What’s An HDR Television? (Understanding This Visual Tech)

Subjectively speaking, it’s interesting just how fast things progress in home theater

It wasn’t that long ago that the change from standard to high definition was made with the television for example.

Then a few years later UHD came along and completely changed the game with a resolution 4 times that of 1080p.

Now we’re presented with yet another format that can enhance the visual experience, HDR.

An HDR television is one that takes advantage of this interesting format, but what exactly does that entail?

Let’s find out.

What is HDR exactly?

HDR is an acronym that stands for the words High Dynamic Range.

It’s a format that originates in photography, but happens to have recently made its way over to video and television.

Basically, it’s mimicking how the human eye would see an image with things being lighter & darker on screen at the same time.

This results in a much more true to life picture on screen.

It also touts a broader range of colors that couldn’t be displayed previously.

How much more exactly?

Try millions more colors.

At least that’s the simple explanation.

The actual effectiveness of it still depends on the TV and its implementation.

Let’s go deeper though so we can really understand it.

Why Was HDR Introduced?

Why was this introduced though?

Well, with the way standard video signals work, dark and light portions in content are usually missing elements in that scene that it was originally intending to capture.

That’s because they’re based on older standards set decades ago, thus, aren’t adequately represented due to technical limitations from that time.

Knowing this, industries set out to solve this dilemma.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to look too hard since the answer already existed; albeit on a different platform.

That platform being photography since the concept of HDR isn’t new.

So with a little tweaking, this was made into a format usable with video.

They could then offer a true presentation of whatever it is that they’re filming.

But in what way specifically?

Well it has a lot to do with brightness and contrast.

How Brightness and Contrast Changes With HDR

A television screen’s luminance is measured in something called candela per square metres (cd/m2)

It is more commonly referred to as nits.

This basically measures how bright the TV is capable of going.

The more nits, the brighter the image.

An SDR, (standard dynamic range) HD 1080p television is typically capable of going a little above 100 cd/m2, or 100 nits.

With HDR, this number can be as high as 10,000

Though that’s the peak since there aren’t 10,000 nit displays yet commercially available.

You might be thinking well isn’t that too bright?

Surprisingly no since it’s not like the entire picture is that bright at all times.

It simply means that the elements that need to be that bright can reach that peak while the other parts stay dark.

It’s a lot more true to how you would see it in person.

Think of what happens when you see the sky during a sunny day.

Do you simply see one bright splotch?

Or are you able to make out details in the sky as well?

It works the same way here.

When an image is displayed in high dynamic range, you can see all the fine details that are usually left out.

Same thing goes for brightness (the dark parts of the image)

Typically, all of these small details would get crushed in shadows prior.

This was the only way industries could display the image, since showing everything would have taken up too much data to do normally.

It simply wasn’t a feasible option.

However technology has advanced far enough now for this to be something that is possible.

It allows for portions of an image to get both lighter and darker at the same time.

This allows it to show much more detail in the shadows, with greater detail in the highlights too.

So there can be something that’s reaching peak brightness on screen at the same time something is completely dark.

But it also allows for a lot more nuanced shades too; meaning it can also reproduce everything in between absolute white, and absolute black in a much smoother gradient.

A lot of the little shades you couldn’t see before are now visible.

This is an example of how a television might represent the change from light to dark portions of the screen right now.

This is an example of how, with HDR, it could handle that change (although how well that’s done is dependent on how good that TV is)

That difference between light and dark is referred to as the contrast ratio.

The higher the contrast ratio, the better looking the image.

Through HDR, the contrast ratio is amplified to a considerable degree.

As you could probably imagine, when done right, this could hypothetically result in a picture that looks vastly better than before.

I can certainly vouch for that sentiment.

I have a few HDR screens, and for me to even try and explain to you how good it looks in person would be difficult.

It’s one of those instances where you would need to see the tech for yourself to fully understand.

But do you want to know the interesting part?

Not all HDR is the same.

The Different Types Of HDR

Suprisingly, there’s actually different types of high dynamic range formats too.

These include formats like Hybrid Log-Gamma, HDR10+, & Advanced HDR by Technicolor — though there’s lots more that now exist too.

The 2 main ones used right now though are Dolby Vision and HDR10.

So what’s the difference?

Well I’ll first tell you the technical difference, and then I’ll tell you what I personally noticed.

HDR10 is a format that’s backed by an industry called the UHD alliance which is a collaboration of some of the biggest companies & individuals in the world in cinema & electronics.

It’s the same industry that helped to popularize UHD (ultra-high definition otherwise known commercially as 4k)

They’re responsible for a lot of the recent video format pushes into the mainstream.

https://www.cnet.com/news/what-is-uhd-alliance-premium-certified/

It’s also typically offered on ultra HD Blu-rays.

HDR10 supports a brightness up to 4000 nits, and 10 bit color (an extended color palette).

It also has what’s called static meta data meaning everything within the film is mastered at a predetermined brightness.

Dolby Vision on the other hand is Dolby Digital’s version of HDR.

If a screen meets their specific criteria, then it’s allowed to tout that it adheres to their standards, thus gaining their certification.

It’s a lot more personable too because Dolby Vision usually is calibrated for each display’s maximum capability.

So basically each specific screen can utilize HDR to the best of its ability. It also supports a luminance of up to 10,000 nits and a 12 bit color space.

While no televisions as of right now can reach that level of brightness, the capabilities of the standard are already set so that once those displays are available, they’ll be able to fully utilize Dolby vision.

It also has what is known as dynamic meta data.

Where HDR10 displays the picture based on the predetermined parameters of the movie, Dolby Vision can do so on a scene by scene basis within the movie (hence the dynamic portion).

This theoretically allows for a much more accurate and vivid image.

Sounds like Dolby Vision would be the clear winner right?

Well not exactly…

http://www.techradar.com/news/hdr10-vs-dolby-vision-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-hdr-format-war

It’s really not as clear cut as you might think.

This is what I found to be true (this is just from my perspective by the way) in terms of difference personally.

To be honest with you, I didn’t really notice that much of a difference between the two. I mean they both looked downright gorgeous on the two different displays, but the difference was negligible.

I mean maybe Dolby Vision screen was slightly brighter, but any major differences I didn’t notice.

(Now the following 2 pictures aren’t actually HDR 10 and Dolby Vision pictures since you would need the same video file that supports both formats, and those panels side by side to see the difference.

These are just to demonstrate to you basically what I saw in terms of difference and how close they were)

HDR 10

Dolby Vision 

While it’s subjective, and implementation can vary based on both the source and the TV, I personally found them to look really similar in my opinion.

Considering they currently look pretty close, it’s not going to make the biggest difference in the world with regards to what version you pick.

At least for right now.

Once displays start releasing with higher nit ranges and more bit rates, the difference in image quality could widen, potentially making Dolby Vision a better choice.

When this happens remains to be seen of course, so it might be a few years before we start seeing any 10,000 nit panels.

What’s The Difference Between Photo HDR And HDR Television?

You might also be curious what the difference is between photography’s version of HDR and the video version since I did mention that before.

I don’t want to get too technical but here’s what you should at least know in reference to that.

When you take a picture with a camera, it can only represent one exposure at a time for any given image.

As you can imagine, this may leave a lot more to be desired in terms of quality.

However to deal with this, the camera sensor combines multiple exposures together into one image to get a broader range of light.

This broader range of light is what gives that image depth, and makes it pop.

This is not only useful to see all the hidden elements of a picture that are normally lost, but it also looks better in general.

Video HDR is different because it doesn’t need to do that.

What it’s able to do is represent both at the same time so that nothing is overexposed or crushed.

Naturally this results in an exceedingly dynamic image.

Again it can’t be overstated how incredible this looks on an adequate display.

Do You Need Anything Special For HDR?

By now you might be asking yourself if you need anything special to take advantage of HDR, and the answer would technically be yes since it’s not something you can just download or anything like that.

Being a format, a device has to explicitly state that it supports it.

This where you might see the UHD or Dolby Vision certification on the outside of the box that says this.

Then you would need a television that says it’s capable of it, and the content that’s HDR compatible.

Other than that though, there’s really not much else to it.

There isn’t any special ways you have to hook something up.

As long as you have high speed HDMI cables, then you’re good to go.

This one supports it fully. Zeskit HDMI Cable 6.5ft

As far as content goes, most cable television channels as of right now don’t support it though this may change in the future.

If you want to watch movies with it, then you would need to invest in a 4k Blu-ray player since UHD Blu-ray is what is supports it. 

Both the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5 can utilize it too meaning the games on those consoles have the capability for it as well.

What Format Might Come Next?

Now this may be surprising, but Samsung, LG, Sony, & TCL have all introduced 8K displays that can be bought today.

But that said, 8K is nowhere near prime time. In fact by my estimate it’ll probably be a good 10 years before it’s mainstream so don’t worry.

https://easyhometheater.net/8k-tv-is-coming

But the fact that there’s already talk of resolutions of 8K and (gasp) above that really boggles the mind. I think it’s going to be so cool to see what new formats start to show in the future.

Then there’s the aforementioned HDR10+ which is actually Samsung’s entry into the HDR battle.

What many may not know is that manufacturers who want to use the Dolby Vision license actually have to pay a fee first before being able to implement it.

So Samsung decided that they would just launch their own HDR format where this wasn’t required.

Where Dolby Vision adjusts the image on a scene by scene basis, 10+ takes it a step further by adjusting things on a frame by frame basis.

This should theoretically allow for an even greater improvement in picture quality.

However since there isn’t exactly a wealth of content to test, we’ll have to play the waiting game to see how it stacks up once enough content is available.

This will ultimately decide how successful it becomes.

Or hey, maybe it’s even Micro Led TVs?

Who knows.

What do you think is next big thing in display technology?

