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The home theatre experience

1024 719 Nisha Muire
Home theatres have gained in popularity and are now an integral part of many Toronto homes. These super-cool spaces provide the perfect entertainment experience by recreating an authentic theatre setting but in the comfort of your home. Some home theatres go so far as to have the soundproofed walls and tiered seating found at your local multiplex. Some really ambitious designs even include concession stands and old-fashioned popcorn makers.
 
If you want to create your very own Toronto home theatre, then you need the basics – a good projection system, the right speaker set-up, and good A/V components. Let’s take a look at what’s involved.
 
To Project or Stream?
Naturally, the first thing you might think of when it comes to a home theatre is a good projector to project the image as is done in a real theatre. Although this is a superb option, it is not the only one. A good projector will need a good screen and work best in a dedicated room where you can control the external lighting. If you are in an open space, then a projector might not be the best options – although there are projectors now available that have a higher brightness level. If you don’t have a separate room for your home theatre then you might consider a big screen television – many of which are now rivalling and surpassing what can be delivered through projection.
 
Speakers
Once you have locked-down whether you want to project or invest in a big-screen television, next up on the list is your speaker setup. The usual configuration for theatre-like sound is 5.1 – this refers to having five speakers installed at strategic spots to deliver surround-sound with the one referring to a subwoofer to fill in the lower-end of the sound spectrum.
 
A/V Receiver
Now, whether you are planning on solely watching movies or if you are also planning on watching cable or other streaming services, will determine the kind of A/V receiver you will want. If you have a projector, then you will need to hook-up to either a DVD player, Roku, Apple TV or cable box in order to get a signal to project. However, if you have a smart TV, then your input is basically assuring that your TV as a connection to the internet so that it can catch whatever streaming service you subscribe to. However, if you are old school and still own DVDs, then hooking up your DVD or BluRay player is still a great option.
 
The Room
Once you have the audio/visual elements in place, it’s time to think about the rest of your room. It helps to have some sort of acoustic taming so that external noise is muffled. It is also good to have control over lighting so that you get optimum viewing. When it comes to seating – you might be limited if you are working with an existing room, however, if you are lucky enough to be building a room from scratch, then the possibilities are endless. Seating choices come in a great number of styles and choices so you should take your time when choosing.
 
Finally, the overall look and feel of your home theatre will largely depend on your own sensibilities. You can have an ultra modern design, a traditional look and something in-between. Whatever you decide, you can rest assured that it will get plenty of use.

Author

Nisha Muire

All stories by: Nisha Muire