Choosing a home theater and making no mistake: 14 important parameters and tips you need to know before buying!

Simulating complete immersion while watching a movie is something that avid moviegoers appreciate. Surround sound, a large screen with a clear picture and a 3D effect can create the desired atmosphere. Modern cinemas have long been providing their customers with the opportunity to feel the emotions of the main characters, get the same emotions and watch the progress of the plot as if from inside the film. But what to do if you want to enjoy the same quality of films at home? The answer is simple - buy your own home theater instead of the usual TV. At the same time, when choosing such equipment, it is important to take into account the many nuances of the operation and characteristics of various models, and to make the right decision, study the rating of the best manufacturers.

Home cinema included.

A classic Hi-Fi home theater is a 5.1 system that uses a pair of front speakers on either side of the screen, one center channel, a pair of rear speakers and a subwoofer. 7.1 or 7.2 systems are also often installed, where side speakers and a second subwoofer are added accordingly. Next come home theater systems 9.1, 11.2, 13.2 and many more options for the placement of acoustics, including even ceiling ones. When building a home theater, you can use any type of speaker systems - floor-standing, bookshelf, suspended, built-in, active and wireless.

The second element of a home theater is a receiver, or as it is now commonly called an AV amplifier, which includes a switch for all digital and analog signal sources, a multi-channel amplifier, surround sound decoders - Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Atmos, Auro 3D, DTS X and many others. Equipped with network functions for listening to music from your home network, that is, a computer, server and other network storage, as well as for listening to music from the Internet. It can connect via cable, via Wi-Fi and additionally connect via Bluetooth to mobile devices. It has a large number of settings in manual and automatic mode. They are divided by the number of channels from 5.1 to 16, power and some additional functions. Serious systems use separate components - a processor and an amplifier or several power amplifiers, depending on the number of channels/speaker systems, up to 64!

The next component is the source of audio video content; there may be several of them. Blu-Ray player, media player, game console, satellite receiver, TV set-top box and others.

And of course, you can’t do without a video display device; it can be a TV, preferably a large one, or a projector with a special screen (a white wall or a sheet will not work if you need a high-quality picture).

A simple example of a Dolby Atmos home theater with a projector and screen. You will need a set of 11.2 acoustics, which will have two front speakers, a center channel, two upper front speakers, two rear, two side, two ceiling and two subwoofers, a receiver with the appropriate number of amplification channels, an audio video player and a projector with a screen. The cost of such a home theater can vary from several hundred thousand to several million rubles. But, a cinema can be created for almost any budget, even starting from several tens of thousands - it will, of course, be a simple 5.1 version with small speakers, and if you assemble a home theater using High-End components, then the cost in this case can be completely indecent. And regardless of the price of a home theater set, our salon always has an individual approach to any client, consultation and selection of all equipment, on-site installation and training on system management.

Built-in acoustics

• “And the walls will sing”: Ceratec Cerasonar. Speaker systems can sometimes become a real headache for interior designers - it can be difficult to hide all the cables and speaker cabinets. Therefore, Ceratec came up with acoustics that can be completely hidden under wallpaper or a layer of plaster. Using the example of five speaker models, we will show how such a system works and how to create your own sound interior by distributing the speakers over the surfaces in the room (including furniture). An example of what the installation process looks like.

• “For large walls”: test of built-in acoustics Dali Phantom S-280. In this article we will understand how wall-mounted acoustics differ from floor-mounted ones, and how to get decent sound with their help. Here we will talk about acoustic tests for cinemas Dali Phantom S-280 as a stereo pair. The sound was assessed using guitar solos by the progressive rock band Rush and recordings of symphony orchestra performances.

• Review: cinema halls "Audiomania". We are talking about the audio equipment installed in two of our cinema halls: the ICE line of loudspeakers and the Ceratec Cerasonar “invisible” loudspeakers. We share details of the construction of cinema halls and the organization of multi-channel sound management. The 41st episode of the “Sound” podcast is devoted to the same topic: how the metamorphosis of a former office space into a cinema hall took place.

