You’ve just dropped thousands of dollars on a new home theatre set up, only to realise that you as you get home and it doesn’t do what you thought it would or the sound and picture quality is less than expected.
You’ve just dropped thousands of dollars on a new home theatre set up, only to realise that you as you get home and it doesn’t do what you thought it would or the sound and picture quality is less than expected. Setting up your home theatre can also cause mistakes, but that’s a whole separate topic. Before you go out and splash cash on the wrong system make sure you consider these 5 home theatre buying mistakes.
Be very careful rushing out and buying a ‘home theatre in a box’ solution. What might seem like a good deal can often be lacking especially with the loudspeakers (the most important element of any home theatre system.) If you haven’t tested their sound output and quality before you buy, there’s a decent chance you could be disappointed.
Depending on your room size, the height of the ceiling and your listening preferences should influence which speakers you go with. Take your own music that you like to listen to and test it – only then will you be able to make a good comparison about the sound quality.
Audition your speakers in your own home to make an honest assessment of their sound quality.
Bigger is normally better but not always. If your lounge room is on the smaller side be careful getting the biggest HDTV sets out there, it can cause the table tennis effect where your neck is darting left and right to watch all the action.
On the other hand, HDTV pictures can seem smaller at home that in did in showroom setting so its good idea go slightly larger than the size your first are drawn to. It’s better to have a good resolution on a slightly smaller screen than sacrificing resolution purely for a larger screen.
If you want any kind of solid output for watching movies with a wide soundscape, purchasing only small box or small cube speakers will not provide the lower frequencies or richness of sound needed.
A sub-woofer is a must for a depth of sound if there are no floor standing speakers. If you don’t have the space for a surround sound option, a sound bar or left/right floor standing speakers will provide bass that smaller speakers cannot provide for smaller but powerful home theatre solution.
Price matters a lot, but it’s true that you shouldn’t be too thrifty when it comes to getting the best deal. You can always find cheap electronics flooding the marketplace but the saying ‘you get what you pay for’ is generally true. Cheaper items are generally stripped down versions of their counterparts and do not offer the longevity or reliability.
It’s not necessary to buy all the same brand components of a home theatre system – sometimes we recommend a different brand AV receiver to a surround sound speaker set. It all depends of the situation. Some brands are known for their audio, where others manufacturers are specifically known for their video. A quality brand may not be cheap, but it will continue to perform well and be reliable.
Some buyers make the mistake of purchasing an amplifier and not investing in speakers that will not do justice to the output, leaving the sound tinny and thin. Purchasing a receiver that doesn’t accommodate future technology or gadgets is another area where people go wrong.
Make sure you always have HDMI inputs as even if you don’t yet have a HDTV, your receiver will be able to accommodate future technologies.
For more advice, don’t hesitate to call Universal Home Theatre, the premier home theatre company in Brisbane.
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