Triangle
11-01-2004, 12:56 AM
There are two varieties of home theater geeks: those who spare no expense building a mini movie palace in their basements, and those who want to stay married. For the latter crowd, the entertainment center is the living room, and any gear they hope to buy must first pass the SAT (spouse approval test).
Acing this SAT isn't for amateurs. So for tips on how to blend home theater gear into your lifestyle--and your relationship--I turned to professional consultants who install entertainment systems.
Screen dreams: Bulky CRTs and rear-projector sets are like Buicks parked in your living room. LCDs and plasmas cost more but earn a much higher SAT score because they look cool, work well in brighter rooms, and fit virtually anywhere. (For more on big TVs, see "Really Big Shows.")
The size screen you should get depends on where you plan to sit, says David Slavitt, owner of Audio Video Solutions in Montville, New Jersey. With a 42-inch HDTV, you should sit about 7 feet away (twice the width of the screen). With a standard 4:3-aspect set, you can sit even farther away.
Speaker features: You don't need speakers the size of a refrigerator to get great sound, says Kevin McCann of Glenn Poor, an audio boutique in Chicago. He says a bookshelf model such as Linn Products' Katan ($995 for a pair) will be fine for most living rooms. The best test of a speaker is how well it reproduces subtle sounds, says Dan Liberman of Infinite Sight and Sound in Fairfax, Virginia. "Any speakers can do an explosion," he says, "but not many accurately reproduce the sound of a babbling brook." A good test is the opening scene of the movie A River Runs Through It.
Sound rebound: Speakers hidden inside walls or tucked into cabinets may get a higher SAT score, but they won't sound as good as freestanding ones. You'll want an amp that puts out at least 100 watts per channel, so buy speakers that can handle it. Place the subwoofer at the center of the wall, not in a corner, so that the bass does not overwhelm the music.
Make sure all speakers come from the same product line; otherwise, sounds may change as they move between brands. You don't necessarily need rear speakers: The left, right, and center channels deliver a film's music and dialogue; rear ones provide the "bullets whizzing by your head" experience but aren't essential.
And because sound waves bouncing off walls can interfere with those coming from the speakers, hang a sound-absorbing object off the first reflecting point--usually the side wall midway between the speaker and you (and no, that Dogs Playing Poker tapestry isn't going to cut it).
Able cables: Using higher-quality cables such as models from Cardas and Wireworld ($60 and up) to connect your DVD player or set-top box to your display will reduce signal loss and improve image quality. Although wireless speakers are not ready for prime time, flat speaker wire that disappears under a carpet will enhance your SAT score--and help convince your spouse that you really do need to install surround-sound speakers behind the La-Z-Boy.
Naturally, all of the experts I talked to suggest hiring an expert to help position the speakers, measure ambient light, and so on. They also recommend dropping at least $10,000 on the system. Expensive? You bet. But isn't your relationship worth it?
Now kids can enjoy the wholesome action scenes of The Matrix Reloaded with none of the potty-mouth language. RCA's new DRC232 is the first DVD player to use ClearPlay technology, which lets you mute profanity and automatically skip over scenes containing sex or violence. The $79 player will ship with filters for 100 movies; subscribe for $5 a month to get new ones. You can select which filters to use--if, say, you think a little hanky-panky is okay but rapid-fire punching might cause some acting out.
Acing this SAT isn't for amateurs. So for tips on how to blend home theater gear into your lifestyle--and your relationship--I turned to professional consultants who install entertainment systems.
Screen dreams: Bulky CRTs and rear-projector sets are like Buicks parked in your living room. LCDs and plasmas cost more but earn a much higher SAT score because they look cool, work well in brighter rooms, and fit virtually anywhere. (For more on big TVs, see "Really Big Shows.")
The size screen you should get depends on where you plan to sit, says David Slavitt, owner of Audio Video Solutions in Montville, New Jersey. With a 42-inch HDTV, you should sit about 7 feet away (twice the width of the screen). With a standard 4:3-aspect set, you can sit even farther away.
Speaker features: You don't need speakers the size of a refrigerator to get great sound, says Kevin McCann of Glenn Poor, an audio boutique in Chicago. He says a bookshelf model such as Linn Products' Katan ($995 for a pair) will be fine for most living rooms. The best test of a speaker is how well it reproduces subtle sounds, says Dan Liberman of Infinite Sight and Sound in Fairfax, Virginia. "Any speakers can do an explosion," he says, "but not many accurately reproduce the sound of a babbling brook." A good test is the opening scene of the movie A River Runs Through It.
Sound rebound: Speakers hidden inside walls or tucked into cabinets may get a higher SAT score, but they won't sound as good as freestanding ones. You'll want an amp that puts out at least 100 watts per channel, so buy speakers that can handle it. Place the subwoofer at the center of the wall, not in a corner, so that the bass does not overwhelm the music.
Make sure all speakers come from the same product line; otherwise, sounds may change as they move between brands. You don't necessarily need rear speakers: The left, right, and center channels deliver a film's music and dialogue; rear ones provide the "bullets whizzing by your head" experience but aren't essential.
And because sound waves bouncing off walls can interfere with those coming from the speakers, hang a sound-absorbing object off the first reflecting point--usually the side wall midway between the speaker and you (and no, that Dogs Playing Poker tapestry isn't going to cut it).
Able cables: Using higher-quality cables such as models from Cardas and Wireworld ($60 and up) to connect your DVD player or set-top box to your display will reduce signal loss and improve image quality. Although wireless speakers are not ready for prime time, flat speaker wire that disappears under a carpet will enhance your SAT score--and help convince your spouse that you really do need to install surround-sound speakers behind the La-Z-Boy.
Naturally, all of the experts I talked to suggest hiring an expert to help position the speakers, measure ambient light, and so on. They also recommend dropping at least $10,000 on the system. Expensive? You bet. But isn't your relationship worth it?
Now kids can enjoy the wholesome action scenes of The Matrix Reloaded with none of the potty-mouth language. RCA's new DRC232 is the first DVD player to use ClearPlay technology, which lets you mute profanity and automatically skip over scenes containing sex or violence. The $79 player will ship with filters for 100 movies; subscribe for $5 a month to get new ones. You can select which filters to use--if, say, you think a little hanky-panky is okay but rapid-fire punching might cause some acting out.