• ICE - ice and fire. We are talking about equipping the Audiomania demonstration cinema with Dolby Atmos, Auro 3D sound and domestic ICE (Immersive Cinema Experience) acoustic systems. Their main advantage is versatility. This acoustics can work both in front and behind (as well as from above and from the side). We present the characteristics, analyze installation options and the subtleties of ICE production.

How to choose a home theater for your home.

On the one hand, the choice can be very simple; it is to buy a ready-made solution, the so-called one-box home theater. Or take this issue seriously. Determine the room in which the home theater or home cinema will be built; in this case, this is a specially designated room in which it will also be necessary to carry out acoustic treatment. Select acoustic systems appropriate to the size of the room, quantity, power, decide on the type of placement - floor, shelf, built-in, etc. The design of the acoustics will also be important. Select the appropriate receiver or processor with a power amplifier and the necessary sources of audio video content. And decide on what you will watch movies on, TV or a screen with a projector. If you are building a home cinema, definitely a projector! To simplify the choice of equipment for a recreation center, it will be easier for you to contact us at the M-stereo salon, we will help.

How to set up surround sound

• We build a home theater: choosing acoustics, installing and configuring them. This material is a treasure trove on the topic of home movies. It is divided into several thematic blocks; in addition to the basic guide, the main mistakes in arranging acoustics and the nuances of configuration are discussed here.

• Screens, lenses, video processors or how to build a cinema hall with a wide screen. Here you will find a small educational program about video framing: why you need an anamorphic lens and how to work with it. In addition, we will tell you what resolution you should choose projector screens with if you want to play movies from digital media (Blu-ray) and watch TV.

• “Curb the wave”: adjusting room acoustics for different budgets. Here, using the example of a typical room with an area of ​​19 square meters and a ceiling height of 2.8 meters, the sound of acoustic systems was optimized for different budgets. Methodologies range from routine replacement of furnishings to wall and ceiling modifications.

• "Tips from THX": how to get everything from your home theater. THX certification describes a set of requirements for high-quality home theater systems. It was developed in 1982 specifically so that the director of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi could convey his “acoustic” concept to the audience. Here, THX CTO Scott Francis gives tips on optimizing home theater sound.

Which home theater projector to choose?

There are a huge number of projector options on the market, from tiny pico projectors to huge cinema projectors. And which projector to choose? It is necessary to take into account the size of the room where the cinema will actually be, the desired or possible size of the screen, how dark the room can be, the darker the better. Possible installation location, distance to the screen. And of course the image quality you want to achieve. By adding up all these parameters, you can select the right projector, but in this case it is better to contact specialists, you will significantly save your time.

A few answers to frequently asked questions

How is a home theater different from a TV?

A TV is just a video display device with very mediocre sound due to its physical characteristics.

How is a home theater different from a music center?

The music center includes only two speakers, which will not create the effect of presence when watching movies.

What is the difference between a home theater and a soundbar?

The soundbar only creates a virtual feeling of immersion due to the reflection of sound from the walls; it can only be used if there is absolutely no space for a full-fledged home theater.

What is the difference between a home theater and a Hi-Fi system?

The Hi-Fi system includes only a couple of speakers, which will not allow you to achieve the surround sound effect.

Main selection criteria

You should not choose such expensive equipment only on the recommendations of consultants.

It is imperative to understand which characteristics presented in the device passport are an indicator of quality, and which are just a marketing ploy.

To begin with, you can study the parameters for choosing the main components of a home theater.

Player selection

There are two types of home theater players: DVD and Blu-Ray. They differ in the way they record information - for “dividishniks” this happens using an infrared ray, for Blu-Rays using a blue ray.

DVD player Blue-Ray player

Blu-Ray is a relatively new technology, so not all movies can be found on discs for this player.

The main criterion for choosing a player is support for the desired sound format. There are three main options for home theater sound standards:

1. DTS is a relatively inexpensive technology, but its quality is inferior to newer developments. Number of channels from 1 to 5.1;
2. Dolby Digital is a more modern format, but also not ideal in terms of bitrate quality and sampling frequency. The number of channels matches the DTS format;
3. Dolby Digital EX and DTS ES 6-channel audio formats are the result of the latest developments. They are distinguished by good lossless compression quality and support for several audio tracks simultaneously. The number of channels reaches 8.

