“There’s no place like home”, s Dorothy puts it in the Wizard of Oz. Indeed, if you’re not having fun at home, what’s the point? Smart audio-visual devices for fervent audiophiles and avid film lovers have become widely available on the market, so designing a superior entertainment room with all the vital hi-tech gadgets is no longer an option for the wealthy – it’s now become an amusement solution for the masses and even some high-end equipment brands have decided to join the price cut trend. To help you design a hi-fi room in your home, we bring you some practical tips and suggestions on which equipment to pick in order to ensure maximum enjoyment with an affordable price tag.
If you want to treat yourself to a genuine movie theater experience at home, perhaps it would be a good idea to consider buying a high definition TV. Designed with professional cinema-like experience in mind, HD TV sets come in a range of screen materials and display sizes, so finding the one that fits both your budget and room dimensions shouldn’t be a problem. For best results, check out brands like Dolby, Samsung and Apple. Also, some HD TVs are better suited to brighter environments while others require blackout shade installation. If you’re worried about TV wall mounting, these procedures are often performed by retailer teams to minimize your DIY installation hassle.
Though they come with a slightly higher price, projectors offer the best way to enjoy hours of film viewing with your family, friends and loved ones. From the basic models to top-notch hi-res gadgets, the prices of digital projectors available from well-known brands like Epson, ViewSonic, Ricoh and Sony range from a couple of hundred to a few thousand dollars, but whichever of them you pick, you pretty much get your 1080p picture quality value for the money. A rather simple way to upgrade your home theatre, digital projectors are extremely convenient and versatile and they will work well with most regular wall surfaces.
When designing your media room, it’s also important to throw in adequate speakers to round off your cinematic experience. As any true audiophile will tell you, it’s best to mix different audio components for booming bass and clear lows and mid-range, but there are also some ready-made surround systems like Monitor Audio R90HT1, Sony BDV-N7100W and JBL Cinema 510 that will add a whole new sound dimension to your home-based home theater experience.
When buying speaker sets for your hi-tech entertainment room, it’s a smart move to look for more than just a cool system that works well with movies and few other audio. For best music playback during your leisure hours, try sets that can also function as standalone audio system and not just as movie theater extras. A 5.1 surround sound system with twin-driver subwoofer and 220W amplifier, Monitor Audio MASS is one such gadget and it packs three different bass modes (Movie, Music and Impact) and enough power to fill your room with beautiful, detailed audio.
In case your hi-tech room is not as generous size-wize as you’d like it to be, there’s still a way to outfit it with superior audio that won’t get in the way of your movie watching sessions. With audio systems like Quad L-ite Plus, you get a space-saving design paired with high-quality components and premium audio reproduction. A set featuring a centerpiece, satellites and subwoofer, this smart audio system can be easily dotted around your shelves, furniture and floor, so look it up in case you’re in dire need of some small yet powerful audio and stunning bass.
Outfitting your room with some mean audio-visual equipment is not difficult granted you know what you need and have the budget to cover the costs. What are you waiting for? Size up your room and start browsing for your next home cinema gadgets ASAP! You only live once, after all.
Written by John Stone
Exclusively for Homes Re-Imagined, LLC