For awhile my home theater cravings fell by the wayside, partly because it was old, took up WAY too much space and never really was all that functional. But ever since I got my Xbox 360 for Christmas, (thanks, Mom) I really turned over a new leaf. The Xbox 360 is your 1 stop next-gen gaming system that can only be complemented by a next-gen home theater. Don’t know where to start? Here’s a great guide to building an awesome home theater system on the cheap:
First you need a good quality screen. It goes without saying that this will be the center of your system. You can purchase many types of HDTV’s, but when looking to buy, remember that most LCD and Plasma screens only have a half life of about 10 years, and once they die out, they can’t be replaced. Make sure you’re not buying into the hype TOO much, and that you’re not buying a screen expecting it to last until you’re old and gray. Contrast ratio is very important too. That puts the HD in HDTV. You shouldn’t accept anything less than 1000:1 or it just won’t look right.
Next in line, is the audio. Sound is very important to immerse you into the experience of the game or movie. Have you ever gone to the movies and looked up at the speakers on the ceiling? The sound that’s supposed to come from behind you, lets say a train moving by, should progressively move from back to front if the audio is set up correctly. To set up your surround sound you need 5 speakers — 2 in the front, 1 in the center and 2 in the back. And, if you want to be super cool and stay on good terms with your spouse, you can order Logitech’s Z-5450 wireless speaker system (www.logitech.com $500), that’ll keep your living room looking neat and your spouse from trying to match the décor with the big black wires running across your floor. That’s what we call “spouse approved.”
Keep in mind that when you’re viewing movies and you want HD quality you need to get an HD DVD player. You can usually pick one of these up for about 100 bucks. Standard DVD viewing plays at a rate of 480p which means that you’re looking at 480 lines per second on your display. Most HD content is at least 720p or 1080p, which means you can see about 2 or 3 times more resolution than the standard DVDs.
That should get you started on a pretty awesome home theater system for your pad. Remember to get quality cables — I recommend Monster cables, and they have to be gold plated. Higher quality cables produce a cleaner more reliable signal. You wouldn’t put low-grade gas in your Corvette, would you?
Jonathan Masker is a wireless solution expert and is a self proclaimed gadget guru.