The ideal option is when the player supports all audio formats.
Otherwise, when you buy a new disc, you may encounter the problem of format incompatibility and poor sound quality as a result. The type of connection should also be taken into account. An HDMI connection is suitable for DTS and Dolby Digital, and HDMI 1.3 for newer formats.

Acoustic system and its composition

One of the main components of a home theater is the speaker system. That is why her choice should be treated with special scrupulousness. You need to pay attention to:

1. Power. The larger the room in which the system will be located, the greater its power should be. For small spaces, a power of 50-70 W is enough; for rooms larger than 30 m2, about 150 W are needed. The instructions for the speaker system may indicate two powers - nominal and peak. It is necessary to pay attention to the rated power, since maximum performance cannot always be achieved indoors;
2. Reproducible frequency range. The higher it is, the better. But there simply cannot be indicators above 20,000 Hz, since this is the limiting frequency for human perception. The minimum value is 20 Hz. In systems with a subwoofer, the minimum limit does not matter;
3. Sensitivity. The higher it is, the louder the sound the speakers will produce. The optimal value is 95-100 dB.

When it comes to choosing speakers, several different factors will come into play. Here are the main ones:

• placement - speakers can be floor or ceiling. The former are suitable for large systems and have excellent sound power, while the latter are usually placed in small rooms (in this case a subwoofer is necessary);
• the presence of an amplifier - speakers with a built-in amplifier are used in active speaker systems, but passive systems with speakers without an amplifier require an external connection.

Floor-standing speakers Ceiling speakers

The built-in amplifier makes it easier to tune the entire system and creates higher quality sound. External connection of amplifiers can become a problematic task both in terms of equipment placement and extra costs.

It is important to pay attention to the type of speaker cabinet. They can be:

1. Closed;
2. With a sound labyrinth;
3. Bass reflex.

Closed enclosures have a bad effect on the transmission of low frequencies, and therefore deteriorate the sound quality. The most common option is speakers with a bass reflex.

Quality, brightness, image resolution

All these parameters apply to a home theater TV. First of all, it is worth noting that to watch movies in the best quality, you need a screen with a diagonal of at least 32 inches.

Screens for modern TVs can be LCD or plasma. Their main differences:

1. Plasma better conveys color saturation and various shades;
2. LCD TVs are more durable, lasting approximately 60,000 hours;
3. The electricity consumption of plasma TVs is twice that of LCD;
4. LCD TVs are available in standard sizes with a screen aspect ratio of 16:9, plasma can be any size.

The higher the brightness, resolution and image quality, the better the picture on the screen will be.

Additional functions

Now we can dwell on the analysis of the remaining parameters and functions of the home theater. Among them:

1. 3D support. Expensive TV models are equipped with such a function as viewing 3D films. Stereo glasses are usually included in the kit, but, as a rule, to achieve the coolest effect, it is better to purchase them separately and of better quality. The best viewing and gaming quality is provided by 3D-Blu-ray technology;
2. HDMI inputs. The more there are, the better. They are necessary in order to connect additional equipment to the system, for example, a game console or the required number of speakers;
3. Automatic sound calibration. Sound calibration is an important aspect for achieving ideal sound from all home theater speakers. This function is performed automatically and saved for all subsequent system starts, which significantly saves the owner’s time and nerves;
4. The iPlayer feature for online streaming of games or movies will be useful for those who are used to sharing all aspects of their life with family or friends;
5. External interfaces. The presence of a DLNA system allows you to watch movies or listen to music launched from a computer or stereo system, and Wi-Fi allows you to watch movies or shows online (which is convenient if you do not have the opportunity to purchase a particular movie on disk). The number of different inputs is also important - optical, component, linear, microphone, etc.;
6. It is very important to pay attention to the parameters of the head unit. Different home theater models may support different audio and picture formats. For example, most models support Lossless and Hi-Res formats.

If you want to play files of the wrong format, you will have to reformat them, which can be problematic. Therefore, priority should be given to those home theater models that support the maximum number of different formats.

