Setting Up a Home Theater

With the advent of high definition televisions, watching a movie at home is quickly approaching the quality of your local movie house. While the video capabilities are close behind in quality, home theater seats have passed the traditional movie theater seat.

Equipped with large flat screen monitors, projection screens, stereo surround sound, and the latest in high-tech wizardry, today's television sets are a far cry from even the last generation of sets. And they make creating a home theater easier and more affordable than ever before. The choices you have in home theater seating also make one more appealing.

A home theater can be achieved many ways. You can put one in your home by selecting a room for this special purpose, or make it part of another room such as a finished basement. You can even have such a grand plan that you may need to add on to your home to build one.

The ideal kind of a room for a home theater is just like a regular movie theater- with few doors and no windows. Try to get the shape of the theater as rectangular as possible, and there should be as much enclosure as possible. Enclosing the theater will keep the sound effects of the movie in and other environmental sounds out. When you consider home theater seats, keep in mind overall comfort and decor. Floors should not be bare, so you might have to pick out carpeting.

You will need to consider where to store audio components, and this is usually dependent on where you place your home theater seats. Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound uses a set up consisting of six speakers. Dialogue speakers and most sound effect speakers are located at the front near the screen. A subwoofer (usually behind the main group of theater seats) and two speakers for subtle and atmospheric sounds should be located in the back. Mounting speakers are better than stacking them on a shelf. Make sure there is about eight inches of space between your gear and the wall to allow proper ventilation and servicing.

Of course, remember your home theater seating. No chair should have a bad view, and no seat should impair the vantage point of another seat. If you are using sectionals, you may want to consider putting a riser into your floor so you can create rows. Shop here and see all the selection for the perfect home theater seating.