I’d love to hear from you guys down in the comments below (like I’m genuinely curious please let me know lol).

Anyway hopefully all of this helps you to understand a little bit about this new standard and why it’s so exciting.

Again without nerding out too much, it really is something you need to see in person; pictures won’t do it justice.

If you need help with choosing TVs, here’s an article that I did that should help you to do just that.

https://easyhometheater.net/the-best-tvs

Until next time, make it easy, keep it simple.

What Is The Best Home Theater System? (Creating The Ideal One For Your Needs)

While There May Not Be One Objective Best, Here’s How To Create A Home Theater Setup That Fits Your Budget, Space, and Viewing Habits

So you finally decided, you know what, I think I’m going to create my personal sound system.

But what’s the most suitable that would allow you to get the most bang for your buck?

Well unfortunately there’s no magic formula where its a one size fits all; it’s going to be a little more hands on than that.

Fortunately however, what I can do is provide you with as much info as possible so that your decision will be that much easier for you, so that you have an idea of what works for you.

This is going to be focused on how you can create your ideal system along with things to keep in mind.

I hope it’ll be a good read that’s helpful; so lets get into it!

(If you’re curious about the actual differences between a home theater and movie theater beforehand though, this should help)

9 Differences Between Watching Movies At Home Vs In Theaters

After this article, here’s more things you can incorporate into your home theater to enhance the overall experience.

25+ Gift Ideas For A Home Theater

Determining A Budget For Your Home Theater

Now before we get into any type of equipment talk, room details etc., we’re going to start with arguably, the single most important thing, and that’s….(drum roll) the budget!

Like with many things in life, your budget is going to be one of the biggest deciding factors in what you ultimately end up deciding upon.

So in knowing that, obviously it would be impossible for me to just throw out some arbitrary number, but what I can do is give an idea of factors to keep in mind.

First off you’ll want to take the more personal approach and take the time to create the one that is the best for you.

That means considering things like room size, seating, etc.

If you’re one of the few where money isn’t a factor for you, then setting a budget probably wouldn’t be applicable and instead just take the rest of the later tips into consideration.

But for the person who is a little more financially conscious, it’s going to boil down to common sense. If you spend most of your budget on let’s say, two really top of the line left and right speakers, then buy whatever receiver that might not even provide them with enough power, that’s obviously going to hamper your potential experience.

The benefit of setting a budget in the first place is that you’ll at least have a bracket to work in to get the best components.

So let’s say you’re like you know what, x dollars is my maximum for example. Awesome, that makes your life a lot simpler because from there you know what to get within your particular range.

At the same time, keep in mind that keeping your budget somewhat flexible can be helpful since it might save you potential headaches in the long run, especially if the thing you get is actually quality and is actually built to last — rather than simply breaking after a short period of time.

For example if you get something that’s built with quality in mind, chances are it’s going to holdup better than something that might be lesser quality and seem like a good idea at the moment.

Not just that, but if you plan on upgrading years later, some of your current equipment might be able to carry over so then that’s something less you have to worry about!

This isn’t something that’s always certain mind you, since it will of course depend on the thing it is that you’re actually looking at, but it’s still something to think about.

Stereo or 5.1?

The next thing you’re going to want to do is ask yourself, are you looking to take the easier route and simply purchase a home theater in a box?

Or are you looking to make your own system?

If it’s the former, then there are a few good ones out there that will suffice.

https://easyhometheater.net/the-best-home-theater-systems

But if you’re thinking long term, and actually want to create something on your own that’ll knock your socks off and serve you for years to come then read on.

Now before we continue, I have to stop to ask you something; something that’s very important… (no it’s not a marriage proposal don’t worry)

Are you looking to primarily play music, watch movies, or both?

If your emphasis is just on music, then you’ll be more concerned with stereo sound which would simply be 2 speakers.

But if you’re going after a more complete system, then you’ll want to start with the more traditional 3.1, or 5.1 setup (the first number denoting the number of speakers and the last, the amount of subwoofers) for now until you get more comfortable and decide where you want to go from there.

https://easyhometheater.net/the-best-bookshelf-speakers

Make Some Room!

After that, what will undoubtedly have a huge impact in regards to what sort of setup you may want to go with is your room size.

What I highly recommend after you decided on a budget is measuring the size of your room with a tape measure measuring length, width, and even the height.

From my personal experience and honest opinion, your room is going to have the biggest impact on sound bar none.

Sound waves created by your audio sources will travel throughout the entire room, and whatever object is in that room, is going to affect the sound in one way or another.

Take for example your living room.

If you have hardwood floors and the sound is reflected off that, typically what will happen is that the sound you end up hearing with be a little more harsh as opposed to if you had soft carpet; in which comparatively, you might find it to be a little warmer.

But perhaps, it might be the exact opposite, still be hard on the ears, and seem hollow due to the fact it’s always different depending on the characteristics of a room.

Sound is weird right?

This is one reason why someone might think a particular speaker is less than stellar when in fact, their room may just need some acoustical adjustments to better accommodate their new purchase.

Simply put, it’s always going to be different, and you’ll find out what needs to be done when you get into the setup process. One thing I can recommend to you right off the bat is to try and add as many soft fabric objects to the room as possible.

These can be in the form of an extra chair, a couch, you get the idea. The reason for this is like we said, sound travels and reflects; but what happens when that reflection hits a soft surface is it gets absorbed.

What this does is allow the purest sound to be heard because there isn’t any extra reflecting sounds adding to it. So with the more soft objects in a room, the better things will sound basically.

Your room size itself will then also determine the best fitting speaker as some need lots of space to operate.

If you have a smaller or even medium room size, let’s say 16×20, then you’ll be able to get away with a bookshelf speaker. However when you approach the large room territory, over 25 feet, then you’ll most likely want to start looking at floor standing speakers since they would sound better for your application.

Typically they produce more bass, have a broader range of sound, and can go louder; with the only tradeoff being the price. If that sounds like something that would be more applicable to your current situation, then this may help you.

https://easyhometheater.net/the-best-floor-standing-speakers

If your focus is television and movies, listen when I say this, if there’s one thing you don’t want to skimp on, it’s going to be the center channel speaker. The center channel is going to be where the majority of dialogue, and some music/sound effects come from, and will act as the foundation of your entire setup.

Ever watch a movie and you’re like wait what did they say?

Can you rewind that?

Yeah that’s the job of the center so that you don’t miss those important details. These are the ones that you’ll want to check out if you’re thinking about adding one to your setup.

https://easyhometheater.net/the-top-10-center-channel-speakers

While we’re still on the subject of rooms, your seating area also comes into play. It only makes sense that where you sit in the room is going to have a measurable effect on what you hear, so taking your time getting that right would be wise.

Plus the size of the TV also plays a factor in the ideal place to sit.

Now what that entails would be too much for me to explain here so if you’re curious about that and want to get the best out of even your current system, I highly recommend you take a look here.

https://easyhometheater.net/home-theater-seating-ideas

Plus here’s some ways to actually save space in your current room.

https://easyhometheater.net/ways-to-save-space-in-a-home-theater

Whether You’re Using Physical Or Digital Media

Besides the consideration of spacing, you’ll also want to have an idea of if you’ll primarily be watching physical media formats like Blurays & DVDs, or going mainly digital with streaming services.

This way you can map things out beforehand so you have a better idea of the overall entertainment experience you’re going for.

There’s benefits and drawbacks to both which you can read about here if curious.

Physical Media Vs Digital Media

The Receiver/Subwoofer

The next thing that comes in at a really close second is going to be the subwoofer.

A good subwoofer will provide that visceral, larger than life feeling making things that much more dynamic, so getting one that’s quality can certainly enhance the experience.

It’s going to be responsible for producing that convincing thump that you feel in movies.

Picking a good subwoofer isn’t too terribly hard, as there are many quality ones, but for me personally, a rule I follow, and something that I would recommend to you, a subwoofer that can at least reach into the 35 Hertz range with no discernable distortion is definitely one to look into; the lower the hertz, (abbreviated to Hz) the better.

This means that it’ll be able to dig deeper the lower that Hz number is, in turn giving you a much smoother and richer bass.

Also the higher RMS the better (which is basically the continuous amount of power that the subwoofer can produce; you’ll often see this mentioned where it lists the specs.)

To make it easy for you, I even did an article on these too explaining all of this.

https://easyhometheater.net/the-best-home-theater-subwoofers

Now after you’ve done that then you’ll want a receiver.

In short, a receiver is where the sound is processed and output, so buying one that is appropriate is important as well.

What I mean by this is say for example you unknowingly buy a speaker that has a rating of 6 ohms, (simply put, this is a measure of electrical resistance)

If you purchase a receiver that only is rated to handle 8 ohms, there might be some problems with providing it with enough power; thus it may not work properly or sound much quieter than it’s supposed to.

So if anything, when buying a receiver, you want to match the ohm rating to the one of whatever speakers it is that you are buying, unless it states that it can do that as well as lower ratings.

Wattage per channel is something you may also see when buying a receiver, and this simply means how much power it can provide each speaker it’s connected to with generally the higher the wattage per channel, the better.

Yet another thing will revolve on you deciding what you plan on connecting to your receiver.

Are you going to be connecting a few gaming consoles and or a Blu-ray player to it?

If so then you’ll likely want to invest in a few HDMI cables, some speaker wire (16 gauge speaker wire unless it’ll be going over 35 ft. then use 14) and an RCA cable that’ll be used to connect the subwoofer. It’s a lot simpler than it sounds and I even talk about that here as well.

https://easyhometheater.net/the-best-home-theater-receivers

Surround Advice

In terms of the surround speakers that you’ll be using, luckily you do not need to dedicate a large portion of your budget to these.

