Home Theater Set-up
December 8th, 2011 • Uncategorized
Putting the finishing touches on a new home is like putting the icing on the cake.
After months of building and decorating our brand new home, we couldn’t wait for
the best part: the basement.
Our plans for the basement included a full home theater installation, snack station,
exercise room and full bathroom. In short, we had a lot of work to do.
We had the entire scene thought up in our minds. It included a rainy Friday night,
cozy blanket, popcorn, chocolate (salted chocolate preferably) and maybe a bottle
of wine or two. For comfort and entertainment we envisioned a brand new home
theater, fresh leather chairs and sparkly TV. The movie? Maybe an action thriller or
suspense thriller-perhaps even a RomCom.
There’s the amazing feeling of getting settled, hearing the THX noise rev up and
shake the floor, sipping wine, popping popcorn and parking in a recliner for the next
two and half-hours. Yes, we were sold.
First Things First
We put a priority on the theater installation because, honestly, who wants to work
out when you could sit and watch movies?
We knew the basics of what we wanted for our theater. We wanted the wiring
hidden inside our walls, permanently fixed with wall bushings or wall plates, a
mounted TV and 5.1 surround sound system.
Furniture wise, we definitely wanted to do individual chairs. Leather recliners
with cup holders, to be exact. We tested out several models instead of just ordering
blindly online. Carpet and wall insulation squares are great for theaters to help
absorb the sound. If you can enclose your theater to cut down on noise, we suggest
that too.
Common Blunders
There are a few pretty common mistakes people make when designing and
outfitting their home theaters. You should get a TV or screen depending on how
far away you plan to sit from the screen. You should be about 2 times the distance
from your TV as the width of the screen. For instance, if you have a 42-inch TV, you
should sit about 5 or 6 feet back.
Avoid having windows in your theater as it causes glare, this one typically isn’t a
problem for basements. After you shell out the money for the theater, don’t skimp
on the speakers. You may think that sound quality is a good place to save money, but
the truth is, your ears will know the difference.
Make sure you only buy equipment you’re confident you’ll be able to use, read the
manual and pay for any service plans or warranties. That way, if you have problems
down the road, a professional can come out and fix it without you having to shell out
more money than you already have.
And the biggest blunder: telling people that you’ve just installed a home theater.
They’re going to want to come over all the time now.
Richard is from the Hoosier state so all styles of music appeals to him. He also has a website called artroommelody.com where he writes about art in every form.