Home Theatre System Buying Guide | How to select Best Home Theatre System

Do you want to buy a home theatre? Are you confused about which one you should go for? Then don’t worry this article will clear all of your confusion. We will be discussing things you should be aware of and the things that you should look for in a home theatre. So make sure that you stick around and read this article till the very end. 

First things first, you have to be aware of the things that you get when you buy a home theatre music system. You should check for these things. 

The things that you get with the home theatre music system are –

1. Box speakers
2. Tower speakers
3. Central Channel 
4. Rare sound speakers 
5. Sub woofer 

So these are the things that you will get when you buy any home theatre music system. So always look for these things and cross-check if you have received all of these five things or not. 

What Speaker Layout you should go for? 

This is one of the biggest confusion among people when they decide to buy a home theatre music system. So there are different speaker layouts available in the market. The available speaker layouts are 2.1, 4.1, 5.1, and 7.1. These are the four different types of speaker layouts that are available. Now how do you decide which one to opt for? 

So the speaker layout depends on the size of your room. Normally in our country, according to the size of our rooms, the most popular and the most suitable speaker layout is 5.1 to 5 speakers at present. But this might also vary depending on various factors. A 5.1 speaker layout setup will come with five speakers and one woofer. The break up of these is you get one central speaker and one subwoofer, you also get two speakers on the side and two back speakers on the rear backside for surround sound effects. So this is what you will get with a 5.1 speaker layout setup. So usually you can go for the 5.1 speaker layout as this is the most convenient and the most suitable for Indian households. 

What are the Connectivity Options available? 

Now let us move on and see the different connectivity options for the home theatre music system. You can connect your TV, gaming consoles, DVD players, Blu – Ray players, USB drives, and smartphones with your home theatre music system. To connect there are various options available which are HDMI, Audio – Video, USB, Ethernet, Apple airplay, 4K upscaling, and with 3D support connectivity port. 

1) HDMI Port (High definition multimedia interface)

With the HDMI port, you can easily send the audio from TV to speakers, soundbars, or receivers. With the HDMI port, you can also send or receive audio video, or data. The best part is that the HDMI port enables the flexibility to upstream the data. So whenever you decide to buy a home theatre music system, always look for a device that has at least three HDMI input ports for connecting multiple devices. There should at least be three ports as you will usually use one for USB, one for TV, and one for a smartphone or DVD player. So always look for a device that has a minimum of three HDMI ports. 

2) USB Ports

The USB ports can be used for connecting laptops, smartphones are it iOs or android, and tablets to your home theatre music system. You have to note that the current that is latest running version is USB 3.0. If you have a USB port you will not need a docking station. By connecting your home theatre music system via USB you can listen to your favorite music, you can also stream videos in HD, and play games. With the help of the USB port, you can also connect your pen drive to your home theatre music system. 

3) Bluetooth

The third connectivity option is NFC or Bluetooth. This is the most convenient connectivity option. NFC and Bluetooth come in handy when you have to connect your phone to the speaker for playing music. So you can easily connect your phone with the speaker via Bluetooth which just takes less than two minutes. So if you are someone who loves music then you have to make sure that the home theatre music system that you buy should have NFC and Bluetooth connectivity options. You do not have to worry much about Bluetooth as all smartphones and even laptops can be connected to the home theatre music system via Bluetooth but when it comes to NFC you have to make sure that your smartphone has it. So always make sure that the device you buy has NFC and Bluetooth connectivity options. 

4) Ethernet

The fourth connectivity option is Ethernet. Having Ethernet connectivity in the audio-video receiver has a lot of benefits. A few of these are easy updates of the receiver’s firmware and online music streaming. You can also easily get access to the content on your home network with the help of DLNA and smoothly stream music from your smartphones or tablets. 

Wired Speakers or Wireless Speakers

What type of speakers should I go for? Should I buy wired speakers or should I opt for wireless speakers? 

Now that we have seen all the connectivity options you should look for when you get a home theatre music system. The next thing is one of the most important things and that is which speakers should you go for. Many people are confused as to if they should go for wired speakers or they should buy wireless speakers. So if you are someone who always likes to keep your room organized, neat, and clean, and if you do not want your room to be messy and have electrical wires scattered all over the room then getting wireless speakers is the best option for you. 

But you have to note that wireless speakers are super expensive than wired ones. But you also get a lot of benefits with the wireless speakers. Speaking of benefits, wireless speakers are easy to install so the installation process will not be a hassle, on the other hand, you might need a professional to install the wired speakers and the process is usually tiring and quite difficult. But it completely depends on the individual. Weigh the pros and cons of both wired and wireless speakers and then decide which are the most suitable ones for you. 

What should I look for in an audio-video receiver? 

The audio-video receiver is the most important thing when it comes to the home theatre music system. We can say that the audio-video receiver is the heart of the home theatre music system. So you have to make sure that whichever device you get has a good audio-video receiver. You have to make sure that your audio video received can handle Dolby digital soundtracks, DTS soundtracks, Netflix, DVDs, Blu – ray discs. 

Now another important thing is the subwoofer. The subwoofers produce low-pitched audio frequencies. So the bass is produced by the subwoofers. You get a 5.1 central configuration then you have to make sure that you place it below the central channel. But if the configuration of your home theatre is 7.1 and if you are using two then you will have to place one at the right side and the other at the left and then the front and back surround speakers. This placement will give you an enhanced sound effect. The best brands when it comes to home theatre music systems are Sony, JBL, Samsung, and Philips. 

We have now covered everything you needed to know about the home theatre music system from its speakers, brands, subwoofers, and connectivity options. So always make sure to check these things before you buy a home theatre music system.