Absolute Theater's Home Theater Department

Home Theaters

Just Where Do You Start?

Home Theater or Media Room?
What is the size of the room you'll be using?
What part of the house is is located in?
What will you be viewing and using it for?
Will it go into a new constructed house or room, or an existing room?
How will you control the lighting in the room?
What screen size would you like to have?
Do you want speakers to disappear in a wall or ceiling, or use large towers with subwoofers?
Where will the equipment be located?
What kind of a budget will you be working with?
How will the seating be arranged?
What types of seats do you want?

It seems like a lot, but these are all important questions to ask yourself, when planning and purchasing a Home Theater system. Plasma, LCD, DLP, are all wonderful new technologies that offer High Definition pictures on many different screen sizes, and some are better than others for certain applicatons. Once you have answered these basic questions, the fun begins on assembling the perfect combinations of components for your room, lifestyle and budget. Absolute Theater can assist you with your project from start to finish however you answer these questions, even if you're not sure of all the answers yet. We can put together a package including all the equipment, wiring, seats, installation, setup and calibration. We guarantee you will find it to be the best entertainment value for your money and love the final results, year after year.

Home Theater Manufacturers

A Partial List of Our Partners
with Links to More Information

The Basic Components of a Home Theater

Three Key Elements You Need to Consider for Your Home Theater

To get the most out of your home theater experience you will have to, at least, consider the three basic elements discussed below. There are many options and extras in many price ranges, but there are specific components that you must have in order to have a true home theater experience. These three components are video display, audio/video receiver and the speaker system. In addition to these key elements you may want to look at a DVD player and comfortable seating theater-style seating.

High Definition Video

High Definition Technologies consist of Plasma, LCD, DLP or one of the 'hybrid' technologies that use one of these three formats. You can select from flat panel, rear screen projection or front projection with a screen. Usual screen size is 32" diagonal or larger, a 16 x 9 aspect ratio and a native resolution (lines of horizontal resolution) of 480 or higher, up to 1080. Your video display can have a built-in tuner, as in a self contained television, for over the air broadcast reception, with it's own speakers and stereo amplifier, or it can be a monitor only, which will accept any video source or signal, such as cable/satellite, DVD, video game consoles or your home computer. If it's a monitor, you will need an sound system in order to hear the audio.

The Audio Video Receiver

The audio video receiver is often considered the heart of the home theater system. In addition to receiving A/V signals it is also the routing center for all the other audio and video sources. It has the multi-function task of accepting audio & video signals, processing much of the received information digitally, and determining if it needs to be mono, stereo or multi-channel for Dolby Surround or DTS, as well as adding other audio 'treatments' or DSP (digital signal processing).

Another function of the A/V receiver is to amplify the audio signals going to the speaker sytem. The power of the receiver (measured in RMS wattage) will determine the loudness, volume and dynamic range that is delivered to the speaker system. Most receivers are 5 to 7 channel and compatible with Dolby 5.1 or 7.1 sound systems.

The Speaker System

A good speaker system, not necessarily an expense speaker system, is able to reproduce all the sounds in an action-packed movie with explosions, car chases, earthquakes and more—AND—also play the delicate nuances of a digitally recorded string quartet with the same realism as the movie.

Current home theater technology is designed for a multi-speaker format using combinations of speakers placed in specific locations around the room or seating area. The Dolby and DTS home theater standards require a minimum of five main speakers and a subwoofer. Each speaker represents a different audio channel: the three main channels are Left, Center and Right, and there are two surround sound channels for left rear and right rear. In addition the is a subwoofer for low frequency information.