I won’t say that any speaker will do, because that’s far from true, nor will I say that their only job is to solely produce ambient noises and effects since that would be misinformed as well; but what I will say is that in comparison with everything else, they aren’t necessarily in the top 3 of most important things ( left & right channel, the center, and the subwoofer)

There happens to be 3 types of surround speakers that you should be aware of and that is Bipole, Dipole, and Monopole speakers. Unfortunately, this is where controversy arises because there is a general disagreement as to what surrounds are best and under what circumstances.

While I can’t provide you with concrete evidence on what is the best, I can provide you with anecdotal experience. At my old place, I had a speaker that could act as both a dipole and a bipole speaker, pretty cool little thing admittedly.

Problem being, naturally, there were no instructions on how to actually place the things so it was up to me to figure out. I put them on the side of my seating position on bipole, and what I found was that the feeling of surround sound was lost since I could tell where the sound was coming from. In dipole, it sounded much better where that feeling was there.

A few years later I tried these same ones but in a bigger room this time.

What I found then was that bipole was the better option because dipole sounded too diffuse, and when something happened in the movie like a the sound of a car passing behind you, directional cues with bipole were much better.

By no means is this definitive, but basically long story short is the best surround speaker is going to depend both on the room they’re being used in as well as the capabilities of the speakers themselves.

Timbre!

One more quick thing that I forgot to mention that is not talked about too much is the concept of timbre matching.

In short, timbre matching is the matching of at least the front 3 speakers ( left, right, and center) so that the sound that is projected is uniform and tonally even. They all are from the same manufacturer and line basically.

The reason this can be pretty important is that if you bought mismatching speakers for your left, right, and center, one may have a certain sound signature that favors treble, while another might sound bass heavy/muddy — and together this might potentially sound somewhat disjointed.

You really want to strive to make them all the same speaker if you can.

Buying the speakers from the same line ensures that you will get a much smoother soundstage, and the best experience overall. It will also make things that much more engaging when something pans on screen and sounds the same directionally.

Nothing more jarring than having one speaker sound like exceptionally louder than another one.

But you know, hopefully all of this helps, so that you now have a much better grasp on creating that perfect system that will work specifically for you.

It may be a lot to take in but don’t feel overwhelmed at all, because if you still have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. Check out Recommendations too if you want a few ideas to point you in the right direction.

Oh and quick little pro-tip; writing down your budget at the top, then as your shopping, writing down each item you plan on getting under it will give you a visual that’ll make things easier for you so you know if everything still is within the limits of your particular budget.

That and just taking notes beforehand on what you’re looking for definitely helps too.

But for now that’s really it honestly. Like always if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or something helpful you found out, let me know in the comments down below; I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time, make it easy, keep it simple.

10 Creative Home Theater Ideas To Transform Your Space

What good is a home theater if you aren’t getting the most out of it?

As unfortunate as it may be, the fact of the matter is many aren’t fully utilizing their system like they could be. Chances are, there’s improvements even now you could be implementing into your setup.

So with that being said, here’s my gift you; 10 home theater ideas you can use today to elevate your surround sound experience.

Get A Surge Protector

Testing How A Room Sounds With The Clap Test

Not Happy With The Way Your Speakers Sound? Try A Mirror

TV Seem Too Bright? Adjusting Lighting May Help

Get A Smart Universal Remote

Is The Bass In Your Room Lacking? You May Want To Try 2 Subwoofers

Is There A Mishmash Of Wires? Labeling Might Be A Smart Idea

Optimizing Your TV’s Picture Quality

The Furniture Matters

Are Your Wires In The Way? You Could Always Try A Wire Tacker

Using A Surge Protector

I can’t stress this enough; surge protectors can be a big help.

Why though?

Well think of it this way. When a storm rolls in and lightning strikes, what do you think happens when your electronics aren’t protected?

That’s right, they run the risk of getting fried. Don’t think that happens all too often? Well it does.

My last setup got shorted because I was of the same mindset that that doesn’t ever really happen, but lo and behold….yeah…wasn’t happy.

So, I just want to prevent your new toys succumbing to the same fate mine did. A surge protector can be a big help in preventing that from happening.

It’s certainly one of the many mistakes that people often make which I also talk about here.

https://easyhometheater.net/25-of-the-worst-home-theater-mistakes

ALESTOR Surge Protector with 12 Outlets and 4 USB Ports

Testing How A Room Sounds With The Clap Test

What in the world is a clap test?

In short, a clap test is a really basic test without equipment, used to get an idea of how sound interacts with a room. When you move into a new place devoid of furniture, chances are it’ll sound pretty empty.

The point of this test is that it will allow you to to gauge how much acoustical treatment a room needs, without the usual hassle.

How do you do it though?

Simple. First go outside, making sure you’re standing away from any reflective surfaces.

Then you’re going to clap once, and make note of how it sounds.

What you should be listening for is a lack of any kind of echo. Then go back inside, and clap again. This time you’ll likely hear a slight one.

The more carpeting and furniture you add to a room, the less pronounced it’ll be. This is because the softer material absorbs sound rather than reflecting it like a hard surface would.

A room with hardwood flooring will have a sound signature harsher than that of a carpeted one.

That’s why ideally, when you clap in a room that has adequate treatment, there won’t be an echo at all. Keep this in mind with regards to your setup.

Not Happy With The Way Your Speakers Sound Now? Try A Mirror

This is another cool trick you can try to improve your sound.

For this you would need 2 people and a mirror.

With one person sitting down where the content will be primarily watched, the other person would hold the mirror and walk slowly along the wall.

Do this until the person sitting down can see the reflection of one of the speakers. When you see it, stop, and make note of where exactly that spot is.

Then repeat that walk for the other 2 speakers and mark those.

The idea here is that the point of visual reflection in the mirror is also where the sound from your speaker is reflecting to your seating position.

By placing acoustic panels in those spots you marked, it’ll help dampen the unwanted sounds that could be affecting your audio quality. With doing this you may notice a difference immediately.

Calibration of course helps too though there’s a few things with regards to mistakes you’ll want to keep in mind.

https://easyhometheater.net/25-of-the-worst-home-theater-mistakes

12 Pack- Acoustic Panels Studio Foam Wedges

TV Seem Too Bright? Adjusting Lighting May Help

A common issue with TVs is that they aren’t typically calibrated right out of the box. Many displays are set with the backlight at the maximum value possible.

Leaving it like that in a darker room could bring about eye strain. To offset this juxtaposition of light and dark, try a backlight that’s 60 percent of the max.

I’ve personally found that to be the sweet spot for average day and nighttime viewing though it could be different for you depending on your viewing conditions.

Another thing you may want to try is an ambient light. An ambient light is basically a strip of lights that go behind the screen with the goal of reducing eye strain.

The cool thing is they come in a bunch of colors, and it adds a certain sense of character to the room overall.

Here’s how to optimize your television as well which can certainly help with picture quality.

https://easyhometheater.net/how-to-optimize-your-tv

Luminoodle Color Bias Lighting

Using A Smart Universal Remote

If you have a lot of devices in your home theater then by default, you’ll also have a lot of remotes. So it only makes sense then to make it easy on yourself and simplify it.

A universal remote is helpful because you can control all of your components with one remote, along with added bonus of not worrying about losing several of them.

Now a smart universal remote is even better because they usually have a mini screen and expanded support for more devices.

Whatever you pick, these nifty little devices can make your things a heck of a lot easier with regards to home theater (and who doesn’t want that?)

I even did a piece on the best ones to go with to make your decision even easier.

https://easyhometheater.net/the-best-universal-remotes

Logitech Harmony 650 Infrared All in One Remote Control

Is The Bass In Your Room Lacking? You May Want To Try 2 Subwoofers

If you have more than one seating position, 2 subwoofers might be something you want to try.

Like I’ve mentioned before, there are multiple dead spots in any room. Unfortunately, if someone happens to be sitting in one of these nulls, they might not hear any bass at all.

However, with an extra sub, it can help with the unevenness of bass in the room.

When properly setup, it can help add a lot of depth to your overall sound quality.

Funnily enough, I actually talk about this very topic here.

https://easyhometheater.net/setting-up-2-subwoofers

Is There A Mishmash Of Wires? Labeling Might Be A Smart Idea

If you haven’t put much thought into wire labels, then you might want to. With all of the extra HDMIs and stuff that you’ll likely acquire over time, it’ll probably start to get confusing.

But by putting labels on your wires, you’ll always know what they’re connected to when you have a bunch of things going.

But you’ll also want to keep them out of sight for both aesthetic and practical purposes, so here’s a few tips on how to easily do that.

https://easyhometheater.net/hiding-speaker-wire-solutions

Optimizing Your TV’s Picture Quality

Most people lose out on the full capabilities of their televisions because they aren’t aware that it’s even a thing, let alone what improvement they would get.

But if you’re noticing your picture looking washed out or off, or you’re not sure which color temperature to use, optimizing or even calibrating your display can provide a very noticeable improvement.

https://easyhometheater.net/how-to-optimize-your-tv

The Furniture Matters

This kind of ties into what I was talking about before; the furniture you get matters.

When designing your home theater, opt for chairs with as much cushioning as possible. Obviously comfort is a factor, but the sound will be much better in a room with plush furniture as well.

Speaking of plush, one really cool idea that springs to mind is a bean bag chair!

They’re incredibly comfortable, while definitely adding a sense of character any room.

But if you’re still curious on exactly why the furniture in a room would matter, definitely have a look at this interesting read below.

https://easyhometheater.net/home-theater-seating-ideas

Sofa Sack – Bean Bags Bean Bag Chair

Are Your Wires In The Way? You Could Always Try A Wire Tacker

I like using wire tackers because they help keep annoying wires out of the way, and they’re not hard to use.

Best part is it functions like a regular stapler, so there’s nothing really complex here. They’re another really helpful tool to have in my opinion.

