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Home Theater in a Box or High-End Separates? Compare the difference in an all-in-one unit or separate components. From "Home Theater" episode DHTW-101

Figure A

From the latest big-screen televisions to the various sound systems on the market, host Corey Greenberg is showing you how to create an eye-popping, ear-enveloping home theater. In this segment the heart and soul of any home-theater system--the electronics that processes the video and audio signals--is discussed.

There are many options for putting together a home theater, but they all must include some type of audio-video receiver (figure A), which ties together the sound system, television monitor and other components. The receiver pulls in video and audio information, processes it and then sends a picture to the TV and sound to the appropriate speakers.

The picture and sound can come from several different sources:

• Cable, which offers analog and digital TV content, as well as video-on-demand features.

• Satellite, which provides all digital television programming via a dish attached to your house.

• Broadband, which is basically high-speed internet.

• Or your video may come from a DVD or videotape player.

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	Figure B
	Figure C

If this is your "first" home theater or you're on a tight budget, Corey recommends a home theater in a box system (figure B)--literally a single branded system in one box that includes five mini-speakers, a good woofer, an AV receiver, usually with a built-in DVD player, all under one roof. Boxed sets are easy to assemble, the sound quality is good to very good and it's everything you need for a home theater except for the television.

Note: Home theater in a box cost anywhere from $100 at the low end to $1,000 for an upgraded system.

Besides being cost effective, home-theater-in-a-box systems are easy to hook up. They have color-coordinated cables, which means you plug the red cable into the red jack, the white to the white and the yellow to the yellow (figure C) and you're all set to go.

A couple of the disadvantages of the home-theater-in-a-box system is that the sound isn't as high quality as a full-blown separate home theater and because it's a single branded system, it's a lot more difficult to mix and match components later on than it would be with a separate system.

To step up from a box system you can buy all the components separately, without spending more than $1,000. For the best performance, get a surround-sound processor that acts as the control center for your whole system and a separate multi-channel amplifier, which will deliver power to all of the speakers.

	Figure D
	Figure E

System Extras

• You can also equip your home theater with "extras" such as a high-end processor that includes a video scaler (figure D). This increases the apparent lines of resolution for standard definition content to look more like HDTV.

• These days you can buy a DVD player with a DVD burner--or personal video recorder--known as a PVR that records broadcast, cable or satellite content to a hard drive instead of a tape or DVD.

• You can even add a digital media server (figure E) to store and play back all your music once it's digitally converted and stored on a hard drive.

• There are video-conferencing capabilities and wireless connections to your personal computer, so you can enjoy digital photo slide shows and MP3 music in your home theater.

  Note: Remember to start with the basics first because you can always add more options later.

In the final segment of this first episode of DIY's Home Theater Workshop Corey shares the latest innovations in remote controls for your new system.

RESOURCES :

Sears
Sears, Roebuck & Co.
Website: www.sears.com

Philips Consumer Electronics
Philips Consumer Electronics
Website: www.philips.com

Don Fillers & Assoc.
Website: www.dfasolutions.com

McDougall Bros. Construction, Inc.
Website: www.mcdougallbros.com

Stereo Exchange
Website: www.stereoexchange.com

Audio Video Systems
Website: www.audiovideosystems.com

RCA
Website: www.rca.com

Circuit City
Website: www.circuitcity.com

Consumer Electronics Association
Website: www.CE.org

GUESTS :

Robert Bordeau
Audio Video Systems
160 Herricks Rd.
Minneola, NY 11501
Phone: 516-739-1010
Website: www.audiovideosystems.com

Rebecca Day
Industry Analyst
E-mail: Rebecca362@aol.com