Sound Sony Play Station 2 you may have a ton of equipment you want to hook up in surround sound. And the only way to do that is to have enough inputs/outputs to put your whole system together.

Is it HDTV compatible? This is important to many people now days to get the best out of your system.

Does it have a universal remote? Makes operating your whole system easy.

Make sure you know how many channels it handles. Is it DTS/Dolby Digital 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1-surround sound setup? This basically means how many speakers do you want placed around the room. For example 5.1 simply means there are 5 speakers and 1 subwoofer (1 center front), (front left, front right), (rear left, rear right) speakers.

How many watts per channel does it handle? You'll want more wattage for the bigger rooms to get clearer sound at louder levels. Is it 75 watts, 100 watts per channel etc.

These are some of the basics when looking into your surround sound receiver, make a list of what you'll want in your surround sound receiver before heading out the door.

There is a TON of different speakers and speaker systems for you to purchase when creating your own home theater system. You can go separate or buy your system in a box that comes with everything you need.

A good thing about buying the boxed theater system set is that all the speakers are from the same manufacturer and should work in harmony when placed correctly around your room. This really makes setting up a home theater system easy and it's great for someone who wants a simple set up and still have a nice sounding theater system in his or her home.

And again remember that it also depends on the size of your room on which types of speakers to buy. The larger the room the larger the speakers you'll need. You won't want satellite speakers in a large room. Also price usually plays a role, if you go cheap the sound won't be as good as one priced a little more. Also brand is important, a top named brand is almost always your best bet if you want the best sound. Still some lesser systems really perform great, ask around, do your research and you'll find exactly what you'll need without breaking the bank.

The subwoofer is what really puts you in the movie. When you see those movies with airplanes flying above or tanks rumbling, the subwoofer is what makes you feel as if you're right there. They give you the low bass sounds you feel when you're at the theater.

If it's placed close enough to your sitting area you can sometimes feel the rumble as the tank goes by. Also the sound from a subwoofer is non-directional so you can place them just about anywhere from behind your sitting area to in front by your TV.

Try to keep in mind the type of home theater surround sound system you want to create. Write it all down on paper. It's even a better idea to draw out your room on paper and mark where you'll place the speakers and whether you want them wall mounted or free standing in the corners.

The reason to do all this is because you'll need wall mounts, screws, cables, wires and a lot of other doodads you may forget if you otherwise don't write them down. It'll be a hassle to run down to the store every 30 minutes to get something else to get the system functioning as you'd like.

So ask the sales person about everything you'll need. Measure the distances between speakers for how much wire you'll need, unless you're going wireless of course.

It's rare that anyone gets everything they need the first time, the point it to cut down on the amount of time you'll waste going back and forth.

These are the Home Theatre Surround Sound Basics to get you started. Hopefully you have an idea of what you want, so now all you need to do is shop, compare and listen. Sometimes it's also a good idea to bring your favorite DVD or CD to the store and pop it in to hear how it sounds on the system you're thinking of buying too. But don’t forget, what you hear in the store will always be different than what you hear at home.

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