Setting Up a Home Theater in your Living Room

How to set up a system you and your family will enjoy!

Setting up a home theater takes some planning and attention to the acoustics and lighting conditions of the room. Even the best television and stereo equipment will fail to produce the desired results if there is inadequate light-blocking and reflective surfaces.

The best home theatres are rooms constructed for the specific purpose. More often than not, however, homeowners modify their living room. Though this may not be quite as tailored an environment as a purpose-built room, it can still produce spectacular results. Ideally, your living room should have few windows or doors if you intend to use it as your home theater. Additionally, your room should have an adequate length to provide the correct viewing distance. If your living room has many windows and doors, you may wish to consider modifying a different room. The first steps are easily defined by describing the basic characteristics of a home theater.

• Sound-reflective surfaces should be covered with absorbent material
• Windows should be provided with "blackout" shades, heavy curtains or both
• The room must be of adequate size to accommodate the screen size desired
• Seating should be available directly in front of the screen, not off to the side
• Attention must be given to correct speaker placement

Hard, reflective surfaces are the enemy of good acoustics. They can cause the sound from even the best stereo systems to become sharp and distorted. Low, rumbling sounds will cause the higher end of the audio spectrum, where human voices reside, to become less clear than they should be. Hard surfaces should be covered. Floors should be carpeted. Walls can be dressed with a variety of materials designed to provide better sound.

Most home theater screens start at around 27" in size and move upward from there. Your television will come with a recommended viewing distance. In most cases, you should be about three times the length of the screen away from your television to provide the best viewing experience. This will allow you to take in the entire screen without having to scan around to see every part of the picture. Remember that high definition televisions are best viewed straight on. Though newer models don't suffer the drastic decrease in picture quality when viewed from the side as did older models, it's still best to place your seating directly in line with the television screen as much as possible.

Recommended distances for your television:

27 inch TV
Minimum Viewing Distance for NTSC/PAL: 9.3 feet
Minimum Viewing Distance for HDTV: 3.2 feet

32 inch TV wide screen
Minimum Viewing Distance for NTSC/PAL: 12.9 feet
Minimum Viewing Distance for HDTV: 4.8 feet

50 inch TV wide screen
Minimum Viewing Distance for NTSC/PAL: 17.4 feet
Minimum Viewing Distance for HDTV: 6.5 feet

Suggested televisions:
Samsung PN50A550:
50'' widescreen plasma HDTV with 1080p resolution

Toshiba 52RV535U:
52 inch 1080p Full HD resolution LCD TV

Speaker placement is imperative for surround sound. Make sure the speakers that provide your rear sound are placed in a way that doesn't cause them to be silenced by obstructions. Having your speakers professionally mounted is well worth the cost.

Surround systems tend to have a built-in Dolby or DTS surround decoder in the A/V receiver but other variations can exist. Depending on the configuration, a variety of speaker groupings (or channels) are needed. These can include:

• 3.0 Channel Surround (Dolby Surround): 3 channels - left (L), right (R) and one surround… three speakers in total.

• 4.0 Channel Surround (Quadraphonic): 4 channels - left (L), right (R), surround left (LS) and surround right (RS)… four speakers in total.

• 4.0 Channel Surround (Dolby Pro Logic): 4 channels - left (L), right (R), center (C) mono surround channel (S). The two surround speakers often divide the mono channel power… five speakers in total.

• 5.1 Channel Surround (Dolby Pro Logic II): 5 channels - left (L), right (R), center (C), surround left (LS), surround right (RS) and one low-frequency (sub-woofer) effects channel (LFE)… five speakers and one sub-woofer in total.

• 5.1 Channel Surround (Dolby Digital, DTS, SDDS): 5 discrete - left (L), right (R), center (C), surround left (LS), surround right (RS) and one low-frequency (sub-woofer) effects channel (LFE)… five speakers and one sub-woofer in total. An example of a 5.1 A/V receiver is the Sony STR-DG520.

• 6.1 Channel Surround (Dolby Pro Logic IIx): 6 audio channels - left (L), right (R), center (C), surround side left (LS), surround side right (RS), back surround channel (BS) and one low-frequency (sub-woofer) effects channel (LFE)… six speakers and one sub-woofer in total.

• 6.1 Channel Surround (DTS-ES): 6 discrete channels - left (L), right (R), center (C), surround side left (LS), surround side right (RS), back surround channel (BS) and one low-frequency (sub-woofer) effects channel (LFE)… six speakers and one sub-woofer in total.

• 7.1 Channel Surround (Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD, Dolby TrueHD): 7 channels - left (L), right (R), center (C), surround side left (LS), surround side right (RS), back surround channel left (LS), back surround channel right... seven speakers in total. An example of a 7.1 home theater receiver is the Sony STR-DA5400ES.

Of course, the home theater system needs a good source (both for audio and video) that delivers the audio information. Suitable sources include:

• TV broadcast

• VCR

• Gaming Sony PlayStation 3 (80GB):
video gaming system

• Laserdisc

• Satellite
Hard Drive Sony HES-V1000:
Home Entertainment Server with a 200-disc Blu-ray Disc changer and 500GB hard-drive

• DVD Sony DVP-NC800H/S:
1080p Upscaling 5 Disc DVD Player
Blu-Ray Sony BDPS550:
Blu-ray Disc Player with Bonus View and BD-Live Ready

• SACD Sony DVPCX995V:
DVD/ SACD/ CD 400 Disc Mega Changer

• Cable or High Definition Digital box

• CD player Onkyo DX-7555:
Audiophile-Grade CD Player with Wolfson 192 kHz/24-bit DAC

• Cassette Pioneer CT-05D:
Elite Double Auto Reverse Cassette Deck