With that though, that about wraps it up for this one.

These are 10 concepts anyone designing a home theater should keep in mind..

We often get so caught up in the excitement of having a new setup that we forget to really make the most of it.

But with these steps, you’ll be on the your way to surround sound bliss.

That’s it for now, see you next time.

Polk Audio PSW111 Subwoofer Review – How I Came Across This Little Beast Of A Sub

(Edit: Another model to consider that may also be of interest to you is the Polk Audio HTS 10 Powered Subwoofer which is a great alternative to the one talked about in this original review.

I bring this up because due to it’s age, actual availability of the older PSW111 might be variable; but the newer Polk HTS10 is a solid alternative.

A lot of the positives mentioned in the original review still hold true with this subwoofer.)

Check Availability Of Polk Audio HTS10 Subwoofer

Appearance

Features & Specifications

Setup,

How It Sounds

Likes

Dislikes

Final Thoughts.

Appearance

So usually what’s common with subwoofer reviews is that they like to make mention of what type of box that it came in along with stuff like that. Unfortunately though, I would have no idea of knowing what type of box it came in since I didn’t exactly buy it at a store.

So we’ll move onto the aesthetics aspect of it. First impression? Well it’s actually pretty small.

It’s only 11 inches wide, and about a foot tall so if you were worried about it taking up ungodly amounts of space then don’t worry. It’s in an all black finish, and has 4 rubber feet on the bottom.

That’s so it doesn’t go dancing across your hardwood floor/ annoy the neighbors under you during your 2am jamming sessions. It’s made of MDF wood which I like as well.

For those unaware by the way, MDF stands for medium density fiberboard. What that is is a combination of wood and resin pressed together into a very solid object.

Reason why this would be important is due to the fact that when a speaker produces sound, it vibrates.

That extra vibration can change the sound output from the driver itself. Being made of this material dampens this vibration tremendously so you get a much cleaner sound.

One the thing that did take me by surprise when I first got it though wasn’t its compact stature, but its weight!

Even though it’s a little guy, this thing is a slightly over 20 pounds! Definitely didn’t see that coming but it just adds to that premium feel.

Speaking of which, the grill in front is simple with the small Polk emblem on the bottom. It’s also completely removable. The material on the front feels thin but strong if that makes sense. Up to you whether you want it on or off.

Then on the bottom you have a downward firing port that helps with an extra level of clean, powerful bass.

Overall though, it’s an attractive exterior and gets a thumbs up.

Features & Specifications

Just to reiterate with regards to the specs, it’s MDF and comes in at 12 inches high and 11 inches wide (also 13 inches deep). It has 150 watts of continuous power and a 300 watt peak while being Kippel optimized. This is allows it to remain distortion free, even at the highest volumes due to specialized internals.

It has an 8 inch driver as well. The frequency range goes from 38 to 250 HZ which is respectable. It also has a low pass frequency control which allows you to control the crossover from the sub.

Honestly I would recommend setting this all the way to the right because that would let the receiver process the sound rather than the sub trying to do it.

It has a volume knob which let’s you adjust to your personal liking ( although I personally recommend setting it halfway; anything over that I noticed started to seem somewhat distorted)

There’s a phase switch present as well which like the name suggests, changes the phase of the subwoofer. This would only be useful if you setup your subwoofer on the opposite side that your speakers sat; otherwise don’t worry about that setting.

The power switch which is for turning it on and off. Then it has LFE in and speaker in (though again you’d connect those to the receiver ideally.)

What’s particularly cool about this subwoofer is that it comes with what’s known as smart amplifiers. Now a quality amplifier is an absolute necessity when it comes to good sound; as this is arguably the biggest factor that will determine how loud the sub can go. More about that here. http://www.explainthatstuff.com/amplifiers.html

Basically what you need to know is that those allow it to consume energy only when it needs to rather than being constantly on; and when it is on, it uses very little in total. This low power consumption should technically help you save on your electric bill which is a pretty awesome little bonus.

By the way, from me to you, keep in mind that specifications are just numbers. While they can give you an idea of how something may sound, by no means is that the entire story. It may sound worlds different than the specs suggest so just remember that.

Setup

As far as setup is concerned, it was relatively simple. I turned it on with the switch on the back, and set the gain at half. I used an optimizer mic with my receiver to calibrate it then did the subwoofer crawl. Pretty straightforward. It didn’t take up a lot of space so that’s a plus.

How it Sounds

Here’s the part you really want to know, how does it sound? Well I started off the same way I do with any new speaker I get, music! I like to try different genres just to see how versatile the the sub/speaker is.

So I connected my phone to the receiver via auxiliary, put the playlist on shuffle, and played some rock songs.

Took me by shock when about 10 seconds in the kick drum kicked in. The bass from this little thing was so pronounced and authoritative.

It was the kind of bass that made you want to nod your head along with it. It had an almost physical element to the bass which was awesome.

So now I had an idea of how it did in that genre, next I wanted to try R&B so I tried a few songs.

Wow does this thing hit. Mind you I’ve heard subwoofers that admittedly dug deeper, but definitely not at the size.

The PSW111 definitely had that punch with bass that you can feel. It just sounded so good; better than I was expecting that’s for sure.

So to really test its mettle in the music department I decided to play some electronic music. Talk about a party. It let out a visceral thump with each bass hit that pretty much let you know it wasn’t playing around.

I’d call this the little sub that could because man does the sound belie its initial stout appearance. It did not disappoint what so ever.

However I wasn’t done and at that point it was time to watch a movie.

So the movie I really wanted to try with this sub was one of my favorite movies, the Dark Knight (the first one) I’m not one to spoil movies though, so what I will say about my experience with that was it was definitely fun.

What I did happen to notice during the movie, was that you could tell when it wanted to go deeper like some of the bigger subs but couldn’t quite. But I wouldn’t necessarily fault it for that since you do have to tamper expectations on a sub that’s only 8 inches.

It’s not going to shake the walls down like a 15 inch goliath, but it still performs and well at that. But on the more eventful scenes with dramatic musical scores, it was certainly convincing.

The best way to sum up the sound of the PSW111 is punchy and clean sounding with respectable, but not groundbreaking extension into the lower notes.

Some subwoofers often have the issue of having a little too much rumble in turn sounding muddy, but this did not have that issue what so ever. It knows what it can and can’t do; and with what it can, it executes phenomenally.

Likes

• I loved how musical it sounded, as with anything I threw at it, it played like a champ
• I love the small form factor
• The bass was very prominent but didn’t overstep boundaries.
• The thing was just plain fun

Dislikes

• May not have the most extension in really large rooms.

Final Thoughts

Besides those two very slight criticisms, this is an excellent sub that overall does not disappoint. It does movies and music beautifully, and when turned up loud, there’s no distortion to be found anywhere.

If you have a smaller room, dorm, apartment or whatever, the Polk PSW11 will work great.

It’s certainly one of my favorites because of how compact yet powerful it is. It’s really awesome.

How To Set Up A Home Theater

Alright you’re here because you want to know how to set up a home theater.

It’s often made way more complicated than it needs to be, so this will be as straightforward as possible.

It will also be picture heavy since it’s easier to understand.

This is a setup guide for the traditional 2.1, 3.1, and/or 5.1 setups.

The reason this doesn’t mention soundbars or home theaters in a box is because each one is different, and they usually have their own respective setup instructions.

Planning Where To Put Your Stuff

Connecting The Wires To Your Speakers

Hooking Up The Receiver

Subwoofer Placement

Calibrating Your Speaker (Not Completely Necessary But Generally Recommended)

∼ What You’ll Need ∼

• Speaker Wire (most commonly 14-16 gauge wire)
• Wire Stripper
• Scissors
• light of some sort to see behind your receiver
• HDMI cables for each of your devices
• RCA cable for your subwoofer
• Speaker connectors (banana plugs or pin plugs depending on what your speakers use; if it says 5 way binding posts in the product description then that means they accept any kind of connection)
• Possibly a few other things depending on your setup so here’s a recommendations list just in case
• Patience! This is going to take a decent amount of time, so make sure that before you do this, you have nothing important to do after or around this time. Luckily it’s really not that difficult. Plus keep in mind you’ll probably only have to do this once so don’t fret, you got it!

Planning Where To Your Stuff

When it comes to setting up home theater speakers, one of the most important things to keep in mind, even before calibration and placing your equipment, is knowing beforehand where you want your stuff to actually go.

Placement plays a key role in your overall experience so you’ll of course want to do this right.

Here’s what to keep in mind for each part of your system.

The Receiver

When it comes to setting up a home theater system, you can think of the receiver as basically the main hub who’s job it is to process everything from the picture all the way to the sound.

To say it’s important from not only from a picking the right one standpoint, but also in regards to proper setup is an understatement.

And as I’ve alluded to, the proper setup is important for the overall health and longevity of your receiver as well.

Basically you want to make sure that your receiver is placed somewhere where it can get adequate ventilation and air flow so that it works properly.

Believe it or not, if you place it in somewhere like a cabinet behind glass or a small space, it can get too hot and overheat.

So make sure it’s in a space where it can get enough air.

Also make sure that you don’t put anything on top of the receiver too since that’ll also block the vents which can cause it to overheat in the long run.

Front Left & Right Speaker

Ideally when you have your front left and right speaker hooked up, you want it at the same ear level where you’ll most commonly be sitting.

That’s the most optimal position when it comes to getting the best immersion from your speakers.

Now this isn’t gospel, but generally try not placing these more than 12 feet apart.

If you place them too far from each other, you’ll hear the separate sound from each speaker rather than it blending together like you’d ideally want.

This effectively diminishes the feeling of a seamless sound presence and it can be pretty distracting as a whole.

If it’s too close, something called the sound-stage (which is basically a term for how well your sound blends together) will be really narrow sounding and you’ll notice it.

