Wish to have a breathtaking cinema-effect sound for your game playing or movies watching? Here we'll talk about choosing between the optimal devices for the home theater, picking and adjusting the best home AV receiver, saving the budget and getting the overwhelming surround effect!
So, you are set on enhancing your sound and have the most out of your favorite network game or the most recent thriller movie. Let's see what you'll need for that.
1. The AV Receiver
that's a middle-sized block of electronics, wire, etc. that transforms the regular TV sound into a powerful multi-effect audio surround. It can decode the sound and transform it into the overwhelming effect by distributing into different channels, amplifying the speakers, adjusting the format and performing many other highly specific electronic functions. You do not have to become a guru in electronics to choose the best AV receiver for your home theater. When buying this block that will become a central part of all the system, consider the following:
- number and format of your speakers - to handle several speakers, a more powerful model might be required;
- wattage - that's the feature that defines how many effects your sound will have and how pure it will be. Consider the wattage of the speakers as well - it should not necessarily match, but it's preferable that the receiver's parameter wouldn't be higher;
- presence of the calibration system - that's a handy enhancement if you are not a specialist (or even an amateur) in sound adjustment. Considering the parameters of speakers, the video format, adjusting the decibels and picking the soundtracks - forget all that with the AV receiver that can calibrate the speakers and other devices on its own.
2. The Speakers
the leading producers offer different speaker formats providing the wide range of power and capacity. Besides, the design varies greatly so you might select the models that will be fitting your interior. Let's briefly list the features you must consider when acquiring the speakers:
- space - having a deep rich surround sound is great, but the effect is killed when there is no room for the proper sound dispense. For your medium-sized living room, pick the standard set of speakers with the average characteristics. Remember that the best sound effect is achieved when the speakers literally surround the place (i.e., some speakers must be situated in front of you, while others - at sides and in the back);
- number - when inquiring about the speaker systems, you might find out there are 5.1 and 7.1 formats relating to the number of speakers used. It means that there is a certain number of the regular speakers with stereo left and right effect, a central speaker with the mono system and some surround sound speakers allowing for the creation of the powerful holistic sound. Consider the capacity of your room and the preferred format of the video used when making a choice. For many of the popular video formats, the 5.1 mix type is implied. So, that'll be money wasting buying the 7.1 system that simply doubles the five-channel sound;
- make a set - the technical parameters of the speakers produced by different brands usually have a few distinctions. Using the speakers from different producers might require additional tuning and adjustment. Consider the wattage, the sensitivity, the frequency range, the presence of the additional sound-purifying technologies. Make sure the speakers are compatible with your AV receiver and do not fall below its wattage.
3. Subwoofer
though many of the speakers (including the ones that come in sets) have the elements with the woofer or subwoofer, having this enhancement in your home theater will definitely make your sound penetrating. Subwoofer generates the deep basses and is the must-have for your thriller or horror movies watching, music listening, virtual reality gaming and so on. The power is the prime feature of the subwoofer. Having a deep rich bass sound, you will get a real surround effect even with the low-priced speaker system.
while choosing the speakers, selecting the AV receiver, considering the need for subwoofer keep in mind that all these devices must be connected. Though most of them come with cables, ensure you have spare ones. You might need to make multiple connections or simply have a longer cable if the surround speakers have found their place farther than you primarily supposed. It is highly recommended that you have the cables even if you are dealing with the cable-free systems. Should anything go wrong, you will have an immediate though less design-fitting solution.
you might spend a lot of time selecting the numerous devices, adjusting and setting them, testing the sound on the different formats in order to have a desirable effect. The modern hi-tech producers offer the effort-sparing alternative called a soundbar. That's a mid-sized device that amplifies the sound of the TV and allows the different adjustment modes.
You can play with parameters as far as you reach the optimal set for the acoustic system of your room. The modern soundbars can produce an astounding surround effect thanks to the Ambience technology and powerful subwoofer. Still, the most enhanced soundbar cannot beat the professional 7.1 speakers system with the quality subwoofer and powerful AV receiver.
