Lovely Home Theater Design

A lot of planning goes into designing a home theater, not only placement of hardware but aesthetics and functionality. Certain questions arise when approaching these possibilities.

A. Is my system strong enough to support my theater?
B. What is the viewing size of my screen?
C. What is my viewing area?
D. How am I surrounding my audience?
E. How comfortable are my patrons?

Let's start with "Is my system strong enough to support my theater".

My first thought is what am I trying to accomplish with my theater? I arrive at this question as I look at craigslist.com in my area, because I see people selling hardware based on their "idea" of what good hardware is. Now let me say this that all of this is subjective, we all have our own thoughts and feelings about what is right and wrong and this is by now means concrete. These are my opinions only. So with that, let us proceed. If ever you have never ventured out to a high fidelity vendor, most of this will sound pompous.

If you regularity shop Best Buy or Circuit City I am sorry to say you have never heard great sound. Not to put those stores down but they serve the many not the few. And now a days they are providing better equipment, but my faith remains in the niche stores that know. Now, in hopes to save face, it is probably because you never knew to seek out such sources. So again, is my "system" strong enough to support my theater? Well, who are you trying to support? Are you a family of five, single, or is it just you and your wife/husband? For me it's just me and my wife Cheri.

Anyway, a family of five will ultimately need more room obviously, so sound power becomes an issue naturally. A theater for less people becomes less stringent based on sheer volume. Not to say that quality needs to be reserved for the many, like I say it is just me and Cheri, yet we can support the many but reserve the quality for ourselves. Selfish? You decide.

Anywho, let us continue with the size of the viewing area. Now, this all becomes moot if we are sitting around a 27" screen. Being that the whole HDTV thing is happening and the FCC is going digital at the end of 2009 we are talking about LCD's and Plasma TV's in the sizes of 48" or greater, sorry, so, anything less is really not home theater, period, again my apologies.

Looking at the viewing area, if you are not containing your audience within your speakers more to the point if you have people outside your sound stage, then you have lost the effect that you have been trying to achieve all along. Understand this: A theater is dynamic. Once outside the envelope of sound, your theater is nothing more than a TV, loudly. You will have lost frontal dynamic, side surround encompass, and rear finality, and based on your financial commitment to your theater, depth as far as subsonic values.

I am amazed at all the formats of surround systems now available, currently 5.1, 7.1 and, 9.1 have their audiences. I am a fan of 7.1, which means two mains left and right a center channel two side surrounds and two rear surrounds. I have a subwoofer, however my front sound stage all employ subs built in so the .1 signal is sent to all three main speakers including my subwoofer which I can dial down to eliminate all the signals only to produce the frequencies that deliver the punch of deep bass. This becomes relevant in frequencies so low they are not heard but felt, like explosions that give movies realism.

Room size and personal preference yield to surround sound experience and there are no hard rules to go by. You as the buyer of your hardware would only know what you are attempting, but remember keep your audience within your sound stage but at the same time expand your sound stage as far as possible. This happens with experimentation and knowing your gear. Don't be a hard head, read your owner's manuals; the manufactures know your products better than you do, even if you don't want to admit it.

Lastly, as the host of your theater, if you put all this time in to it, be gracious, you have all the time to enjoy your theater, let your guests sit in the best seats in the house.

Inspirational Home Theater Interior Design Tips

Home theater interior design is an important factor for pleasurable viewing and listening. There are some tips and tricks to achieving optimum viewing and listening enjoyment without breaking into a sweat when you think about your budget.

Color Schemes

Colors can dictate the ambience of a room and home theater interior design is not an exception to this. Darker colors are the norm for almost all home theater interior design concepts. Dark walls and ceilings encourage a comfortable and private alcove in which the individual or group may watch with reduced possibility of being disturbed by movement around the room. Dark walls also help to emphasize the screen which helps with a person's concentration.

Home theater interior design tips also encourage the use of dark carpeting or flooring as well as similarly colored seats and furniture. These add to the overall comfy ambience of the home theater interior design and the concept of the entire room having one similar color makes for a better viewing and listening experience.

Lighting

Following the theme of being unobtrusive, lights should also be unobtrusive enough so as not to detract from the viewing experience. Overly complicated lighting fixtures can interfere with a person's concentration and take the eye away from the screen. Recessed lighting fixtures are ideal for a home theater interior design idea.

Muted lights can be added to the sides and back of the room but these may also be turned off when the session starts. One aspect of home theater interior design is to place some muted lights near the floor to help with individuals who may feel the need to leave while a movie is being viewed.

Seating

Seats are also important in home theater interior design. Stadium seating is usually recommended for home theater design plans for a larger room that can seat more than ten people. Rooms with smaller capacity can opt for a semi circle seating arrangement or just a few theater seats in front with bar stools at the back with a bar.

Theater seating is quite popular for average sized rooms that can seat about three to four individuals. Smaller rooms that accommodate about two to three simple theater seats can feature a small table in front for refreshments and snacks.

These home theater interior design ideas and tips are well thought of and sound ideas which can work for most home theater designs. They are also not as expensive as one might think or if they are then they are likely worth the expense.