The design and dimensions of a home theater are important. On sale you can find speakers and other elements of cinemas with bodies made of different materials - from metal and plastic to wood. The last option is considered the most successful, since wood does not create a resonant sound.

Selecting a location

Choosing the right speaker system configuration and location of the entire home theater in the room is also an important task. The level of comfort and sound quality when watching movies depends on how well the location is chosen.

The choice of location is important

A few basic rules:

• the audio system speakers should be located at approximately the same distance from the audience;
• You cannot place the seats close to the wall - you need to leave some distance from the rear speakers;
• the larger the screen, the farther the seats need to be located from it;
• For comfortable viewing, it is better to provide thick curtains on the windows, and also place lamps in such a way that no glare appears on the screen.

To get truly surround sound, it is not enough to buy the best-performing speakers. Their location is of paramount importance:

• the central speaker should be located as close to the TV as possible - above or below it;
• two front speakers - on the sides of the TV, but no closer than 50 cm to it;
• two rear speakers - behind the seats, it is optimal to place them a little higher or at the head level of the seated spectators;
• It is recommended to place the subwoofer not on suspensions or a cabinet, but on the floor.

By following these recommendations, you can create, even in a small room, the complete effect of immersion in the universe of the film.

Playback devices

Various equipment can be used as video playback devices. Due to the fact that modern projectors and TVs are equipped with various wireless interfaces, images can be transferred to them simply by connecting a tablet or smartphone. Some people prefer to use a personal computer or laptop for these purposes; this is the most universal solution, while others like to use a Blu-ray player. In this case, it all depends on your preferences.

Correct placement of system components

Before purchasing equipment, you need to decide on the room and visually divide it into a viewing area and places where the components will be installed. It is also necessary to take into account that all equipment is connected by various cables and connected to the electrical network.

Important! The screen should be centrally located and at eye level of the audience. The acoustic system is placed around the perimeter, making the sound as real and clear as possible.

Installing a screen or mounting a TV does not require as much attention as installing acoustics. When choosing and installing them, you need to know that floor-standing speakers provide the best sound because they consist of several speakers. This allows the sound to spread evenly throughout the room, creating a 3D effect. Of course, you can mount the speakers in the walls, ceiling, or install them on shelves or racks, but then there will be a need to hide the wires in plastic channels, and the sound will be a little muffled with an uneven distribution throughout the room.

Important! For large rooms, it is better to choose acoustics with a 6.1 and 7.1 configuration for a home theater.

It is better to choose a player with USB ports and the function of playing various formats. This will help create a home theater with maximum capabilities that will give a head start to professional cinemas.

Projector. Subtleties of choice

At the moment, modern projectors provide excellent image quality, but do not forget or, more often, ignore that the picture will look perfect only on a projection screen or a flat wall covered with special paint.

Let's consider 2 types of surface:

• SCREEN. Choose a model with a 16:9 aspect ratio image. Be sure to pay attention to the reflectance coefficient - the reflective ability of the canvas. The optimal value is 1–1.2. Film buffs should pay attention to frame screens that are placed on the wall. Rolled surfaces are easy to install and compact in assembled form. For users who are not limited by their wallet, you can take a closer look at a canvas with an electric drive and the possibility of hidden installation in the ceiling or wall.

• DYE. Special paint is commercially available, is easy to apply to the wall and, most importantly, provides excellent color reproduction with high brightness and minimal flare. In terms of simplicity and quality, this solution is in no way inferior to, and sometimes even superior to, expensive and bulky fabric projection screens.

Flaws:

• limited lamp life (replacement will cost up to 30% of the cost of the projector itself)
• high price of devices
• creating the required level of illumination in the room (the need to darken the room before viewing)

In any case, the home theater configuration with a projector will be considered top-end, since the price of a decent projector is quite high, the user’s planned budget for the remaining components will not be small. There is no point in limiting yourself to a frankly weak speaker system and an inexpensive receiver in a room equipped for a home cinema.

Choosing a projector

There are two main types of projectors - LCD and DLP . There are other types, but they will not be considered due to their enormous cost. In a projector, the highest priority characteristics are image quality (saturation, brightness, contrast) and image resolution.