An example of this would be say if you happened to place your front left & right speakers 6 feet apart, and you sat a little to the outside of where your speakers were facing.

What you’d probably immediately notice is a lack of immersion since it’d sound like the audio was coming from off to the side rather than in front of you.

This could also lead to you having to increase the volume just to hear what’s going on which isn’t necessary if they’re just placed correctly.

So at least 6 feet apart but no greater than 12 would provide for the best soundstage in that instance.

A little something else to note if you do want the best sound is to place them at a distance that’s equal to or less than where you’ll be sitting.

So for example let’s say you place them 8 feet apart, if you’re sitting 8 feet away or more from the speakers themselves, then you’re golden. That way it blends together into a convincing mix.

Keep in mind that if you’re using a 4K TV, seating may be closer since the resolution of the image itself is higher.

To help determine where to sit for great picture quality with a 1080p or 4K TV, as well as where to place the front speakers, this calculator may help.

https://easyhometheater.net/seating-speaker-calculator

Another thing that you can sort of play with is the angle of your speakers too depending on where your seating position is.

When they’re angled inwards, the sound is more precise but the optimal listening position is also narrowed. This often referred to as toe-in.

When you angle the speakers outwards, (referred to as toe-out) you do get a wider soundstage since the sound is more dispersed, but things can also sound airy.

While certainly not necessary, adjusting the angle can help depending on your room, so you’ll want to see what works for you.

Surround Speaker

With regards to the surround speaker, this is an interesting one.

Besides the fact that you can wall mount these along with any of your speakers really, the setup of your surround speakers is a little different. Unlike your left and right speakers, the surrounds should ideally be placed up to 2 feet above your ear level when you’re sitting.

This gives a better surround sound presentation from my experience, but they can also be placed at around ear level if this isn’t possible. You just don’t want to go below ear level because the surround sound perception is lost.

You also want to place these not behind you, but directly to the left and right of your seating position.

If you are doing 7.1, then the extra 2 speakers would go behind you and these can be placed at the same height or higher than your surround speakers.

For a small room home theater setup, you may even decide to forgo a surround setup in favor of a 3.1 setup, or even opt for a sound bar.

Either way there’s lots of options to go with so ultimately it really just depends on your room size, seating, and your priorities.

The Center Speaker

A close second in importance only to the receiver, the center channel speaker is responsible for up to 80 percent of dialogue in your content, so getting the placement right of this one certainly is important.

The interesting thing about the center speaker is that for the most optimal sound, it should be placed as close to the center of the screen possible.

What I mean by this is of course isn’t putting it in the middle of the screen since it’d block your view, but putting it directly below the screen in the middle.

This allows you to get the most clarity from your center, and makes it seem as though the sound is coming from the TV and not the speaker.

So if you were thinking about putting this one in a cabinet under your TV or something, probably not the best idea.

You also have the option of placing it above your TV angled downwards towards the listening position as well, but I’d personally only recommend that if you can’t place it directly below your display.

One of the most important things you’ll want to keep in mind too is that your left, right, and center speakers should all be at the same level as one another.

If one is higher than another, that can disrupt the sound stage and make things sound uneven.

Placing them at the same level (ideally your ear level when seated) allows the sound to blend together seamlessly for the best soundstage.

The Subwooofer

The subwoofer is also going to be a little different as well since it’s dealing with more of the lower sounds. We’ll deal with this last since it’ll be the last thing we setup. It’ll have its own section so don’t worry.

Connecting The Wires To Your Speakers

Alright so you’ve got all of that situated and now it’s time to connect the wires! So here’s the thing, you can use either scissors (which is a little harder) or you can use my personal favorite, this cool wire stripping tool to make your life easier.

Up to you, but I personally use that thing. However I’m going to show you how to do it both ways so no ones left out. First with the scissors, then the wire stripper. 🙂

*I’m going to be using whats called a pin plug in this tutorial, but you can use other connections too depending on what your receiver/speaker.*

Before the first step though, what you’ll want to do is take the spool of wire, and roll out the amount of wire you think you’ll need for each speaker.

To do this, roll it from where you plan on placing the speaker, all the way to where the receiver is. Then cut it.

Step 1. Cutting the wire

With scissors: So before you do anything, what you’ll want to do is separate the wire a little so that it looks like this by cutting down the middle.

After, you’re going to take the wire, and make a small cut all the way around the wire. You don’t want to cut all the way through, but you just want to cut around it so that there’s a visible notch.

The little strands inside is what you don’t want to cut, only the insulation (that’s the outer plastic covering of the wire.) Then when you have a cut all the way around the wire, you can use either the scissors or your hands for this next part.

From there, you want to gently pull it so that the insulation cover is removed. Don’t worry about losing a few strands, but if you lose a lot of them, then you might want to start over on that wire.

Once you have the gold strands exposed and it looks like the picture above, you’re ready for the next step.

With the wire cutting tool:

Make sure you separate the wire so that it looks like this.

Now take the wire and place it in the appropriate diameter hole of the wire stripper.

Lets say you have 16 gauge wire; then all that means is that you place it in there where it’s marked 16 stranded. Whatever gauge wire you have is where you’ll put it.

Clamp it all the way down, and lock it with that little lever to the left. Then just pull, and it’ll perfectly strip the wire. It may or may not give some resistance but just pull and it’ll give.

Step 2. Attaching the connectors

What you’re going to do next twist the gold strands until it looks like this.

Then you’re going to insert the gold strand bundle into the hole of the pin/banana plug. Make sure you unscrew the connector first so it looks like in the picture

Twist the bundle around until it looks like this.

And then take the cap that you unscrewed before and screw it back on..

That’s it really. Just strip each wire and do the same thing for each one.

Now these are called binding posts and are where the connectors go into (this is the back of my speaker).

Each speaker or receiver may have a different type, but a lot of times they will have what is called a 5 way binding post which means it can accept any type.

But you may have to unscrew them on the back of your speaker until it exposes a hole

It would then go into this hole, and you’d tighten it back down until it holds the connector.

Remember there’s two of these on one side of the wire that goes into the speaker like this.

Then on the the other side of the wire, the other two go into the receiver.

Keep in mind that one is negative and one is positive. It doesn’t matter what color you choose to be negative or positive, but whatever color you do choose for each, make sure you stick with the same scheme for each speaker.

That is absolutely paramount to remember.

Notice those other holes that we didn’t plug into though?

You can also use what is called a banana plug to actually plug into the top holes like this. You would remove the cap with something like a paper clip, then plug into it.

Up to you what you choose to do though.

Step 3. Plugging in to the receiver

Once you have all your speakers setup with the connectors on both sides of the wire, now it’s time to connect them to the receiver.

First, make sure the receiver is completely off and unplugged before you do any of this please.

Now let me say this, if you used the pin plugs, then you’ll either connect them 2 different ways depending on your receiver.

You might have to unscrew the post to reveal a hole like shown with my speakers above— in which case you would then place the pin in the hole and screw the thing tight. Like shown above.

Or it might be spring loaded like this, and in that case you would push it to reveal the hole and put the pin in.

On the back of the receiver it’ll tell you where to connect each speaker so you’re not just guessing where to put it. Remember negative to negative, positive to positive.

Hooking Up The Receiver

You’re doing good we’re almost done. 😀

Setting up a home theater receiver isn’t too difficult luckily, you just have to make sure the speakers and devices are connected into the appropriate slot.

Here’s where you’ll also notice two different types of slots called HDMI outputs and HDMI inputs.

Here’s an easy way to remember the difference.

An HDMI output means when a device is connected into that particular slot, it is sending the signal out to some other device, hence the name out.

That other device receiving the signal will have an HDMI input slot where the other side of the HDMI cable is connected into, hence the input part.

The reason this distinction is important is because one HDMI side will go into the HDMI out on your receiver. The other side will go into the first HDMI input of your TV. This is basically allowing your receiver to process the sound rather than the TV.

Be sure it is set to input 1 on your television. From here, every other device you plan on using will be connected into your receiver, not your TV.

So your TV should only have 1 HDMI connected into it, all the other ones should be in your receiver. just to clarify that. If your DVD player/ whatever device doesn’t have an HDMI, you would have to use an optical cable for the sound like shown in the bottom left of the picture.

If you happen to have an older TV or receiver that does not support something called ARC (audio return channel) then you would need to connect an optical cable from the television to the receiver.

Here’s something important that you also need to know (well besides actually plugging in your receiver’s power cord now after everythings connected.)

With your new receiver’s remote, you’ll need to change the input to whatever device you plan on using.

So for example if your cable box is connected into the slot labeled HDMI 2 on your receiver, you’ll need to change it to input 2 on on your remote.

Not that hard right?

The device that you use has to be powered on too by the way, otherwise your TV might say no signal.

Subwoofer Placement

Subwoofer placement has to be one of the funnest things because it allows you to directly hear differences even a few inches away. What we’re going to do now is something called the subwoofer crawl.

To save time, the subwoofer crawl basically entails moving around your room to find out where it sounds best.

So to get straight to it, what were going to do is plug in our RCA cable, which looks like this, to the receiver and to the subwoofer.

It’ll go into the slot called LFE in, line in, or something similar depending on the sub.

Turn on your subwoofer and turn the volume on the subwoofer knob to halfway. This is also commonly referred to as the gain.

If possible, turn the crossover frequency knob on the sub to where it says disabled; and if it doesn’t say that anywhere, then turn it all the way past 180. This just tells the receiver to do the processing and not the sub.

Next turn the receiver & subwoofer on after plugging them back in, and play something you’re familiar with; be it music, a movie, tv show etc. and move around the room listening for differences in the bass.

In some areas it will sound boomy, and in some areas there will be almost no bass what so ever.

