How to Buy and Set Up a Surround Sound Home Theater System

"Home theater" is really just a good television and other video components matched with an external sound system. However, an old stereo hooked up to a TV is worlds away from a deluxe "surround sound" stereo system matched to your video components.

Difficulty:

Moderately challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• DVD Players
• Hi-Fi Stereo VCRs
• Large Televisions Set

1. Set aside space in your home for your surround sound home theater. This should include space for a large (generally, at least 27-inch) television set, two large stand-up speakers, two smaller surround speakers, and any other components you may want to include.

2. Decide on the video components of your home theater system. For basic television viewing, you'll want a roof antenna or cable. If you watch a lot of videos, include a hi-fi stereo VCR. For optimal picture and sound quality, choose a laserdisc or a digital video disc (DVD) player.

3. Select a surround-sound receiver. For basic surround sound, purchase a receiver equipped with a four-channel Dolby Pro Logic decoder. For more advanced and realistic surround sound effects, purchase a receiver equipped with a five-channel Dolby Digital decoder.

4. Purchase surround sound speakers. You'll need at least five speakers to fully experience surround sound: two large front speakers, a smaller central channel speaker and two small rear or side surround speakers.

5. Position your television set where it can be easily viewed. Consider placement carefully: you'll place other components according to the TV's placement.

6. Connect and place your video peripherals: VCR, laserdisc player, DVD player, and so on.

7. Position the surround sound receiver near the television so you can easily adjust audio quality.

8. See the Related eHow "How to Set Up Surround Sound Speakers" to learn how to place the speakers for optimal sound quality.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want to provide more power to your speakers, purchase a pre-amplifier.

• Ask the stereo sales representative for advice on the best sound equipment for the size, shape and building materials of your particular room. A rough estimate of the room's dimensions should be fine.

• Your left and right front speakers will create a wide variety of music and sound effects; they must be able to cover the full range of frequencies. If your speakers' woofers cannot handle substantial bass, consider adding a subwoofer to your system.

• Your center channel speaker will mainly create dialog, so its frequency range should be middle to high.

• If two components in different areas of the room are connected by wires, run the wires along the joint between the floor and the wall and attach them to the floor.