Visualizing Your Home Theater

What does the words home theater mean to you? A big screen TV in your living room with surround sound speakers concealed behind the couch, or a tradition designed room with every possible high-end audio/video equipment and dedicated theater seating? The selection comes down to your level of use . . . and your pocketbook.

Start with the room you program to use as your home theater. If it is your multi-use living room, think about mounting a flat-panel LCD HDTV on the wall and finding one of the lots of artistic solutions for hiding the screen when it is not in use. Check the furniture that houses your audio/video components has a cable management system to hide power cords and adequate ventilation. Rear wheels on the cabinet create accessing your connections much easier!

There is a large variety of possible entertainment centers: a plasma console or wall system, an amusement center with bookcase or storage space, cabinets to hold a large screen display. Be sure to measure your room correctly to know what will fit best in the room you have available. If you are rebuilding a room or moving to a new place, at this time is a good time to prewire the room for audio, video, security and communication needs, as well as cabling for future technologies. It makes for a stylish, nearly invisible installation of equipment, with more scope in the type of furniture you select. Another possibility — if your "home theater" room also includes your computer desk, consider using your PC to store and play your favorite MP3 files, patched through an amplifier.

There are  many choices — media stands, audio stands that hold 5 to 10 AV components, TV stands for any size television (some laden with features like wire managing systems, adjustable shelves, open ventilation, tempered glass) — as well as selections in fashions and finishes, from the attractiveness of natural hardwoods to contemporary design elements. With such a wide variety of audio/video and other furniture, mounts and accessories, even the most demanding A/V enthusiast or home decor will be fulfilled with the way your home theater looks.

Once you have housed your components, the next most significant choice involves your seating. Do you prefer watching movies in your home theater from the comfort of a recliner, cuddled with someone special on a sofa, or from dedicated tradition theater seating? Do you choose seating covered with micro fiber fabric, micro fiber suede, faux leather or premium leather? Does a home theater conjure visions of kids with large tubs of buttered popcorn, alcoholic drink and chips for the guys watching the big game, or romantic glasses of wine? Choose an easy-to-clean surface, and have strong tables close at hand to your seating.

As long as you are imagining your ideal home theater set-up, keep in mind to connect the lighting and the home theater system to a master remote control. With some taps of your finger, the DVD spins, the lights dim, you sink into your seat, and enter a galaxy far, far away . . . right from home