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Shoppers in this new millennium are much more aware about electronic goods than people were at any time earlier. The older generation of today grew up in the 1960’s and 1970’s when everyone in the West had a television set and a stereo. Previous generations were not so lucky for financial and technological reasons. Therefore, most shoppers nowadays have no compunctions about going shopping for complex electronic equipment like a home theater.

It is in the shoppers’ best interest to research and comprehend about the components that go into making up a good home theater. It is not particularly exacting and many if not all of the components involved have been around for at least a few years now. Consider what goes into a home theater:

a screen – can be a television screen, a canvas screen for a projector or a modern plasma or LCD screen. Stop thinking about the modern varieties of screen, they are still basically TV screens and they have been around for 80 years or so. Same with a projector.

a player – a DVD player is just an enhanced CD player and they have been out for 20-30 years. You have possibly had one for most of that time. (You can add another dimension to your home theater here by swapping an Xbox for the DVD player, but games machines are not new).

speakers – they are nothing new either. Speakers have been about as long as the television set.

So you see, there is nothing in that kit which you should feel awkward about buying. Fair enough, you will be buying state of the art examples of what I listed above, but they are fundamentally the same. You connect them all together with their special plugs and wires and then plug them into the mains. Switch on and it will work.

So the next issue is: do you purchase a package or do you buy the elements and build your own home theater? The answer to that question truly depends on your level of competence. A package is easy and may work out less expensive too, but will it have the flexibility that you require? If you have a standard sized and standard shaped room, then I am convinced that you will be able to buy a kit that will suit you. If you think that the speakers are sub-requirement, you could always sell them on and upgrade after a while.

if you want to be sure of getting precisely what you want, I think that most people will have to buy the components separately: that is screen, player and speakers.

The size of the screen depends on the size of the room and how close you are sitting to it: a distance of between three times and five times the diagonal of the screen is about right. However, some people like to be dominated by the screen and others do not want to wear their glasses, so it is up to individual preference.

The DVD player is a matter of individual preference too. They are all much of a muchness, but some people favour Sanyo while others favour Philips. If you want gaming capability too, use an Xbox instead of an regular DVD player.

Most rooms will require at least a 5.1 surround sound speaker set. These ought to be acquired as one package to ensure that they are all well-matched. That is five normal speakers and a sub-woofer.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with home theater speaker placement. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.

After you have finished designing the layout of your home theater, the next step is to decide on the accessories. Things like floor covering, lighting, decoration, curtains, and furnishings, like a small fridge, some small tables and seating. If you are planning your home cinema just for yourself, then maybe you can afford to really splurge out on a really top end home cinema chair.

After a hard day’s work or exercise, your muscles can become taut, especially in your neck and shoulders. The best way of relieving this is some destressing exercise like yoga or a massage, but most people do not want to take up yoga postures after work, so they would go for a massage.

This is all well and good, but then you would have to shower, get changed and drive down there and sometimes you just can not be bothered. You could phone a massage parlour and have them send someone to your house! That sounds great, but no, you are not going to do that either.

So, why not go for the next best thing. Get yourself an electric massage chair for your home theater? You could kill two birds with one stone. You could spend an hour and a half watching a film, while getting all those aches and pains soothingly worked away.

A massage chair can never totally replace a masseur or masseuse, but many regular massage parlour goers say that it is a good second best. The point is though, that you can have a soothing massage every day of the week, which some people say is preferable to one intense massage once a week. You masseur or masseuse right there in your own home cinema ready to work for pennies a massage any time of the day or night and while you are at the movies too! Think of it!

Using an electric massage chair as your home cinema chair (or one of them) is a fantastic idea. While your mind is being taken off your daily troubles and strife, so your body is being relieved of the tensions that have built up there too. You can recline in your home cinema chair and let the head rest massage your neck, while the back rest massages your lumber region, soothing away those aches and pains in a gentle, but efficient way.

The great majority of these electric massage chairs come with a remote control, so it is very easy to switch cycles on and off or repeat them at will. Some are programmable too, so that you could build up your own massage cycle, once you get used to what your new home cinema massage chair can do.

Imagine having it start at your neck and calves at the same time with the two massage points slowly converging on the small of your back. Or beginning at the small of your back and then radiating up and down your body at the same time. You would need two masseurs to do that and all while you are sitting in your home cinema chair watching a movie.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with the Home Theater Chair. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.

