Five Tips For Buying a Home Entertainment System - Auto
Recovery
by: Ross MacIver
Looking for a new home entertainment system? Here are five tips for choosing
the best model for your home environment.
1. Choose a system that can be expanded. Most of your music collection may be
on CDs, but with the growing popularity of DVD audio you don't want to be left
behind. Even if you are only interested in stereo sound make sure you buy a
system that can be adapted to new technologies. This includes video as well as
audio mediums. Buy a stereo system for now, but make sure it has surround sound
capabilities.
Also consider whether you want your home entertainment system accessible in
different parts of the house. An expandable system allows you to place speaker
systems and playback modules in different rooms so that you can enjoy home
entertainment throughout the house.
2. Buy a system with enough power. This goes hand-in-hand with the previous
tip. Don't buy a unit which has just enough power for your current needs, but
rather, think about how you will be expand it in the future. Surround sound
speaker systems require more power than stereo, and satellite speakers systems
installed in other rooms also require extra power.
Dedicated power amps for different parts of your home entertainment system
can make a vast difference in the quality of sound. For example, a subwoofer amp
can take the load off the rest of your system will providing massively deep bass
sounds.
3. Choose a system that matches your entertainment preferences. If you are
mainly interested in DVD video a surround sound speaker system can add amazing
authenticity to your viewing experience. On the other hand, if you mostly listen
to classical music, divide your budget so that you can get a good set of stereo
speakers. If you like rap or hip-hop you should choose speakers designed for
bass heavy music -- a subwoofer is a necessity.
4. Make it backwards compatible. Many people still have a sizable collection
of VHS tapes and vinyl records. Rather than throwing out these valuable sources
of entertainment, make sure your new entertainment system can handle them.
5. Buy the best you can afford. It's a waste of money to buy inferior
components for your home entertainment system. You will quickly become
dissatisfied with them and end up ditching them. If you have a limited budget,
divide it up wisely. Rather than starting with a full-featured audio and video
home entertainment system, concentrate on a few components. As long as your
system is expandable, you can continue adding new features as your budget
allows.
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