Make your home a theatre

Soon Goofy's arms are straining with a pile of gadgetry, and we don't need to tell you what happens next. Crash! John Lasseter's version of Walt Disney's classic cartoon is called How To Hook Up Your Home Theatre. It sums up the trials and tribulations one is likely to face when hooking up a home theatre system. It also throws light on some of the best and worst aspects of New Age technology.

But while it may be easy to guffaw at Goofy's foolish antics in the film, in real life, rigging up a good home theatre system is far from funny. First, you have to come to grips with all the abbreviations - HDTV, HDMI, HTIB, THD, DVI, and so on. Then you have to find the right space and the right equipment to suit your taste. Next it's time to hunt down the right stands, and the right cables.

To help avert a Goofy-like home theatre crisis, we've sought out the help of an expert to make things crystal clear for you.

"Almost everyone dreams of owning a home theatre that costs around a million big ones," says Sujit Pinto, technical and merchandising manager, DG+, the luxury electronics unit of Sharaf DG. "But most of us cannot afford it. Still, if you are a true blue audio-video buff, you can make smart purchases and put together all the elements you need to make your less expensive home theatre perform like the high end equipment you've always wanted to own."

What is a home theatre system?

"Like the name suggests, a home theatre system is a set of AV equipment designed for average home use that gives you the enigmatic experience of a theatre or cinema hall. It gives you the luxury of enjoying your favourite movie or music at performance quality within the comfort of your home,'' says Pinto.

‘‘There is also something called ‘Home Theatre-In-A-Box' (HTIB), which is an integrated home theatre package. It bundles together a combination DVD player, an AV receiver, speaker wires, connection cables, a remote control, a set of five or more surround sound speakers and a low-frequency subwoofer.

"While a custom-built home theatre requires careful planning during the initial phase," says he, "it is even better to plan it out if and when you are about to build your home. The room in your basement may be the ideal place to install it, as it is better isolated than any other room in the house.

"Acoustic isolation and correction plays an integral role in your cinema experience and is mostly done in the initial design stage. This helps to almost completely isolate the sound within the room without any sound leakage and corrects the effects caused due to sound deflection."

If you have the option of building a home in the UAE with a basement or sunken level, then that's the ideal spot for your home theatre set-up. "Your theatre's AV equipment would mainly consist of the 5.1 or 7.1 speaker system depending on the size of the room, the home theatre processor or amplifier, Blu-Ray Disc player, HD video projector and an acoustically transparent projection screen.

"The latest trend is to rig up a central automation system that controls not only all your multimedia equipment but the lighting and air conditioning within the room too."

Hmm, sounds good!

Pinto recalls how he started setting up his own music systems when he was barely a teenager. "There was a music lover in our neighbourhood whom we called ‘uncle'. He built his own amplifiers, speakers and tweeters at home. I enjoyed watching him build the music systems. Pretty soon, all I wanted to do was make systems that would help a layman not just listen to music but experience it. Fortunately, when I joined DG+, I was given a huge, empty space in Times Square and asked to create a haven for home theatre lovers."

Space, he says, is the most important thing to consider when installing a new home theatre system.

"Before you even think of buying a home theatre," he says, "think of the space you are going to dedicate to it. Preferably, you must pick and prepare a room appropriate for this purpose. You must also think about who would use it the most. If you have a big family and watch a lot of movies, you'll want to select a room big enough. But if you are buying it for yourself, it would be a better idea to enjoy your music in the basement of your house or in a smaller room. If there is too much light invading your living room and you plan to set your theatre there, you may see washed out images on the screen. This is why it is best to set it up in a room which can be made pitch dark." (Remember, you want a full-on movie theatre experience!)

The next step is to prepare the room. "If you live in rented accommodation," says Pinto, "it does not make any sense to rip through walls to run the cables or add dedicated circuits for electrical needs. This would not only be expensive but problematic when you move out. But if it is your own house, you can do all this - and maybe even add built-in wall speakers."

In case you have not considered it, Pinto issues a warning: if you are married, it is important to get your spouse actively involved in the music system's planning, purchase and installation. "This is because many women dislike big AV systems.

‘‘If not fixed properly, the cables and wires may look cluttered and untidy. I would suggest hiring a contractor for a small fee to do the painting of the walls later." This will make the set-up look neat and surely keep your spouse happy."

The floor plan comes next. "Measure the room you intend to fix the home theatre in," says Pinto. "Make a layout of the room and sketch different plans of the gear, speakers and furniture so that you really know what you will get in the end. Keep in mind elements in the room like curtains and drapes, carpets, wall and floor coverings, ceiling textures and so on.'' All of these things absorb or reflect sound and they could interfere with your listening pleasure.

Budget

Decide on your budget at this stage. "This would vary depending on what you are expecting from your system," he says. "If you are looking at an entry level system, excluding the television's price, think of anything in the range of Dh1,500 to Dh4,500.

"Medium level systems would cost between Dh5,000 to Dh20,000. The high-level systems can cost between Dh21,000 and Dh60,000 or more. A custom-built dedicated home cinema could set you back around Dh350,000 to Dh1 million, depending on the size of the room and what you want your cinema to look and sound like.

