DIY- Cheap Home Theater

DIY Cheap Home Theater

With the current economy, most of us find ourselves short on cash every month. This translates directly to cutting back on going out and doing things we all used to do. One thing I miss out on nowadays is going out to movies. I used to enjoy going to movies, the picture and sound made you feel like you were in the movie.

Truth is I don’t really miss it any more. I have a great setup in my living room that rivals my old movie theater experiences. The best part is, it wasn’t all that expensive. And it doesn’t have to be for you either.

The first thing you need to think about is a budget. You may want to put some money aside, or splurge and pay it off later. The truth is, if the setup you go with makes movies and television more enjoyable, you will save money on going out in the long run. Why not just stay at home?

Next is where to start? It all depends on what you have now. If you have a good TV, all you need to worry about is your surround sound, and DVD. If you have a good surround sound setup (5.1 or better) all your after is a nice HDTV. Lets say for the sake of argument we’re starting from scratch.

Lets start with the TV. Thanks to rapidly evolving technology you can easily get a nice LCD setup big enough for your living room at under a grand. Bigger is not always better. If your living room is small you don’t need something too large. If you have to turn your head at all to see the whole screen, it’s too big. Plasmas are ok, but LCDs are more reliable. They are also less expensive than LEDs which have taken over top spot on quality. Find a website like BestOnlineDiscounts.net. They don’t have the largest selection, but their prices are better than the big box stores and they have free shipping, which will kill you sometimes when ordering online.

Next is sound. Full setups are a good choice if you don’t have anything right now. You don’t have to break the bank for this either. 7.1 rules this category, but again, thanks to evolving technology, lesser setups like 5.1 are much less expensive than before. I would recommend buying a receiver/amp and then getting a speaker package. Go name brand on this (Sherwood, JBL, MTX, RCA, Samsung, Panasonic) Just because you find a 5.1 for $60 doesn’t mean it’s any good. There are lots of good full setups with DVD players that act as the receiver also. The above mentioned website has an RCA system for around $150. If you already have a receiver they have a MTX speaker package for $165 that sounds awesome. If you want to go all out, I also found a Samsung 7.1 system with blu ray player for under $1000. This retails for like $1400. If you have the extra money a good set of floor speakers, satellite speakes(rear speakers), center channel speaker, and a receiver is the way to go.

I hope this helps some people get some more enjoyment out of their home life. I have two kids, and don’t get out as much as I used to, but I now enjoy staying at home more than ever.