Image quality

An LCD projector is safer for your eyes. More saturated colors - DLP projectors. The better the image quality of an LCD projector, the higher its cost. When comparing approximately identical projectors in terms of image quality, the cost of DLP will be lower. And in the same price category, the image quality of a DLP projector will be better.

It's worth making a small correction here. If you take a good LCD projector comparable to the cost of a good TV, then its quality will be quite comparable to a regular cinema. At least without comparing both images in turn, you will not notice the difference.

I prioritized eye health and safety and chose an LCD projector.

Projector resolution

The minimum acceptable resolution for a high-quality picture is HD format – 1280×720 pixels. Most movies on DVD and on the Internet do not exceed this resolution. If you find a movie in good quality with an image resolution of 1280x720, then on a projector with the same resolution the picture quality will be excellent. I don’t recommend using a lower resolution projector for watching movies.

1920x1200 is the maximum image resolution for home projectors today. Is it worth buying a projector with this screen resolution? Yes, if you are going to watch films in this resolution and if finances allow.

I have a projector with a resolution of 1280x720. When I bought it, the 1920x1200 resolution was just becoming fashionable and projectors with this resolution were expensive. Today, such projectors have significantly decreased in price and are available to a wider range of people.

I often watch movies on a projector in a lower resolution than the projector allows. It is not always possible to find a film even in a screen resolution such as 1280x720. And if you download from the Internet, it is often easier to download a one and a half gigabyte movie than to wait for a 6 GB movie to download.

Movies with lower resolution are also pleasant to watch. But when you put on a movie in good quality with a resolution of 1280x720, you remember how amazing the image can be.

Now what are so many people afraid of? The consumable material in the projector is the lamp. It has a limited shelf life and ranges from approximately 1500 to 4000 hours. Depends on the modernity of the projector and the intensity of its work. With any projector it is possible to make the image brighter or less bright. After the lamp reaches the end of its service life, it will have to be replaced. It is expensive, but the lamp will last you a long time.

In fact, these watches will last you for several years. Over the course of 3 years of operation, my projector worked for 1700 hours in different modes and only recently informed me that it was time to change the lamp. At the same time, I haven’t changed it yet and continue to watch it that way. I did not notice any deterioration in picture quality.

Projector cost . A good projector costs approximately 50,000 rubles ± 10,000.

I bought my projector at the end of 2008. Today, the average characteristics and capabilities of projectors have increased significantly. And if you see a projector with similar or better characteristics than mine, then you can safely buy it for yourself. These characteristics are quite sufficient for good images in films.

My projector specifications:

• LCD 16:9
• Resolution: 1280×720
• Brightness: 1600 lumens
• Contrast: 10000:1
• Noise from 32 to 39 dBA - nothing can be heard during the movie

Home cinema - from A to Z. Article 1.

This Tsifrovika article opens a series of publications united by the topic “Home Cinema”, and represents a kind of introduction to subsequent articles, which will examine individual aspects of this topic. In the meantime, our author, by the way, is a great expert in this field, talks about the first questions that every novice “home movie lover” faces.

A home theater is something more than a radio in the kitchen, a TV or a video system, and sometimes more than a stereo system. This is no longer just a device with which you can watch a video, it is a multifunctional device that replaces all of the above and, coming into our lives, often takes up a fairly large, and sometimes huge part of it: it becomes a place of rest for friends or for the whole family .

About DVD and more

It would seem that just recently, when the DVD format was just beginning its victorious march around the world, a home theater of any level allowed you to watch only films on DVD media. Moreover, in our country, licensed films cost exorbitant amounts of money, and their pirated performances were of such low quality that there was a desire to watch the same movie on a regular video cassette. Basically, it was this factor that held back the process of mass distribution of home theaters. In those days, only very wealthy people purchased home theaters and could afford to collect a more or less impressive film library. But today progress, as they say, is obvious: now DVD players can play DVD-Video, Super VCD and VCD formats, films in MPEG-4 format, as well as music in CD-DA, HDCD, MP3, WMA, DVD formats. Audio.

