Shopping..

Considering taking that big step and installing a home theater system?  It pays to comparison shop for a home theater system before you buy.  Savvy shoppers will do their homework and find out who has the best system at the best price.  You can get a great sounding home theater at a reasonable price if you do some research before you buy.

The first thing you need to consider before purchasing the home theater of your dreams is the size of the room for the system.  Other factors that you will need to consider are whether you have a carpeted room, the wall construction of the room and where will the home theater components be installed.  If you are intending to install a medium to large sized theater system you may want to consider hiring a home theater consultant to help you determine the right placement and to manage the installation of your home theater system.

If you are planning a large home theater project you will want well-insulated walls and possibly sound proofed walls and ceiling so that the sound isn’t audible throughout the whole house.  Carpeting can also help keep sound from traveling by muffling the reverberations from the speakers.  People who have a larger room also have the option of housing many of the components in a specially designed closet so that the wires can be hidden from view.

A smaller project will require some similar considerations, especially in regards to sound.    Carpeting definitely will help control the sound environment as will placing the speakers strategically.  Most manufacturers of home theaters will provide you with diagrams for the correct speaker placement so that you can maximize the home theater experience but not at the expense of people situated in other areas of the house.

There are several ways to comparison shop for a home theater system.  One is to use a comparison-shopping magazine such as Consumer Reports.  The other option is to comparison shop on the Internet using a service like BizRate.  Both of these options will help you sort home theater systems by price, manufacturer, warranty and various options such as receivers, speakers and TV or video projectors.  This type of comparison-shopping will help you narrow down your list of possible purchases so that you can then go to a store and check out the equipment in person.  Print off a copy of your comparisons as well or bring a magazine with your favorites highlighted so you will know which items to check out once in the store.  Expect to budget about $1,000.00 for a small to medium sized room home theater setup.  Larger home theater projects can run anywhere from $5,000.00 to $50,000 or more.

Many people who want a nice home theater but don’t want to go into debt to get one purchase a theater in a box.  A theater in a box system includes everything you need for your home theater except the TV.  Most theater in a box systems are designed for televisions that are 27” or larger.  The system usually includes the receiver, satellite speakers, subwoofer speaker, cables and connectors.  Additional components may include a DVD player or recorder, satellite radio capability and CD/MP3 player capability.  The cost of a theater in a box system can range anywhere from $500.00 to several thousands of dollars. 

Whether you choose to spend a little or a lot on a home theater system you can save money by comparison shopping.  Do the research on the home theater models on the market and you’ll have your home theater system up and running in no time without your budget feeling a pinch.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 at 12:28 pm and is filed under Shopping. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.