It can be—with some shrewd shopping and ingenuity. Read on to learn how to start creating your own home theater setup on a budget.

Find a Great Television

Obviously, any home theater setup starts with a great television. The good news is, it’s possible to pick up a quality television without spending a fortune.

When shopping for TVs, consider the benefits of buying open box or refurbished. Many are just like new, with no meaningful flaws or drawbacks, and sell for a fraction of the cost. Just think: you could get the centerpiece of your home theater for way less, and spend that money on all your accessories instead!

Is bigger always better?

One thing to be aware of when buying a TV is that size matters… but not in the way you might think. There’s nothing wrong with springing for a big TV, but you should know the size of your viewing space will determine your optimal screen size.

• For 720p and 1080p HDTVs, your viewing distance should be about twice the width of the screen.
• For regular HDTVs, the viewing distance is 1.5 times the size of the screen. (So, for example, a 55″ screen works best when you sit about five or six feet from the screen).
• If you spring for a 4K Ultra HD television, you can get a better viewing experience at about half that distance.

When considering what size TV to get, do the measurements for your own space to see what will work best. While buying a 90″ HDTV for your mid-sized living room might seem like a good idea at first, you may not be pleased with the end result.

Get on the Streaming Bandwagon

One way to save some money on your home theater setup in the long run is to cut the cable cord. You can pick up a streaming media player and stream movies, television programs, and even YouTube videos to your TV for a fraction of the cost of a premium cable subscription. The days of browsing the shelves at Blockbuster may be gone, but thanks to services like Google Play and Vudu, renting movies digitally is inexpensive and easy.

Some home theater enthusiasts recommend going with a PC over a set-top box like the Roku for maximum flexibility, however personally, I consider this a matter of taste. A PC setup gives you more control, but there’s something to be said for the simplicity and hassle-free nature of a device like the Roku, which requires less maintenance and a minimum of fiddling.

By Daniel

See full story at blog.blinq.com

This article will give you a checklist on how to build a home theater with hidden speakers. If you’re going to do it, I think you should do it right—and that means putting your speakers behind the projector screen.

Step 1 – The Room Matters

Before you can do anything, you need to consider the room. If I teach you how to build a home theater and you think you can do it in a 9 x 9 room with 8-foot ceilings I haven’t done you much good. It’s not that you can’t enjoy a good movie in a small room, but I would never suggest spending excessive money where it’s not needed.

If your room is closed off from the rest of the house—excellent. If not, then set the “boundaries” for the space you’ll use for your home theater. A dedicated room always works best, but you can certainly design a home theater around a shared space. Having a dedicated room with a door allows you to pressurize the room with a subwoofer and get better overall sound by not having to deal with objects and architectural features not related to the home theater.

Take a look at a quick overview of the steps you can expect to take to build a home theater with hidden speakers:

• Step 1 – Consider the Room (The Room Matters)
• Step 2 – Plan the Layout
• Step 3 – Build the Plan (Framing and Insulating)
• Step 4 – Pre-wire Your Gear
• Step 5 – Install Your Speakers
• Step 6 – Dry It In (Install Drywall)
• Step 7 – Paint & Carpet
• Step 8 – Trim and Decorate
• Step 9 – Install Your Seating
• Step 10 – Calibrate and Enjoy!

Step 2 – Plan the Layout

Once you know your room and your space, begin planning your layout. This includes deciding how to run your speaker wire, HDMI, lighting, and network cables to ensure everything you need gets placed correctly. For tips on setting your speaker positions, check out an article I wrote over at Audiogurus titled Speaker Placement Guidelines and Tips.

We recommend planning for some in-ceiling speakers if you have 9-foot or higher ceilings. That will let you conform to the newest Dolby Atmos surround format. You also want to run a couple HDMI cables from your AV rack to your projector—if only as a backup. HDMI is notoriously unreliable over the long haul. Always use high-quality cables that are spec’d for the highest speed and maximum resolution available. Formats will change and grow and you don’t want to put in all this time and energy and get stuck in the past a few scant years from now.

This happened to a lot of people who put in the original HDMI cables that don’t support 4K resolution. Don’t let that happen to you. The good news is that HDMI will cover just about everything, so there’s really no need to run component video, Toslink optical, or even analogue audio cables from your AV equipment to your projector.

By Clint DeBoer

See full Story at www.protoolreviews.com