It may seem that the more expensive the player, the more formats it plays. However, the situation is exactly the opposite. Compressed audio formats, such as MP3 and WMA, are good for compact players: due to the deterioration of quality, you can record such files on a disk in huge quantities, this is quite convenient for pop music, voice recording, but in no way suitable for classics, good acoustic concerts or rock performers: if you compress such things into MP3 or WMA, you will lose all the charm and charm of these works. Of course, if you listen to music on a low-quality home theater, the difference will not be so noticeable, and sometimes not noticeable at all. But if you have a good system at home that allows you to reproduce high-quality sound, then the difference will certainly be noticeable. The same can be said about the MPEG-4 format. For these reasons, manufacturers of expensive and good equipment often exclude MP3, WMA and MPEG-4 from the list of playable formats. Agree, it would be illogical to purchase speakers of the highest price category, thin, tested on many discs and carefully selected equipment, put it in a specially treated room in which ideal listening conditions are created and listen to music, stripped down MP3, in which everything is removed overtones. The best sound-reproducing equipment is the equipment with which you forget that you are not listening to music in a concert hall.

Obraztsova was once asked: “How do you like the Basques?” She replied: “It’s a dead voice. There are no overtones there."

But this all applies, as a rule, to significantly expensive models, which are not accessible to everyone and which, probably, should be called luxury goods. These luxury items are most often purchased by audiophiles, people who live and breathe music, sound and devote most of their lives and a significant part of their income to their hobby. There are few such people; there are many more home theater buyers who just need to be able to listen to music in addition to watching movies - then the MP3 format and less expensive components that will fit the interior and sound decent enough may well be suitable, showing quite high performance, developing great power.

Geography and Arithmetic

Much, very much depends on the correct and balanced approach to selecting a home theater. Here it is necessary to take into account many factors that initially seem insignificant. And even if you decide to purchase the most expensive equipment, even then the issue of installing this equipment in your home may seriously arise. When installing equipment, there are many little things to consider. It is not enough to simply connect speakers and equipment with wires so that they just sound. No. The wires must be laid correctly, so that their length is minimal, and at the same time try to reduce the number of intersections between them and make sure that they do not pass near electrical appliances. It is also desirable that the wires do not pass next to network cables, but since this is unlikely, it is desirable at least that the direction of the current in the wire is opposite to the direction of the signal in the cable.

When arranging speakers, it is necessary to take into account the “geography of the room”. It is advisable to correctly position the speakers relative to the listener's position in order to create the correct sound picture. Today, many showrooms often recommend purchasing the following set of speakers for a home theater: large floor-standing (or bookshelf) front speakers, a front center channel speaker and two small rear speakers. However, this is not a completely correct home theater package. Small speakers in place of the rear speakers are an unfortunate legacy of the Doldy ProLogic decoder. The fact is that it was he who supplied the rear channels, which were then considered insignificant, with a frequency-cut signal. At the same time, it was cut both in the upper and lower frequencies. The sound that came out of the rear channels was then considered quite sufficient and acceptable - so they began to make them small. Now, when sound movement is possible not only from the left to the right front channel, but also obliquely from the left front to the right rear, the old system is not suitable. When using more or less modern decoders Dolby Digital, DTS, etc., in order to achieve the full effect, it is strongly recommended to use speakers similar to the front ones at the rear speakers, otherwise you will deprive yourself of some of the pleasure that you could get from watching a movie. And in general, incorrect installation can negate many of the advantages of the purchased system, that is, actually subjectively reduce its cost.

However, there are quite a lot of options for installing and using a home theater. True, we have to admit that they are quite arbitrary and largely depend on the amount of money you want to spend. The boundaries, of course, are quite blurry, but they exist.

Multimedia, hi-fi or hi-end?

Conventionally, the home theater market is divided into three segments: multimedia, hi-fi and hi-end. It is conditional: it is impossible, for example, to classify a home theater into any of the above groups by the number or size of speakers or by output power. Even the presence of a built-in amplifier does not allow you to unconditionally establish the class. Undoubtedly, the main thing that allows us to determine the “class affiliation” of the equipment is its sound. It is painstaking listening that allows you to distinguish hi-fi equipment from hi-end.

