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While an ordinary large
television with some good quality speakers can provide
you with much enjoyment, it's the surround sound - sound
coming from all around you rather than just from the
television set, that truly makes the experience theater
quality. Now, getting surround sound built into your
home's walls is an option for the movie enthusiast. If
you are currently working with a contractor to build
your home, now is the perfect time to consider a home
theater for your den or living room.
First, it might be useful to understand why surround
sound is so great. It works to make the movie you are
watching far more realistic to your senses.
Movie editors design the sound to come from different
speakers depending on its location and context in the
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Having speakers all around you allows
actors to the right of the screen to sound like they are
speaking to the right of you, or for background sounds
to sound like they are behind you. They even allow sound
to move from one place to another, as with a train that
starts off in the distance on one side of you and ends
up sounding just like it is roaring right by your ear.
In short, surround sound allows the sound to be
completely and accurately integrated with the movie you
are watching.
If you have already built a home, you can install
surround sound by placing speakers around the room.
There are a lot of systems designed to do this, with
elegant, tall speakers. Many are wireless so you don't
have cords running all over your floor or up your walls.
However, building a home from scratch allows for a
unique opportunity to embed speakers right into your
walls, exactly where you want them. Although wireless
home theater systems eliminate the need to run wiring
around the room, hiding the speaker body right in the
wall frees up even more space in the room. It also
allows you to mount the speakers at just the right
height to suit your sound preference, without the
awkward look of surface mounted speakers.
Now the major decision you have to make is whether you
want a system with 5, 6 or 7 speakers. The quality and
diversity of sound increases with the number of
speakers, as you can increase the angles at which they
surround you. All of these come with a sub woofer, which
will give you that deep base, and help with the rumbling
affect when that train I mentioned goes by. If you feel
like you're maxing out your budget already, don't fret.
The 5 speaker systems still offer excellent quality
sound, and will be a vast improvement from your average
front speaker television set.
Once you've got a wonderful speaker system lined up, you
need to decide on the type of television you will watch
it all on. The largest conventional, cathode ray tube
television screen you will be able to find is 40 inches
across. Plasma screens are popular because they are
flat, lightweight, and take up far less floor space. The
also have a screen size ratio that closely matches
current movies. The drawback to these is that they
aren't able to produce really dark blacks, so the
contrast is never that great. However this technology is
improving. The other drawback is that static images,
especially those of a light color, can burn into the
screen, meaning when the image on the screen changes, a
mark of the previous image may be left behind. This only
happens if it remained static on the screen for a long
time, as is the case with station logo watermarks, text
banners or unchanging video game backgrounds. LCDs are
another flat-screen option, but they are bigger than
plasma screens, have even less ability to produce deep
contrast (dark blacks), and have a narrow viewing range,
meaning the view is distorted if the viewer is too far
off to one side. However, they are immune to screen burn,
so are an excellent choice for video gaming. They also
run cooler, meaning a noisy fan won't kick in while
you're enjoying your new surround sound. There's no easy
option when choosing a screen, but it helps to do some
research, and consider resolution, aspect ratio (screen
size ratio), and contrast when making your choice.
So talk to your contractor, and see if they have
experience installing in-wall surround sound systems.
The money spent on a quality home theater system will
surely be saved by not paying the mark-up on theater pop
and candy.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/interior-design-articles/build-your-home-theater-right-into-the-walls-416771.html
About the Author:
The agents at VIP Team are premier real estate
consultants for the Greater Seattle and Tacoma real
estate market. Their services include everything from
selling your condo to assisting with high-end for
property investment. Visit VIPTeamWA.com for listings
and information about Pierce County real estate . |