Listen to where it sounds the most balanced to your ears. When you find it, that’ll be where the sub goes. You can mark that spot with a piece of tape or an object.

Then place your subwoofer in that new spot, and listen back from your seating position to see if everything sounds good. If it does then guess what, you’re done, that’s it.

You now have your new system set up, woo!

As a little side note, something else to consider is the addition of an extra subwoofer. Not only will you get more even bass coverage, but a stronger bass output overall.

I talk about all the benefits of using 2 subs below, so definitely be sure to check that out because there’s actually quite a few.

https://easyhometheater.net/setting-up-2-subwoofers

Calibrating Your Speaker (Not Completely Necessary But Generally Recommended)

Now here is the interesting part.

Technically you are done for the most part, so if you don’t feel like doing anything else then by all means enjoy your new setup; I wouldn’t blame you.

This next part is completely optional so it can be done at any time. But if you are someone that does want the best sound possible while wanting to fully utilize your new setup, then stick around for this.

If your receiver came with something that somewhat resembles this, that is what is called an optimizer mic. Like the name suggests, its job is to optimize the sound!

The cool thing is it takes all of the work out, meaning all you literally have to do (after making sure the mic is on a flat surface and your surroundings are quiet) is plug it into the part where it says optimizer mic, calibration mic, or something similar on your receiver, press enter on your remote, and it will automatically calibrate your speakers for you.

Isn’t technology great?

Here’s a receiver that  actually comes with one.

Yamaha RX-V685

Now if you are a little more old school, or your receiver doesn’t have one of these, then fret not there’s still a way to do it, albeit a little more hands on.

You would have to use what is called an SPL meter to measure the decibel reading from each speaker, and manually adjust the volume level for it in the menus.

You would also have to be sure to set the crossover to 80 HZ which basically just means to send all the low frequency sounds to the subwoofer.

Now if that sounds like too much work then you can always get a receiver that comes with a mic, or you can skip this step all together.

I know for me personally, I bought a receiver that had the optimizing mic since I liked that it did the work for me, but again hey, that’s up to you.

Now that you have your new setup all ready to go, tell me about it! I’d love to hear about it and how you’ve liked it thus far; maybe I can even offer you a few more tips!

For example, if with your new set up you notice wires everywhere, then you’ll certainly want to hide them out of the way. Here’s how to do exactly that.

https://easyhometheater.net/hiding-speaker-wire-solutions

Or if for example you find that your speakers aren’t working when you turn the receiver on, then here’s a few things you can do to fix that.

https://easyhometheater.net/why-arent-my-speakers-working

Perhaps even, you’re just curious as to how long your speaker setup is good for?

https://easyhometheater.net/how-long-do-speakers-last

Point is, if you have any specific questions at all in the meantime, don’t hesitate to ask me or even leave a comment below because chances are, someone else may have that same exact question and it’ll help them too.

But that’s it for now folks.

Like I always say, make it easy, keep it simple!

(more…)

A 4K TV? What’s That?

4K TVs are much more common now, but that wasn’t the case even just a few years ago.

I remember back in 2014 looking at the related videos section and seeing the 4k tag for the first time.

In the bottom right was a resolution slider that lets you toggle the clarity, and besides the new 1440p being listed, there was also a 2160p setting.

Upon trying it, the only thing I noticed was buffering rather than the video playing since it was an older computer.

Though curious what it’d look like, but it wasn’t until a few years later that I got to experience it when I bought my first 4K television.

So that’s what I want to talk about today since I know that by now, you’ve probably at least heard the term 4k or Ultra HD.

Plus I wanted to offer my thoughts on whether I feel 4K TVs are worth it in 2025.

Understanding How The TV Pixel Affects Resolution

Keep in mind that too low of a resolution setting or improper seating distance can cause a TV’s image to look blurry.

But to better understand the positives of this higher resolution, we also need to understand how the pixels in your TV play a factor in this tech.

Your TV is made up of millions of little bits of information called a pixel.

When supplied with an electrical current, these pixels light up.

Depending on what’s on screen, these pixels have 3 sub pixels that are responsible for displaying one of 3 colors, red, green, or blue.

In combination with dimming and getting brighter at certain times, together they produce the picture quality that you see.

The incredible thing is with that combination of those 3 colors, they’re able to reproduce all of the possible colors you can see with your eyes.

That’s the basic understanding, although there’s variations on this that may add an additional sub pixel color like Quattron & OLED, or technologies like Micro LED & QLED that enhances how they’re displayed.

The number of these pixels present depends on what’s called the resolution.

The higher the resolution, the higher the count of pixels.

One of the most common resolutions today is full high definition or 1080p.

This is where there is 1920 pixels horizontally, and then 1080 pixels vertically, all displayed at once, hence the p at the end.

Believe it or not, the concept of high definition television isn’t new though.

In fact it was being researched decades ago, around the same time color TV itself was introduced!

So why didn’t they just introduce that in the first place?

Well 3 big reasons really; cost, lack of hardware to properly utilize it, and a lack of consumer viability.

It was way too much of a hassle at the time basically.

Long story short, cable companies started to more recently broadcast it commercially, then talks of commercial 4k picked up major steam not even a few short years later.

Why Was 4K Introduced For TVs?

As televisions and projectors increased in size, creators of media content and companies realized the needs for resolutions even higher than this.

They wanted a way to display millions more pixels on screen so that it wouldn’t look blurry on those larger displays.

The issue though was with the way that movies were already formatted, thus they were tasked with creating a work around and ended up calling this new digital video format at the time Ultra HD.

This is where a common mistake is made though since Ultra HD isn’t the full pixel count of 4K resolution if you wanted to be technical.

4k actually is a resolution used for cinemas & editing in digital photography, and comes in at 4096x2160p.

Ultra HD or UHD as it’s so commonly referred to, comes in at 3840x2160p; not a huge difference mind you, but the pixel difference is there.

However being so close in size with a nearly indiscernible difference, they’re pretty much used interchangeably.

It also uses a 16:9 aspect ratio which is now common in content and displays.

4K Resolution VS 1080p In TVs

But are any of these pixel increases in displays actually of any visual benefit?

Especially compared to the standard high definition sets many may still have?

Simply put, yes they are.

Let’s think of it this way; when comparing the two, traditional 4k has a pixel resolution that is 4 times that of HD.

Yes you heard that right, it has 4 times the amount of pixels comparatively.

That by definition, means 4 times the clarity of a 1080p television.

Now how noticeable this is in reality is going to vary from person to person.

It’s also dependent on the size of your TV, since under a certain size (under 46 inches) chances are you won’t benefit from that extra detail too much.

The bigger the screen basically, the greater the need for a higher resolution.

A modern 4K TV doesn’t simply involve a bump in resolution either since there’s other formats that improve the experience as well like high dynamic range (HDR), expanded color, and higher refresh rates.

Personally I’m not one to buy into the hype of things at all, but having a few 4k TVs right now, I can tell you the difference is incredible.

It’s something that you would have to see for yourself to see why it’s so exciting.

Watching a 4k Blu-ray on it is incredibly clear.

Keep in mind though that seating distance is important too, and depends on the size of the TV.

To help calculate that and even where to place your speakers, I created a tool that may help in that aspect.

https://easyhometheater.net/seating-speaker-calculator

So here’s the real question, as of today is a 4k TV worth it?

If you had asked me that same question back in 2014, as cool as it is, I would have said to probably wait a bit for the content to catch up to the standard.

But right now as of 2025? I definitely think so & here’s why.

The Future For Higher Resolution Displays

For a good period of time while UHD was in the implementation phase, there was a real problem, no content!

They had this novel idea, with the promises of a major bump in visual clarity, but there was barely anything to actually take advantage of it.

Then as Netflix, and other media juggernauts and streaming services began to embrace it, the idea of 4k becoming the next big standard gained clout.

Today in 2025, there’s much more content and ways to actually utilize the format.

There’s UHD Blu-ray players, 4k gaming consoles, and even phones now with the ability to capture in 4k.

It definitely seems like a lot of third parties are on board now.

Even some cable companies have started to offer 4k services through ATSC 3.0, though full availability will likely take some time still.

Reason being, besides the financial aspect, being be able to provide a resolution like that takes a lot of power and infrastructure to implement.

However do know that at this point in time, while watching cable TV in this new resolution isn’t as widespread just yet, that time is likely coming.

Couple this along with the fact newer 4k TV’s can stream a lot of your favorite shows in 4k and it starts to make sense.

This wasn’t the case even just last year, however new content is being rolled out what seems like daily.

1080p TV’s are in the process of being phased out, and are much harder to find nowadays, since Ultra HD will eventually be the new standard moving forward.

Something else you may have been wondering is if it’ll still play 1080p and lower resolution content and luckily it will.

They’re backwards compatible, meaning any lower resolutions automatically get upscaled to display on screen so they’ll still play it.

I also recently did an article on some of the best TV’s in my opinion if you’re curious. https://easyhometheater.net/the-best-tvs

What will really be interesting though is seeing how more advanced resolution technologies are implemented since 8K resolution & IMAX Enhanced exists now as well.

I think the future is bright for the implementation of higher resolution displays, and the more display technologies that focus on really enhancing our content in appreciable ways, the better in my opinion.

What’s really exciting though is that higher resolution displays are just one of the many interesting smart home technologies I feel like we’ll see in the upcoming years.

8 Common Home Theater Problems You May Experience

(more…)

What Is The Roku? The Streaming Device Explained

So with that then, no doubt at some point or another you’ve at least heard mention of something called the Roku. Besides the interesting name choice what is it?

Well that’s definitely a multifaceted question. The short, TL;DR answer? It’s a media streaming device with quite a number of channels and features to keep you entertained.

Long answer?

Well that’ll be the rest of this article!