"Up next," he says, "you must choose your equipment rack carefully. There are few very simple requirements for an ideal AV rack. The first is the weight factor. Your AV rack should be able to take the weight of the television. Ventilation is the second factor to keep in mind. The amplifiers tend to get heated and if enough ventilation is not provided within the rack, you can damage your equipment.

"Wire management is equally important. A wire management system included behind your AV rack can help reduce the clutter behind it."

Pinto does not approve of shopping for home theatres online. "Experience the product personally before you buy it," he says. "Local warranties are very important when you are buying expensive electronics. At all times, it is wise to take steps that will create results at home that are much closer to what you desire."

And what are they? "To begin with," he says, "take your own favourite DVD/CD to the audition and see what it's like in an environment that is at least close to if not exactly like your home." Last but not least, find a ‘smart' salesman.

Video projector or a television?

"Choosing between them would entirely depend on the applications and the space you have available," he says. "A projector has its own pros and cons. While the cinematic large screen experience has no comparison, a dedicated entertainment room or space where one can blind out the external and internal lights is

a must. Projectors have lamps that run out but are easily replaceable at a reasonable price. Projectors are suitable for limited time viewing only as the lamp warms up and the projector has to be put on standby mode till the lamp cools down.

"On the other hand, a TV would practically fit into any environment with minimum restrictions and no compromise on size nowadays if you have the space for it."

Why cable quality counts in home theatre systems

To an inexperienced AV buff, tackling the number of cables and wires can be quite an overwhelming experience. Based on the instruction manual provided in the home theatre, even if you manage to figure out how to configure the system and plug the cables in the right connections, at times, even the well-thought out cabling setups can make it look like a rat trap. "Cables are the link between your digital sources like DVD or Blu-Ray player, amplifiers and speakers," says Pinto. "They are the only link between what was originally recorded and what you hear through your home theatre system. Cables are the last component one should compromise on. The cable offered in the box is free and definitely not of the best quality. Good quality cables can improve the overall experience of your home theatre system by up to 40 per cent. If you are investing in a quality home cinema experience, make sure at least 10 per cent of the total budget is allocated towards good interconnects and speaker cables.

Choose the right speaker wires

"For home theatres, the most common question asked is: ‘What gauge of speaker cable should I use?' The American Wire Gauge (AWG) is a system used to grade speaker cables based on their thickness and ‘resistivity','' says Pinto. ‘‘The lower the resistivity and higher the thickness the lower is the gauge and vice versa. It is advised that high-powered speakers should be connected with 14AWG speaker cables or lower."

Experience music

"Armed with all this knowledge, walk into a store selling hi-fi products," says Pinto. "And spend as much time as you can. Feel free to ask the salesman questions. Make conscious choices and not decisions based on what the offers are. Bundle offers are very often coupled with compromises on AV quality. Remember to take your favourite DVD or CD along to check the quality on different TVs."

Pinto adds that it's not true that the more expensive the brand, the better quality its output. "Go piecemeal in case the system budget is not meeting your current finances but never rush into buying the whole setup and compromise anywhere.

"Changes in technology take place so fast. You might want to wait for an upgraded version."

Questions you must ask the salesman when buying a home theatre…

• What is the RMS output per channel of the AV receiver?
• Does it have ample digital and analogue input for your current and future components? These include HDMI, optical, component, analogue RCA and so on.
• Does the AV receiver have zoning for multi-room (facilitates simultaneous listening to another source in a different room while the home theatre is playing in the main area)?
• What is the RMS Power handling of the speakers? Ideally your speakers should be able to handle at least 20 per cent more power than the amplifier RMS per channel. The ‘under powering' of a speaker can cause damage to both the speaker and the amplifier so the amplifier power should not be lower than 70 per cent of the speakers' ability of power handling.
•  Does the home theatre come with a ‘Powered' or ‘Active Subwoofer'? The latter is a subwoofer with its own power amplifier and control to sound best within the available space.
• How is the musical performance of this home theatre? Music doesn't always sound good on a system. Go for conventional floor standing front speakers in your home theatre for optimum musical experience.
• Is the AV receiver compatible with the latest DVD, Blu-ray formats?
• Does the Blu-ray or DVD player play all region DVDs?
• Are the speaker cables OFC or oxygen-free?Copper in basic speaker cables can become oxidised resulting in bad performance of the system. OFC cables ensure that this does not happen to your system.
• Are the power options suitable for my home country power standards?

Tips when buying a home theatre:

• Research online on products before you hit the stores.
   
• Carry your own favourite DVD/CD to the audition.
   
• Not all home theatres sound good for music. So always listen to your favourite CD before you take a decision.
   
• Never use cables that come in the box if you are expecting the optimum from your home theatre
   
• Allocate 10 per cent of your home theatre budget towards your cables.
   
• If your budget does not permit you to buy the system you desire, buy piecemeal. Do not rush into buying and pick up the wrong equipment.
   
• One brand might not make the best of all equipment you require so mix and match.
   
• Bigger is not always better. For both the television and home theatre you should settle for what is best for your home.