Great home theater delivers an incredibly involving cinematic experience, with a big, beautiful picture and crisp, enveloping sound — all in the comfort of your home. Sound good? Read on for basic "how-to-choose" info, product reviews, tips on setup, and much, much more.
A/V Learning Center
- CrutchfieldAdvisor's Interactive Home Theater Experience
- If you're just starting on home theater, make this handy interactive home theater tool your first stop. You can get a quick idea of basic home theater layout and learn about the components involved. Requires Flash.
- How to Choose Home Theater
- Wondering what kind of system makes sense for you? Check out this helpful assessment of the options.
- The Components You Need
- Find out exactly what gear is necessary to turn your system into a knock-your-socks-off home theater.
- Choosing Home Theater Speakers
- Good surround sound is at least half of the cinematic experience, and great, voice-matched speakers are key. Check out these guidelines on home theater speakers and the roles they play.
- Planning Your Home Theater Room
- If you've been pondering home theater, but haven't been sure how to make a system fit into your living room, this is the place to go. You'll find recommendations on speaker placement, lighting, and room size.
- Surround Sound Formats: What You Need To Know
- Get the scoop on the sound formats out there and what they deliver.
- Surround Sound Formats Chart
- Compare the features of different surround sound formats using this convenient chart.
- Choosing a TV for Today … and Tomorrow
- A TV is a vital part of the home theater experience. It always helps to educate yourself before making a choice.
- Receivers: The Cornerstone of Your Audio/Video System
- A home theater receiver directs traffic between components, translates digital signals into fabulous surround sound, and powers your speakers! Read up on what to look for when choosing a receiver.
- DVD Players: Great Movies and Music!
- DVD players have revolutionized home entertainment, thanks to their top-notch picture and sound. Whether you're buying your first DVD player, or upgrading your current DVD component, be sure to check out these tips on how to choose.
Reviews and Reports
- Why 6.1 Surround?
- This friendly look at 6.1-channel sound explains just what you gain, and how you can make it happen.
- A Review of the Bose® 3·2·1 GS System
- Can you really get an enveloping audio experience without surround speakers? Ralph Graves tries out this ultra-popular Bose system, and reports back.
- A Review of Infinity's Alpha Speakers
- Tom Mathew assembled a powerful 5.1-channel system of Infinity Alpha speakers. Here's the scoop.
- Transforming a Basement into a Home Theater Haven
- Kemp Honeycutt worked on his home's unused basement space and turned it into the most popular room in the house!
- Taking Home Theater Home: We review the Onkyo HT-S760 6.1 home theater system
- How easy is an all-in-one system to set up and use, and how good does it sound? Ralph Graves tested the Onkyo HT-S760, and here's what he found.
- Bass Management 102: Great Lows for Home Theater
- Bass is a vital part of home theater — but it can be hard to tweak your home theater's settings the right way. The Advisor clears up the confusion surrounding bass management for a surround sound setup.
- "How Do I …" Six commonly asked questions about home theater
- Here they are — six of the most common questions people ask about home theater, written down and answered. Read on!
- 5.1-channel Sound: From the studio to your home theater
- Thanks to multichannel music and movies, sound mixing is a lot more complicated than it used to be. Expert sound engineer Leslie Shapiro talks about the mixing complexities of surround sound.
- Home Theater Aesthetics
- Your home theater setup doesn't have to stick out like a sore thumb. With a little planning, and these tips from A/V expert Barry Willis, your system and your room can harmonize smoothly.
- How to Connect a Surround Receiver
- It's the part of system setup that many people dread the most: getting the A/V receiver properly connected. Mark Fleischmann takes away the pain with these straightforward steps for connecting a home theater receiver.
- Get in the Game: Stunning surround sound from video game systems
- So much more than mere entertainment! Taking advantage of the surround sound capability of your video games makes gaming an incredibly immersive experience.
- Home Theater Tweaks 102: Fine-tune your system so your video shines!
- Check out these hints on making your home system look as good as it sounds.
- Home Theater Tweaks 101: Improve your room and make your system sing!
- Tune in to these tips on room acoustics, and get your system sounding its very best!
- Home Theater Systems: Starting out and stepping up
- Leslie Shapiro takes a lively look at the options for home theater.