History

The interesting thing about media streaming devices in general is they really haven’t been around all too long to appreciate. In the case of the Roku and its history, even though the company was founded in 2002, it wasn’t commercially available until 2008.

In 2007 there were rumors that media giant Netflix would be releasing its own physical player however that rumor was quickly dispelled. So, the VP at the time Anthony Wood, decided to use the other company he created as the outlet for doing this; that company was Roku.

Roku stands for sixth, and was the 6’th company he created; pretty cool right? So then the subsequent year, the first-generation Roku was released. Its focus was being a Netflix streaming box.

As you could probably imagine since it wasn’t something that existed at the time, and since everyone knew Netflix, it was a big hit. If you’re interested here’s a really good article on their surprisingly rich history.

https://www.fastcompany.com/3004709/inside-netflixs-project-griffin-forgotten-history-roku-under-reed-hastings

But anyway, as the years passed, additional models were created. In 2010 the HD version of it was released and eventually became the defacto model later that year.

Additional generations of the media player would be released each year either while adding more features like faster processing speeds, Bluetooth and 4k support.

There have been a number of new, nearly annual updates, and with those updates of course comes even more features. Let’s take a look at the Roku Devices you can get as of today.

The Different Types Of Rokus Available Today

In terms of choices, there’s quite honestly a plethora of different models available that all offer novel and interesting features. But what is the best roku streaming device?

Well the answer to that really will depend on what your specific needs are for a streaming device in general since declaring one as irrefutably better than the other all around might not work, especially if someone didn’t want/need the features present in that model to begin with.

So with that being said, let’s take a look at the different models so that way you have an idea of what works for you.

Keep in mind while there might be additional variants that exist, the ones listed below are really the main ones when it comes to tangible differentiating factors beyond  differences in remotes or the type of cord included.

Roku Express

The first one up is the  Roku Express. The difference with the Express is that it now features streaming speeds that are much faster than previous. What that equates to for you is not only a smoother experience, but also takes care of the potential buffering issue you might run into. It offers a 4K resolution at 60 fps (frames per second) so you’re getting full UHD here.

It features an impressive number of channels, shows and movies meaning there’s a good chance you’ll find something you like. Setup is super easy too.

All you need to do is connect the HDMI cord from your television to the Roku. Then connect the power cord from the actual device to a nearby outlet.

Just make sure that it’s as close as possible to the TV, and make sure that the remote it comes with can actually see the player so that the IR blaster allows you to control it. Next you would turn your tv to whatever input you put the HDMI in.

From there, the on screen step by step instructions will have you running it in no time.

Definitely not too hard.

Another new feature is the Roku app, that manages to turn your smartphone into the remote if you’d prefer to control it that way.

All in all, pretty straightforward and as a whole, it’s definitely an improvement with some rather nice features; especially with the faster streaming speed.

Roku Express

Roku Streaming Stick+

The next one is called The Roku Streaming Stick+ The biggest notable difference is that rather than being an entirely separate device that you must plug into with a separate HDMI, it plugs directly into the TV itself. It couldn’t be any easier to setup which that’s a big plus. A big difference from some prior variants is that it supports 802.11ac dual band MIMO (what’s that?!)

For sake of keeping it simple, what you need to know about 802.11ac is that it’s a newer version of WIFI that supports way faster speeds; you can read more about it here if curious,

https://www.lifewire.com/wireless-standards-802-11a-802-11b-g-n-and-802-11ac-816553

Super speed seems to be the theme with the new versions of the Roku though, so that’s reassuring. The really awesome thing about this version is that the remote is voice capable, meaning you can control your tv with it. So, the biggest differences all around is the faster WIFI speeds and voice control.

It offering of 4k resolution at 60fps.

For those unaware, 4k is the next step up from 1080p HD and offers a resolution difference 4 times that of the former. What Is a 4k TV?

That isn’t the only difference though as it supports something just as big arguably; the lesser talked about HDR support. Basically HDR (high dynamic range) is a more natural difference between the bright portions of the screen and the dark, and more closely resembles the way humans see.

Think of a scene in a movie at night for example, where a person enters a dark area and suddenly turns on a flashlight. With HDR, that light would be incredibly bright while everything else remained dark, similar to how it’d look in real life. It adds an additional degree of realism that really enhances the overall experience.

OLED as well as QLED shine when it comes to this.

But yet another big feature it comes with is 4 times the signal range. The reason why this would matter is due to the fact that when setting up your Roku, you ideally want it to be as close as possible to your router.

However the further away you move it, the weaker the signal gets and the more you begin to get those buffering issues. By having an increased signal strength, that just means that it no longer needs to be as close to your router so that affords you an extra dimension of convenience.

Roku Streaming Stick+

Roku Ultra

Then there’s also the Roku Ultra has the same power as the others along with the fact it has a voice control remote. It’s also more like the first one mentioned since it’s more of the traditional, plug it into the TV via HDMI type.

It has a novel feature called remote finder, which tells you where the remote is when it’s lost; how helpful is that?

There’s even a pair of wired JBL earbuds included as well to really make things that much better.

Roku Ultra

Roku Premiere

The Roku Premiere is to put it simply, very similar to the Ultra where the only real major difference is the fact that instead of dual band wifi, it happens to use single band. Other than that, you still get the same awesome features like 4K, HDR, and support for thousands of great shows and movies. The great thing is there’s also support for Disney Plus and Apple TV on all Roku devices, increasing that even further. Plus there’s even an included HDMI cable!

Roku Premiere

The Best Roku TV – TCL 50″ Class 4-Series

I also just wanted to quickly make mention of the fact that  there are also televisions out there that have the Roku functionality built in. These televisions support the same features that the regular streamers have, only difference is the TV is the player itself.

They even comes with the remote, so you don’t have to worry about setting up anything extra. The TCL 50″ Class 4-Series line of TVs is definitely one of the best in my opinion  — including many of the top of the line features like HDR and a high resolution display, making it a great choice when it comes to Roku derived displays.

TCL 50″ Class 4-Series

Who They Might Be For

That brings me into my next point actually, of who they might be for and if they’re worth it. With that, I would have to say absolutely. One feature that they all support is the Roku app. When you download it to your smartphone, it then allows you to use it as the remote.

From there you can manage all aspects of the platform including voice control, watching on your mobile then projecting to your TV, and voice control.

That’s a pretty nice little feature people usually aren’t aware of, but it’s super convenient. I would also have to say it’s worth due to the sheer amount of content available.

There’s a vast number of episodes and movies spread across a multitude of channels. There’s certainly a lot of choice here. Plus it supports a lot of channels that other streaming devices may not support such as Sling TV and Disney+

I personally have a Roku and love it because of the wide variety of entertainment it has. When you sit down and begin finding shows you forgot about from years back, that nostalgia factor is priceless.  Over half a million shows and movies just a simple press away.

Only then, does it really start to dawn on you how much there is to offer here. It’s pretty hard to not be impressed. That and the mobile app I think is a game changer.

If those are things that appeal to you then you might enjoy them.

Who It Might Not Be For

At the same time, like many things in life, it’s not going to be for everybody. Honestly there’s only a few reasons why someone might not want one though. The first reason I could think of would be if you have a shoddy internet.

The Roku is pretty reliant on internet connection, so if yours is particularly slow, then maybe it might not be for you, especially the ones that allow streaming in 4k.

Even then, with the advanced processors they have now, they’re pretty forgiving.

Another downside would be in regards to the content. While there is a lot of free content, some isn’t. But even then, that’s dependent on the channel.

For example, if a show was offered on Netflix, and you were already a Netflix member, then it wouldn’t matter since you’re already a subscriber.

Yet another minor issue is that with the stick version, it tends to protrude from the HDMI slot a little so it isn’t necessarily flush. You also need to set up an account beforehand so that’s something to be cognizant of.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I think the Roku is that definitely adds to the entertainment experience. If you’re even a little bit of a media buff, then there’s a good chance you’ll find it enjoyable.

With hundreds of thousands of movies and shows at your disposal, coupled with a plethora features, it’s excellent in my opinion. I’d definitely say it’s awesome, no doubt about it.

What Is A Subwoofer? (The Audio Device Explained)

Subwoofers certainly are one of, if not the most interesting component of a home theater experience. They’re definitely a personal favorite of mine that’s for sure.

I mean something whose sole purpose is to produce the sounds you not only hear but feel, surely is breeding grounds for curiosity.

Hmm speaking of which, what is a subwoofer and how do they work? I’m sure some of you have wondered at some point how it’s possible for something so relatively small to be so powerful.

Fortunately, they’re actually a lot simpler than you would initially think.

So today, we’ll be looking into just how these curious boxes of joy work.

A good powerful subwoofer is something that can provide for a very entertaining experience.

When you get an exceptional one, you’ll see what I mean. I’ve actually given my thoughts on a few already if curious.

https://easyhometheater.net/the-best-home-theater-subwoofers

But In addition to that, I’ll also be letting you know what to look for in a good subwoofer, the types that exist, and what to generally keep in mind.

Anyway, without further ado, lets jump right in!

How A Subwoofer Works

The Different Types Of Subwoofers

The Pros And Cons Of Each Type

How To Choose The Right Subwoofer

Why You May Forgo A Subwoofer All Together

Final Thoughts

How a Subwoofer Works

A subwoofer is responsible for sounds lower than 80 HZ.

80 HZ happens to be the cutoff point for humans to locate where the audio is coming from.

In order to do this, the subwoofer utilizes 3 parts; a driver, an amplifier (amp), and its enclosure.

The driver is going to be the thing producing the sound, the amplifier will be the thing amplifying the sound produced, and the enclosure houses everything (basically the outer box).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subwoofer

That’s the simple explanation, but let’s go a little deeper since there is a lot more at play here.

The subwoofer driver can come in many sizes, each with their own characteristics as well as caveats. Bigger is not always better when it comes to subs believe it or not.

