Best Home Theater Systems
Good Home Theatre Design Enhances Viewing Pleasure
What many people do not realise when deciding to build or add on a home theatre, is that a home theatre design reflects your personality as well as audio and visual preferences, so is not simply a case of purchasing a television, speakers, and chairs and just sticking them anywhere.
Firstly, the priority lies with choosing your equipment. After all, you cannot plan your home theatre design specifications if you do not have any measurements with which to work. In this situation, it pays to do your research. Find out which brands seem to offer better quality and value, read reviews in magazines, and check out ratings on the internet.
It is also important to be realistic and differentiate between what you want to have and what you can have. For example, you may want a 60-inch plasma screen, however both your budget and your space restraints may only allow for a 45-inch screen.
It is therefore, important to make a list of what you need – as well as what you can afford - before you draw up your home theatre design, and stick to it.
Once you have decided upon your home theatre equipment, you can choose the chairs. There is a huge range available, most with additional features such as built-in footrest or cup holders. However as the width and length of the chairs available varies greatly, it will impact considerably on your home theatre design if they are too big or you are forced to put them too close to your television screen.
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In order to avoid this, one good idea is to map out your home theatre design on the floor, full-scale, before you actually build it. By outlining the space an item will occupy, usually with tape or a pen, you can get a better idea of how much room you will need, and more importantly, how much space will be left over.
Another consideration of your home theatre design is the acoustics of the room planned for it, in terms of both outside noise penetration, internal noise, and its impact inside and outside of the home theatre.
It is easy enough, though not always cheap, to soundproof an area from traffic noise, trains or aeroplanes, or even children's screams from a school playground. Usually, a more difficult task is accommodating the internal noises such as the cooling fans of a projector, or a blender mixing cocktails.
The effect of loud noise is not the only concern either. Vibrations from equipment can disrupt households just as easily. In order to avoid this, a “floating floor” is usually recommended, where a false floor is raised slightly from the original floor. Although many people do try to construct their home theatres themselves, it is much wiser to consult a professional who has both experience and knowledge regarding the spatial and practical aspects of building one.
Spending money on the advice of an expert may seem like an unnecessary luxury, however it does guarantee that you will end up with exactly what you want from your home theatre design - on paper and in reality.