When you first start choosing a home theater system, it seems that you will never learn to distinguish the advantages of one acoustic system over another; it seems that after listening to five amplifiers, you can no longer decide which one is preferable. Of course, experience comes with time, however, for the first steps you don’t need much: after literally testing good equipment several times in different salons, you will already begin to understand what “grainy highs” means and what it’s like when “the sound stage is not visible " Listening, like installation, has its own subtleties. Even, perhaps, not subtleties, but the canons that you need to know in order to adequately assess the advantages and disadvantages of this or that acoustics.

The first and most important thing, of course, is that if you are listening to a system, only one component can be replaced at a time; only under this condition can you objectively judge the quality of the component being tested. That is, if you are choosing an amplifier for yourself in a store, then you need to ask to assemble a circuit into which you will alternately connect different amplifiers, then you will get a more or less adequate idea of ​​​​its characteristics. Of course, you still need to be able to do all this, but some stores provide it. True, you shouldn’t abuse it either.

It is important to choose the right music and movies that you want to listen to and watch when testing. It is very important. Often stores stock discs that hide the bad sides of the kit and, on the contrary, demonstrate only its good qualities. You will need to select several compositions, and perhaps discs, that would allow you to evaluate the set, analyzing the nuances of playback, the pros or cons of pre-amplification, the presence or absence of a background, and many more of the same global and smaller, but no less important parameters.

Why is the smaller parameter so important? Imagine that the kit you purchase does not reproduce one frequency well. When you listen to the set for the first time, inattentively, using the seller's disc, this defect may not be particularly noticeable and may not spoil the overall picture. And then you will purchase this system and listen to it at home - and after a while you will feel this drawback very strongly: after all, day after day on each of your favorite discs the same defect will be heard at the same frequencies.

It must be said that such a careful approach, of course, is necessary when choosing hi-end equipment, and partly hi-fi, and is unlikely to be applicable when choosing multimedia. There is no class war. Both inexpensive solutions and sound-perfect expensive cinemas are needed. It happens that the owners of different sets treat each other with, to put it mildly, misunderstanding. For a person who owns a hi-end system is, as a rule, an audiophile and is proud not so much of the system itself as of the sound it produces. It is quite easy to distinguish a creature of the “audiophile” breed at home. If the person you come to visit turns on the equipment “on full blast”, the work of the subwoofer creates the impression of a good earthquake, this is unlikely to be a subtle connoisseur. But if he takes you into the room, sits you in a chair and, turning on the music at medium, sometimes becomes silent closer to a quiet volume, you listen to the music not for five minutes, but for the entire half hour, then most likely you have fallen into the clutches of an audiophile. But we warn you, a good set and a slight attachment to good sound can push anyone down this crooked audiophile path. This means that thick specialized magazines and books will be found in your house, and you will start surfing acoustics-related sites on the Internet. All this will take up quite a lot of your time and money, and besides, you may encounter misunderstanding on the part of your loved ones... etc. and so on.

Of course, the quality of the purchased kit is proportional to the amount of money spent. But this dependence is not always linear; sometimes it is impossible to clearly assign a certain set to a certain group. For example, we recently came across a relatively inexpensive set of acoustics, which, in terms of brand, price and many other parameters, could easily be classified as a solid average hi-fi, but upon listening, we came to the conclusion that this set could well be included in the hi-fi range -end. Another thing is that it was a shelf option and it would not be enough to “pump” a large room, 30 meters or more, but it’s not the power that is the determining parameter, but the sound quality. We also encountered directly opposite options, when large, expensive loudspeaker models from well-known brands turned out to be of rather mediocre quality with loose bass, grainy highs and other shortcomings.

Components

Let’s immediately agree that in the concept of “home cinema” we will not yet include a TV, plasma panel or projector, but will consider the cinema rather from a musical point of view. Let's look at it through the prism of the audio path. Still, the main difference between a home theater and a VCR is sound, not video. The main role here is played not only, and not so much by the presence of six-channel (or more) sound, although this is not unimportant, but by the sound quality itself.

We have already talked a lot about the quality of the entire system, on which the level of home theater depends. But overall quality is made up of the quality of individual components. Therefore, let's look at the minimum audio path.

