It is very difficult to choose the best home theater or sound system. Without a doubt, anybody who enjoys good music and movies cannot do without an excellent audio system. Obviously, there is no point in watching a movie or listening to music with outdated speakers. A Home Theater is a good audio-visual (AV) system, albeit with good picture and sound quality.
We have discussed the visual part of an AV system, primarily a TV set, in our other articles. In this buyer’s guide on how to choose the best Home Theater we will discuss the audio part only. Of course, we are talking here about personal audio systems. Obviously, professional or public address (PA) systems, used in parks and other public places, are different.
Human Hearing
The human ear can normally hear sound frequencies ranging from 20Hz to 20,000 Hz. But, this can vary from person to person. By and large, speaker systems include big woofers and sub-woofers for bass or lower frequency sounds below 250Hz. Speaker systems also include small tweeters for treble or high frequency sounds above 4,000Hz. Do not confuse this with the social media platform called “Twitter” or “X”. Sometimes, there are additional speakers for mid-frequency sounds. All speakers are connected to an amplifier circuitry. In general, a decent speaker system needs to have at least one woofer and one tweeter.
In yesteryears, there used to be separate knobs or sliders on the amplifier unit. This was for the purpose of sound mixing. Sound mixing means increasing or decreasing the volumes of different frequencies. But nowadays the software in your input device (TV, smart phone, etc.) controls sound mixing. Along with customizable settings, you can also have preset settings for pop, rock, normal speech, etc. Unless you are a professional sound or audio mixer, you don’t need to worry about settings for difference frequencies.
Choose the best Home Theater: Party speakers
The first thing you need to decide is whether you need something for indoor use only, like your home and office, or for outdoor use also, such as picnics. Outdoor speakers, also referred to as Party Speakers, are mostly single portable but bulky units with rechargeable batteries. They are capable of both high and low volumes but with clear sound; the sound does not break at very high volumes and is distinct also at low volumes.
Thus, you can use these speakers when you are relaxing at home and at your parties also. These typically have bluetooth and microphone attachments inbuilt. However, you won’t get true theater-type surround sound with a single unit speaker. For this purpose you need a stereo or a higher number of speakers system.
Visit Amazon India for recommended products
Choose the best Home Theater: Stereo systems
All things considered, a buyer’s guide on how to choose the best Home Theater cannot miss out on stereo systems. Obviously, a stereo system consists of 2 speaker units. These usually connect by wires to an amplifier. The amplifier is either a separate unit, or housed in one of the speaker units. Normally, each speaker unit contains a woofer or sub-woofer speaker for the low frequencies, and one or more tweeters for the high frequencies.
Your other units, like your TV set or pen drive or FM radio or microphone, connect to the amplifier as input devices. The speakers connect as output devices.
But a stereo system, also, is not a true home theater system.
Visit Amazon India for recommended products
Choose the best Home Theater: Multi channel home theater
When talking about a buyer’s guide on how to choose the best home theater, the best is a multiple channel speaker system. A true blue home theater system will consist of one woofer or sub-woofer with amplifier unit, connected to at least 4-5 smaller speakers. This is called a 4.1 or 5.1 system. The layout for a 5.1 system is usually 1 woofer or sub-woofer with 1 centre unit, 2 left and right units, and 2 side left and right units. This arrangement produces a true surround sound. For better surround sound, you can add 2 middle left and right units which would make it a 7.1 system.
However, we have found that for most home and office settings a 5.1 system is good enough. Note however that, if your original audio is not in a multi-track system, you may not get true 5.1 effect. Most movies and audio nowadays are in multi-track or multi-channel. The original audio tracks are processed or mixed to get the desired effects, like a car passing by or plane flying overhead.
Older movies or music were in mono or single channel mode. In this case all of your speakers will produce the same sound. However, the technology used in speaker systems nowadays will still give you a better listening pleasure, even with olden days audio.
Visit Amazon India for recommended products
Watts, decibels and hi-fidelity
What about Watts (W) and decibels (dB)? How do they affect your speaker output and listening pleasure? Without going into technical details, you can safely assume that 40W is good enough for your home or office. For large offices or outdoor use 50 to 100W is good enough. Large loud parties may require higher wattages. dB is the volume or loudness. In some countries, any outdoor sound above 60dB is considered illegal because it affects both human and animal hearing.
Don’t assume that the higher the wattage or dB the better the sound. Your earbuds and headphones are only about 1-4W and are best heard at around 50dB. What is more important is the clarity of high, low and mid-range frequencies at different volumes or dB levels. This is referred to as hi-fi or high-fidelity.
Housing & Connectivity
Speaker housing is important because wooden speakers definitely produce better sounds than plastic speakers, but are more expensive. Most high-end speaker systems have wooden cases for the woofer/sub-woofer and plastic cases for the smaller speakers.
As far as connectivity is concerned, most sound systems now have in-built bluetooth, auxiliary, USB. Hence, that is not a concern any more in how to choose the best home theater.
Click here for more articles on Home & Office Appliances
#hometheater #theater #soundsystem #speakers
Modern Infotech is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn commission fees by advertising and linking to the following web sites.
- www.amazon.com
- www.amazon.in
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Anando Banerjee has been providing different types of services, as an employee and thereafter as a self-employed professional, to clients in multiple industries in various countries of the world since 1984. He has an MBA in Healthcare Management.