If you do not buy your home theater in one box, as many people do, then you will have to choose a screen at some point or another. However, not only that, but you may be faced with deciding between a TV-cum-monitor unit and a drop down canvas screen.

It really all depends on the dimensions of the room you want to use as your home theater. If you are going to convert the box bedroom into a movie theater, then a 28 inch TV screen might be enough for you, but if you are going to use a long room and people might be quite a few yards from the screen, then a projector and drop-down screen would almost certainly be the right answer.

However, for most people, a normal TV screen would be sufficient. There are several types of television sets on the market at the moment, so we will take a look at them in turn later. Firstly, I would like to mention the dimensions. It has been standard practice for hundreds of years to hang a painting five times the diagonal of that painting from the viewer’s eyes. In other words, if a painting or a screen or a window, is two feet diagonally, then the best place to view it from is ten feet away.

This is a general rule, it is not written in stone. Personal preference and eyesight come into it too. Therefore, if you used a 28 inch television set, the optimum viewing distance would be about 12 feet away. So, 28 inches would be plenty for most spare bedrooms, but perhaps not for a converted attic or basement. This relationship between screen and room size is the most important to get correct, otherwise the rest is a waste of money.

It all boils down to: do you like to sit in the front of the movie house or at the back? [We are only discussing viewing the film here]. If you like to be dominated by a huge screen, then the proportions I gave you must be decreased, otherwise they should be about accurate. Assess yourself: how far do you like to sit from your TV? Is it more or less than 5:1?

There are basically three types of view screens and they are: plasma, rear projection and front projection screens. The first is the modern flat screen TV, the second the conventional TV and the third a system with a projector.

Plasma Televisions

These televisions provide the best quality, especially for watching movies that are formatted for wide screen viewing. They have a much larger viewing area than traditional televisions and they also come in a wide variety of sizes in order to adapt to many varieties of home theater needs. The biggest problem with these beauties is the price, but that is dropping every month too.

Rear Projection Televisions

This is the normal cathode ray tube TV that we have all been watching since were born. Their major problem is that they are lumpy, but that was not a problem for decades, so if it suits your room, do not let it be a problem to you now,

Front Projectors

This is what you see at the movies or on old Cine 8mm – the drop-down projection screen. But, do not write it off. It still produces high-quality images and for larger rooms, it is basically the only screen for your home theater.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Home Theater Screens. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site.

Do you love going to the movie theater and get lost in the realism that their superior sound systems create? If you do, then I bet you are also one of those people who dislikes going there, only to have a potentially fantastic evening ruined by irresponsible people talking through the film or letting their cell phones ring.

I used to love the movie theater, but that was in the time when people respected the rights of others to listen to a movie in silence. There were no crying babies, ringing mobile phones or noisy youths in cinemas and if they got in they were soon kicked out if there was any row.

These days, cinema managers seem to take the easy route of letting these people spoil it for others. Consequently, more and more quiet people are staying at home and the cinemas are becoming even noisier. If you are one of the stay-at-homes, but miss the cinema, why not recreate one in your home?

Build yourself a home cinema with surround sound. You will never be sorry for installing surround sound in your home, because you will be able to play your favourite films, the TV and your music through it. The distinction between surround sound and stereo or even quadraphonics is breath-taking.

Different people have different requirements, aspirations, funds and even hearing ability, so it is tricky to suggest a system to a mass audience, but there are ways and means for going about the purchase of your own home theater system. A lot of people buy a kit home theater. This is OK, if funds are limited, but you will want to upgrade the screen and the speakers before very long. If you just want to put a home theater in a small spare bedroom and do it quickly and easily, then this method is for you.

If, however, you want a bit more, then you might prefer to get a bigger screen and make do with the speakers that came with the kit. These can easily be renewed later. If you want to get everything part by part, you will need a screen, speakers and DVD player. If you want to play games too, replace the DVD player with an Xbox.

But back to the speakers, whether you are renewing or putting your own system together, the strategy I suggest hold true. Write down the dimensions of your room or better still make a little plan of it to scale. Take this around the shops and malls and try to listen to a few set-ups in a room similar to your own. This could be difficult, but you might be fortunate.