Now this is an over generalization, but bigger drivers at least from my experience, tend to go deeper but aren’t as articulate as a smaller one; meaning they may sound boomy in comparison (again over generalization, not always)

The first thing to know about the driver is that inside it is something called a voice coil. A voice coil is a bundle of wire spiraled around a big cylinder inside. This cylinder is called the former (former being the name)

When electricity is fed into the voice coil, a magnet inside interacts with it, and it creates a magnetic field. It then moves the former up and down. (Still with me?)

Since the former is also connected to the speaker cone (that’s the part you see on the outside of the subwoofer itself) it then begins moving. This moving causes a change in air pressure

Voila, with that change in pressure, now you have bass! To make it even easier to understand, when electricity goes to the sub, the driver moves up and down relative to the amount of electricity it gets, that’s really all that means. The more electricity, the more movement from the speaker cone and thus, the more sound.

But sometimes when you’re looking for a new sub, you’ll see mentioning of it being DVC or dual voice coiled. All this means is that there is an extra spiral of coiled wire inside, hence the double part.

Now you don’t need to worry too much about this unless you planned on building your own, but what you should know is that dual voice coiled allows you extra wiring capabilities to match an amp.

Again, this isn’t really something you would have to be concerned with unless you’re building one from scratch so don’t worry.

Speaking of the amplifier, it’s just a device that increases the power of something without getting too technical.

If you’re curious about more on it though here’s a more in depth look on amplifiers: http://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/understanding-impedance-electrical-phase

Then we get to the enclosure. The enclosure is going to be the outside box that holds the driver and amplifier together (no wonder why they’re heavy lol)

It’s also going to have a huge bearing on how it sounds. The size of the enclosure, the material it’s made of, the shape of the enclosure, the type, and the thickness of the material all play a contributing role. 8-inch, 10-inch, 12-inch, 15-inch, and 16-inch are the most common enclosure sizes.

They sometimes are filled with a material such as cotton to further reinforce the ability to play lower.

While there’s many different types of subwoofers, there are a few prominent ones you’ll likely encounter in your search that I want to go over.

The Different Types of Subwoofers

Ported Subwoofers

The first type of enclosure you’ll likely come across is called a ported box design.

The reason for the name is due to there being a port on either the front or the bottom of the subwoofer box (often referred to as a bass-reflex design)

When a subwoofer produces its bass, it also produces energy.

This energy happens to move a lot of air.

So when an enclosure has a port, it allows this air to escape and adds to the resulting output of the subwoofer itself.

The location of the port doesn’t matter all too much though.

The port size and shape does matter however, because that tends to change the change the amount of air escaped thus affecting the output in general.

Sealed Subwoofers

Another type of subwoofer you’ll usually encounter is called a sealed box design.

This design is also often referred to as acoustic suspension.

Just as the name suggests, the enclosure itself is sealed meaning there isn’t a port.

Vented Subwoofers

Vented subwoofers utilize a slimmer elongated port called a vent for managing their bass output.

The Pros and Cons Of Each Type

So which one is better? That depends.

Advantages Of Ported Subs

There are a few advantages and disadvantages to keep in mind with each design so let’s start with the advantages of a ported subwoofer box.

Often More Output Due To Their Port

A big advantage with a ported subwoofer box is that they usually have a lot more output because of their port.

The moving of air reinforces the sound and allows the amp to not have to do as much work.

This equates to some big sound with regard to movie watching.

Internals Can Run Cooler Due To Air Flow

Another often overlooked advantage has to do with its internals.

When a voice coil receives a current from the amp and moves the speaker cone, it produces heat.

However, with a ported design, air is allotted the ability to move freely in and out. This efficiency means that it can run a lot cooler and in turn, prolongs the life of the driver & sub overall.

Disadvantages Of Ported Subs

However there are some not so good things you should know.

Sometimes Not As Controlled In Their Output

Just because something plays louder, doesn’t mean it’s always necessarily better.

What I’m getting at is that with the ported sub, since the air is escaping the subwoofer, it’s sometimes not as controlled as its sealed counterparts tend to be (again just from what I’ve noticed)

For example when I tested music on some of my ported subs against my sealed ones, I noticed that my sealed sub wasn’t as loud as the other, but it was definitely more reserved and controlled.

Ported Versions Are Often Bigger

Another thing to know is that ported versions are usually a lot bigger than a sealed one.

So if you are spatially conscious, this would be pretty important to know.

Advantages Of Sealed Subs

Tend To Be More Controlled With Bass

An advantage with sealed subwoofers on the other hand is they have a tendency to control the bass a lot more.

They’re usually the opposite of being boomy—producing really tight and accurate bass.

Often Smaller In Size

Another advantage they have is that they also tend to be a lot smaller so you have a lot more options as to where to place them.

Disadvantages Of Sealed Subs

Somewhat Less Output

A big disadvantage though, is that sealed subwoofers don’t have the same raw output a ported one does. For any given volume, the ported sub is going to be louder typically.

Some may also find the bass to be a lot more muted too.

Advantages Of Vented Subwoofers

Cleaner More Controlled Output

I’ve noticed that with vented subwoofers, they tend to be more controlled while still retaining that high level of output.

This makes them quite versatile in their usage.

Disadvantages Of Vented Subwoofers

They’re Not As Common

On the other hand though, vented subwoofers aren’t as common as their sealed and ported counterparts — making them harder to find.

However with all of these designs in mind, do note that these are not the sole factors into how they’ll sound for sure when you hook them up yourself.

While the type can be a good indicator, it depends on infinitely more factors like room acoustics,size, and calibration. This is just some of the common characteristics these tend to have.

How To Choose The Right Subwoofer

So with knowing that, how do you choose the best one?

Decide What Content You’ll Be Using Them For

Well first, we have to start with what you plan on listening to primarily. If you plan on listening to music, then a sealed might be a better option.

If you prefer movies, then you might want to go with a ported. However it doesn’t stop there.

Even if you decide you prefer one for music, the type of music plays a role too (here’s where we get into opinion territory)

In my opinion I feel that a ported subwoofer is better for genres like hip hop, rock, and house music. It made things all the more visceral and engaging; more fun for certain.

For classical and smooth Jazz though, I liked the sealed better because of its controlled nature.

For movies, that’s a toss up.

I’ll be honest, I couldn’t really tell which I liked better. There certainly was a difference present, but for some reason I couldn’t tell which I liked more.

I think I’d lean slightly more towards the ported, but that’s only because of the extra extension on the lower notes.

I think either one is fine for movies though.

The Amount Of Power You’d Need Based On Your Room Size

Based on your room size, the amount of power you’ll need the subwoofer to have is going to vary.

While total watts is important, 2 just as important factors related to power is the RMS & Hertz (Hz)

The Amount Of Continuous Power Of The Sub (RMS)

RMS, or root mean square, is a specification used to describe the continuous amount of power a subwoofer has.

The higher that is number is, the better. It’s usually listed after the peak wattage.

Peak wattage is the highest amount of power the sub can produce.

While that’s important, I’d honestly say the RMS is more important because this will be the power you’ll actually experience in normal usage.

The peak wattage is rarely reached and doing so for an extended period of time would do damage to it.

The Subs Frequency Range (Hz)

With Hz, that’s a measure of frequency and the lower the Hz, the lower bass notes your subwoofer will reach.

As a good starting point to keep in mind, if the Hz number reaches into the 30ish range, then you’re good to go.

But ideally you’d want it to go as low as possible. But to go lower, it requires more power.

That’s why you’ll often see subwoofers that go super low be on the more premium side since it takes effort to so.

But the size of your room like mentioned earlier, will indicate how much power is necessary and this is often tied to the subwoofer’s cabinet size.

I’ve found that for the average sized room, around 20 feet or so, 8 and 10 inch subs often work well.

For large rooms (25 feet and up) you’ll probably want to go with a 12 inch or bigger.

From my experience, a large subwoofer in a smaller room works fine, but a smaller subwoofer in a big room can be underwhelming.

That is, unless you use 2 of them, in which case that changes things dramatically due to more output.

https://easyhometheater.net/setting-up-2-subwoofers

Why You May Forgo A Subwoofer All Together

There may even be a certain instances where you may want to forgo a subwoofer all together.

For example, if you were looking for an alternative, what you could technically do is get speakers with a broader frequency response range that can handle some of those frequencies.

Then you wouldn’t have to worry about getting an extra subwoofer and could shift the focus into more capable speakers.

Floorstanding speakers in particular are a great example of this, and some even have the capability to outperform some subwoofers!

https://easyhometheater.net/the-best-floor-standing-speakers

Another thing you could do is use bass shakers.

These are small devices that attach to your seating to give a similar experience of a powerful sub.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully that demystifies a little bit of the topic of a subwoofer along with some of the things you may want to look for.

By choosing the right one for your room, they have the ability to completely transform your movie watching experience making them entirely worth it.

Oh yeah and also by the way, here’s something I’ve always done that you can try. If you want a little bit of an extra kick with your subwoofer, what you can do is run it hot; not by too much but just a little.

This basically means increasing the bass a few dB from the prior setting.

What I do after I calibrate my sub is I turn up the subwoofer volume 3 notches or DB (decibels) higher in the receiver.

By basically tuning it at a slightly higher level than what it was initially calibrated at, it adds an extra amount of impact to the bass.

Now I know that means it’s no longer technically “accurate” but from what I’ve personally experienced with each of my subs, it always added that subtle extra kick without overdoing it.

Calibration tends to tame the bass relatively speaking, so by doing that, it feels just right subjectively speaking.

But I don’t know that’s just me, tell me what you guys think though after you’ve tried it. Did it help?

Do you have other questions about something?

Leave a comment and I’ll try my best to help.

Until next time. Make it easy, keep it simple.