The audio path consists of certain components; these elements are unchanged in any system, regardless of whether we are talking about multimedia, hi-fi or hi-end home theater. Some of them may be built into others, but their presence in the circuit is still required: 1. DVD player. (source) 2. Pre-amplifier. (control unit. As a rule, except for hi-end, it is built into a DVD player) 3. Amplifier. (playback component) 4. Loudspeakers. (the speakers themselves)

Of course, this list can include additional devices that at first glance expand the capabilities and improve the sound, such as, for example, an equalizer. Indeed, with the help of this device we can raise or remove where necessary, or we can add lows. But the prevailing opinion that the more such additional features there are in the system, the better, is fundamentally wrong. The fewer devices the sound travels from the source to the playback components (speakers), the better. The presence of the same equalizer implies a change in the original signal, which is nothing more than its distortion. Therefore, it is optimal to have the above four components. Many hi-end systems consist of just these, and this is precisely their great advantage. A good option is to include a crossover in the circuit, of course, if the speakers have appropriate inputs, but this is the fate of a very expensive hi-end.

All these components, of course, are connected by wires, the quality of which also greatly affects the operation of the entire path. It would seem, what are wires? What can they influence? But when using high-quality acoustics, their role can hardly be overestimated. It would seem that there is something special there? The signal is transmitted via copper wires, the maximum that can be done there is to change the conductor material, increase or decrease the cross-section. But all these wires, even those with the same technical parameters, sound completely different. Of course, it is not they who sound, but the speakers connected by this wire. But this does not change the essence of the matter. Each wire must be listened to and, accordingly, selected for the appropriate acoustics. As an example, we can consider the simplest case. Let's take a room, one wall of which is lined with a wall filled with many books, on the other wall hangs a huge shaggy carpet, and there are outdoor flowers in the corners. This room is considered well attenuated. Quite “ringing” or “normal” wires are quite suitable for it. Let's take a hall-type room in which, if you say something loudly, a metallic effect occurs. The sound wave travels along it, being reflected. In general, in such a room it is recommended to rearrange it, break the wave, in general, somehow dampen it. And it is recommended to use “blind” wires there. We repeat, you can tell them apart only by trying and comparing. To select them, it is better to use the opinion of a specialist, without relying on your taste and price, since even quite expensive wires can sound very, very mediocre.

It is no coincidence that we use the word “system” so persistently. A home theater is a system of devices. Like many other systems, it is similar to the human body. In order for the body to function fully, it is necessary for each individual organ to function normally. The same is true with home theaters. Let's take the simplest example. In a path with an excellent amplifier and speakers, we will put an average or even a bad source in the form of an inexpensive DVD player with a built-in preamplifier. And what? From the player's output, we receive a low-quality signal. It reaches (even through good wires) the amplifier, but there we will not be able to improve it. And since we took a high-quality amplifier, the signal will not undergo fundamental changes when passing through the amplification path. And so on, until it is sent to good high-quality speakers, which will give us the same initially bad signal that we received on a low-quality player.

Based on the above, you can approach the construction of a system based on considerations of balancing cost and quality. It is no coincidence that all three segments of the home theater market coexist and are progressing. Both hi-end and multimedia kits have every right to life. But components of one segment should not be used with components of another, because you will spoil a higher-quality path, and using a higher-quality component in a simpler system, as a rule, does not make sense, since it does not significantly improve the overall quality. This can be done when, for some reason, usually financial, you assemble the system in parts and subsequently intend to purchase high-quality components, replacing the worst links in the chain with them.

The first and most important step when choosing a home theater is to determine the segment. You must decide whether it will include multimedia, hi-fi or hi-end components. Even for people with a high level of income, if they want to set up a small room for watching movies in their country house, it will be enough to put an average multimedia set there. And already at home you can equip a large hall with high-quality equipment. If you set a goal and go around a lot of stores, listen to a lot of sets and read a lot of articles, you can pick up a quite decent inexpensive set of equipment that sounds at the level of hi-end acoustics. The main thing is not to overdo it. Sometimes it happens that you begin to catch the nuances of the sound, distinguish where the lows are loose, where they are dense, where the sound stage is too tight, etc. No need to go too far. Just know how to enjoy music or a movie.