Decide whether you need a 3.1; 4.1; 5.1; 6.1 or even 7.1 set of compatible surround sound speakers. Basically, it all depends on the size of your room, but the shop assistant will be able to demonstrate and advise you. As a rule, a 5.1 surround sound set will be sufficient for most rooms. The figures stand for normal speakers and sub-woofers: ie 5.1 means five normal speakers and one sub-woofer.

The arrangement of the speakers depends on the size and shape of the room and on your personal preference, but the standard layout would be: one speaker the far left and far right of the screen and one underneath it with two more speakers slightly apart from each other at the back of the audience. The sub-woofer can go at the front or the rear.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with wireless home theater systems. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.

Many people like to relax after a hard day at work by going to the movie theater. However, if you go straight from work, you are apt to get caught in a traffic jam and you will not have had the chance to freshen up. However, if you go home first to have a shower and get changed, sometimes you can not be bothered to go out again. That is how it works with me in any case.

So, would it not be lovely to be able to reproduce that authentic movie going experience in your own home? Not only can getting to the cinema be a nuisance, you can be hassled once you get there too. People talking through the film or giggling right behind you, someone with his feet up on the back of the seat next to you, cell phones ringing, babies crying… It is enough to put you off. And it is not even as if it is a cheap event anymore.

If you fall into this group, home theater was made for you. It is not essential to have a spare room in which to set up your home theater, you could just as easily use the living room. The size of the screen is important, but that is a function of the size of your room or, more accurately put, a function of how far away from the screen you will sit.

If you need a very large screen, you could go for a projector, although for most people a 36 – 60 inch screen should be enough. Then speakers. You must have surround sound or you will miss out on a lot of the realism of a true movie theater experience. Again, the number of speakers depends on the size of the room. A 5.1 configuration will do for most rooms. That means quadraphonic sound, plus one extra speaker under the screen and a sub-woofer.

If you like to play games, then you could replace the standard DVD player with an Xbox for a truly awesome experience. Those are the basics of a medium to excellent home theater with possible games capability, but there are other things you can do as well.

A set of heavy curtains is a good idea. They will not only stop light coming in, but the will muffle sound getting out Seating is a necessity and I would add a few occasional tables too for drinks and snacks. If the room is not near the kitchen, a small fridge would be handy as well.

The seating arrangements are important too. Some people just put a few sofas in the room and that works well enough. Others prefer a few armchairs. If it is to be used mainly by kids, half a dozen bean bags is all they require to have fun. However, if you or you and your spouse want to make the experience really something else, why not get a couple of recliners or even better still electric massage chairs? You could be sitting there watching a film with a drink and some snacks on a near-by table while having all your troubles and stress from work being gently massaged away.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with the Home Theater Chair. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.

When most people are looking for a sound system, they usually go directly to the speakers. This is not necessarily wrong, but you must not stop there. The speakers are an important part of a sound system, but they are not the be all and end all.

It also important to think about the player and the amplifier, because any sound system is only as good as its weakest component. Another important topic is the positioning of those speakers. It is just as important to position your speakers correctly as it is not to buy cheap speakers. There are also misconceptions about size. Bigger is not always better.

In the past, it was often the case that bigger meant better, but now often the opposite is often the case. Technological advancement has been concentrated on producing smaller speakers, that will take up less room in our smaller houses and smaller cars. Therefore, the smaller speakers are often the most technologically advanced.

If you are opting for surround sound, which is the best available today, then you will also have to think carefully about placement. That is the positioning of the speakers. In a typical 5.1 surround sound home theater, you will have six speakers: five ordinary speakers and one sub-woofer.

These speakers would be set out one to the far right of the screen and one to the far left of it and one underneath it. The other two speakers would be at the rear of the audience, but not so far apart as the front speakers. The sub-woofer can go in the centre at the front or the rear.

For smaller rooms, a 3.1 surround sound system might be adequate, that is you leave out the rear speakers. For a larger room, you may want either a 6.1 or 7.1 system. The 6.1 has the rear row of speakers matching the front row, while the 7.1 has an extra middle rear speaker.

It is better if you can buy all your speakers at the same time from the same manufacturer. Obviously, they all have to match each other and the amplifier. The output from the amplifier has to match the capabilities of the speakers or you risk blowing them. That is, sending them more power than they can cope with, which causes too much vibration and permanent damage to the speaker’s internal components. Everyone has heard blown speakers, they sound awful.

If you can not afford to get all your speakers at the same time, buy a famous brand and a late-ish model, so that you can get more of them when you can afford to. Do not go for end of line speakers, because they are discounted, unless you can buy all the speakers that you will ever need for your system.

Buy your speakers online, if that gets you the best deal, but you really ought to hear speakers like the ones you are buying in action, before you make up your mind. You could also take your Internet price to the local dealers and ask them to match it. They might, you never know and it will save you carriage too.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with home theater speaker placement. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.

It all started about nine months ago, when my wife and I decided it would be a good idea to remodel our home. It took a lot of talking about because neither of us really wanted to take the project on as we both have active business lives. However, one Sunday afternoon, I took the bull by the horns and started to strip the paper off the walls and the ceiling in the kitchen. My wife soon joined in.

It took us a month to finish it, because we only had Saturday afternoons and Sunday, but we found that we enjoyed the physical work, we both have desk jobs, and we really enjoyed working and planning together. It was a new but pleasing experience for us.

So, on the day we finished, we prepared a special meal and laid the table by the book. After the meal, we sat down to watch a film on TV. But neither of us had been able to do that for a month and we both felt restless. My wife said something like: ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to have another project to do?’ and I reckon we both had the same idea at the same time.

The spare bedroom! Well, our kids had families of their own now, so we actually had three spare bedrooms. We decided to turn one of them into a home theater. Neither of us particularly liked watching TV, but we both liked films which are normally ruined by too much advertising.

We went up to the smallest room, but it was too small so, like Goldilocks we went to the next, but ended up in the largest room, so that we could entertain friends or family too. Neither of knew what to do next about the home movie centre, but we knew that we could clear the room out and measure it, which is what we did. All the furniture went into the garage until the charity shop could take it away and we went to the Internet to get assistance.

There was tons of guidance on websites and in articles and we soon felt confident enough to take the project on. We transferred the dimensions of the room in scale onto a sheet of paper and drew in where the screen would go and where we would be sitting. The space left between us and the screen would be about 15 feet.

We had read that the optimum viewing distance is between three times and five times the diameter of the screen, so we could choose a screen between sixty inches and 36 inches. Being in our fifties, we though we would make it easier on our eyes and opted for a forty-eight inch plasma screen.

We ordered that from the Internet. We had also read that the Xbox was a good double as a DVD player and we knew that our grandson was always on about one, so that was next. We were a bit stuck with the speakers, but my brother could help me on that one. We had about a week before our equipment would arrive, so we determined to redecorate in the evenings.

Once complete, we installed all our equipment with my brother’s help and we were off. At first we used a couple of sun loungers as seating, but we fairly soon got two delightfully comfortable reclining chairs and two couches for visitors. We may upgrade those later and put in dimmable lighting too, but for now we are very pleased with our home movie system and so is our grandson.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Home Theater Screens. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site.

It is more important to use an ergonomic chair whenever you can nowadays than ever before. This is because our bodies were not designed to sit for hours at a time in front of a desk or TV, and yet more and more people are finding themselves doing it.

Sitting continuously for hours puts strain on the muscles in the back and can eventually cause the body to suffer work-related injuries. The use of an ergonomic chair minimizes the strain that the body experiences while sitting for prolonged periods.

However, not all chairs are what they say they are and this is particularly true of ergonomic chairs. Some manufacturers call their products ergonomic chairs just to capture a share in a premium market, where people are suffering from pain caused by strain on the lower back, the neck, the arms, the legs and on the shoulders. A real ergonomic chair is designed to minimize this pain.

So, how can you tell if an ergonomic chair is really an ergonomic chair? A true ergonomic chair has the following elements:

Seat height: An ergonomic chair should be fitted with a mechanism that allows you to regulate its height while you are sitting on it. If your knees are level and your feet are flat on the floor, while you are sitting on the ergonomic chair, it means that its height is correct for you. Also, you should be able to reach the adjusting mechanism of the seat and operate it even if you are sitting down.

Foot rest: Ergonomic chairs do not need a foot rest. If the height of the chair can be adjusted easily and allow you to put your feet flat on the ground while you are seated, then a foot rest is not essential. However, if your table is too high in relation to your chair and if having your feet flat on the floor means you have to strain your arms, then a foot rest is required so you can rest your feet comfortably without causing strain to your legs.

Seat pan: The seat pan of your ergonomic chair should be wide enough to fit your hips and thighs without pinching you in any way. It should also be contoured so your weight can be spread evenly on it. In addition, the seat pan should be long enough to fit your legs. If it is too long, it will hit the back of your knees and stop you from leaning back comfortably.

Seat cushioning: The cushioning of an ergonomic chair should be sufficient for it not to become misshapen after you have been using it for a while. If the cushioning is not deep enough, the seat of the chair can get malformed permanently and it will become uncomfortable for you to sit on after a while. Later on, it will just lead you to experience pain on your back and thighs.

In addition, you should choose seat covers that breathe freely and are easy to clean. Such seat covers will not feel hot and uncomfortable against your thighs after sitting on the chair for a long time. Airy seat covers also mean that they will not be a breeding ground for dust mites.

Back support: The back rest of a good ergonomic chair should be adjustable to fit the curve of your lower back so that it can provide you with lumbar support. This is very important, especially if you will not be the sole user of the chair. Moreover, the back rest should be wide and tall enough to support your mid-back and your upper back as well.

Armrests: The armrests of a good ergonomic chair should be contoured to fit the arms, broad enough to provide sufficient support, and can be adjusted upward and downward as well as inward or outward. The armrests of the ergonomic chair should let the arms and elbows rest naturally, without making you lean forward or lift your shoulders.

Pedestal base: If mobility in your chair is vital to your work, then you should get an ergonomic chair that has a five pedestal base with casters that can let you slide easily over the floor. A five pedestal base will also give enough balance so that the chair will not tip over when you lean back.

Always look for these features when buying an ergonomic chair for your home or your office. They will prevent your body from incurring injuries brought about by continuous strain to the muscles.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the Home Theater Chair. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.

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The second most essential part of a good home theater set-up is its loudspeakers. You simply cannot achieve that authentic theater atmosphere, if you do not have good speakers. It goes without saying too, that the amplifier and player must be equally as good, because any system is only as good as its weakest part.

However, if you do it right, you can easily recreate the sound quality achieved in a full size movie theater. Regrettably though, many people seem to get confused about which speakers they should have, when they go to buy for their home theater in order to create proper surround sound.

The minimum requirements for a good set of surround sound speakers are a left and right channel speaker, a centre channel speaker and a sub-woofer. The following are the basic speakers that are required to complete a good home theater: front left and right speakers, a centre channel speaker, surround sound speakers. Sometimes people try to do without the centre channel speaker, but this speaker provides a good proportion of the soundtrack in a lot of movies as well as adding depth to the dialogue.

The surround sound makes the film seem more realistic. It is what makes the difference between watching TV at home and going to the movie theater. The option of having this at home has only recently become reasonably priced. The most frequent systems are: 5.1 channel, 6.1 channel, or 7.1 channel surround sound. The first figure refers to the number of normal loud speakers and the second one to the number of sub-woofers. The amount of speakers that is the best for you, depends on the size and shape of the room you are sitting in. The more is not always the merrier.

The sub-woofer is the cause of the deep bass sound that underscores so many movie soundtracks and these are the sounds that are responsible for heightening the drama in a film. A good sub-woofer is an essential part of your home theater speaker package, if you do not have one, you will miss out on this.

There are many makes on the market and some are cheaper than others, but it is essential that you pick speakers that will work well together. They have to be compatible. If you do not know how to make certain that they are, the best choice for this is to purchase all your speakers together in one kit by one maker. It may be tempting to save money by mixing and trying to match speakers, but if you get it wrong, you will not create the true quality of sound you are hoping to achieve in your home theater.

Some speakers are made to stand on the floor and others are made to hang on the wall. Floor standing speakers are the best for home theater, but they also take up the most space and can have wires running everywhere. If this is not a problem to you, then fine, but if it is, you can solve it by buying wireless speakers.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with home theater speaker placement. If you are interested in a Home Movie Theatre, please click through to our site now.