The Best Gaming Consoles For Your Theater Room Setup

Wait…home theater..and…video games..what?

Yep that’s correct.

You see, many may not take into account the fact that a decent portion of the home theater sphere does actually include the topic of video games believe it or not.

I mean think about it, let’s say you finally set up that entertainment room or man cave you’ve been clamoring for and manage to get everything set up just the way you want.

Sure you’ll test it with some movies, maybe even watch a few shows.

But chances are you’ll eventually be at least slightly curious how video games look and sound on it at some point or another; even if you aren’t massively into them.

Not to mention the fact that there’s people who build entire game rooms with surround sound.

But now more than ever exists an impressive amount of variety offered when it comes to gaming.

That’s both a good and a bad thing since on one hand, it gives you a lot of options.

Though on the other it can make it tough to pick.

So today I wanted to cover just a few of the best gaming consoles I think would work well in a dedicated theater room or media room setup.

Since I’m a huge gamer as well, I’ll give some of the nuances for each home entertainment console talked about, and why someone might be happy with a specific one.

Also keep in mind that since a lot of these consoles support a lot of the advanced display technologies we often see in the home theater realm, you’ll want to make sure the TV is also capable.

Here’s a few I think are good.

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

The PlayStation 5 Slim

First up, the PlayStation 5 slim.

I remember playing the first iteration back in the year 2000 and being floored how amazing it was.

The original PlayStation 5 (obviously being the 5^th version) released on November 12, 2020 is a culmination of sorts on what Sony has learned over the years.

In November 2023 came the slim version that was smaller and became the standard base model.

So just as a quick overview, there’s 2 versions of the PS5 slim; the physical and the digital version.

The physical variant features a 4k Blu-ray player, so it’ll let you play 4K Blu-rays, standard ones, and even your favorite DVDs.

While the digital opts for handling everything digitally without that player.

Both have the same entertainment marketplace called the PlayStation store.

This store features thousands of movies and games. Some are free but most are not.

The console supports up to 8K, 4K, HDR, and even something called remote play.

Remote play is pretty cool because you can stream your gameplay to friends so they can watch.

The controller is called the dualsense and has what’s called haptic feedback which is basically a vibration within it that reacts differently to what’s happening on screen.

While that’s a quick synopsis, what would make the PS5 a solid fit for an entertainment room setup?

Well there’s a lot of reasons in my opinion.

Reason #1 First Party Games!

Holy moley guacamole are there a lot of good games on it, especially first party.

Think of a first party game as one that’s unique to that brand and isn’t available on any other console.

From Horizon Zero Dawn to Ratchet And Clank, it’s clear to see how good its personal lineup is.

With so many games, there’s a number of different genres to choose from as well.

I noticed that there tends to be a lot of Action RPGs on it (role playing games)

If that’s a genre that interests you, then you’d definitely be right at home.

Games on it look absolutely beautiful too because of how many visual features it supports, and the improved speed from the SSD makes a difference when it comes to loading them from my experience.

So it’d be great as part of a home system due to how great the games can look and play on a 4k screen.

Reason #2 PlayStation VR

For a theater room, VR can be a fun addition and the PSVR2 is an exceptional headset to do so.

If you haven’t tried virtual reality, then I don’t know how else to put it other than you’re in the game.

No like seriously, when you put this thing on, you’re inside the game world. Have you ever seen Tron or Sword Art Online? I feel like it’s that level of immersive.

I wish I could describe how amazing it is over text, but you’d need to try it yourself to understand. It really feels like the future. There’s also a growing list of other content on it as well.

YouTube even supports VR too.

Even with non VR games, you can still use the headset to play them too.

Best way to describe how that is, is that it’s like your sitting in a movie theater in front of a giant screen.

While there’s a number of virtual reality headsets on PC, as of right now, the PS5 is the only home console with a VR device currently.

Reason #3 Shareplay

If you’re a really social gamer, then this ones for you. If you have a game on PS5 that you’re playing online, then your can invite a friend to your game to either play with you or control it for a brief period of time.

What’s special about that is the other person doesn’t even need to own the game to play along, it just requires both to have Playstation plus service to use.

I think this is really cool because if you were telling your friend how great a game was, not only could you show them, but you could let them remotely play it themselves for a short time so they understand.

Reason #4 Backwards Compatibility

Being that this is the 5’th PlayStation, it only makes sense that there’s a large catalogue of games existing from previous generations.

Sony was aware of that and so allowed the PS4 to be backwards compatible with them; with a few limitations of course.

While it can support most of the past games from the PS4 generation, for older gens like the PS3, that number is limited, and is only offered online via a service called PlayStation Now.

There’s certainly a larger amount that’s supported than there use to be, but just be aware that it isn’t all of them.

I would also go with the PlayStation if you’re someone who values socializing since a large part of the experience is playing and interacting with other players online.

Reason #5 The DualSense Controller Itself Adds To In Game Immersion

The PlayStation 5’s dualsense controller is really unique in that it can often simulate effects of things that are happening in game.

Like for example with a game like astrobot, when walking on metal surfaces, I felt like it did a convincing job of matching what was actually happening on screen.

Or if it’s raining in a game, you might feel each individual raindrop due to the haptic feedback.

Then there’s also the controller’s haptic triggers that have varying resistance when pressed which also is dependent on the action on screen.

I really feel like the dualsense as a whole adds a lot of immersion to the experience because of how tactile and involved it makes things feel.

From the home theater enthusiast perspective, the dualsense coupled with a great surround sound system really creates that feeling of being involved in the gameplay in a unique way.

A Quick Note: Keep The Console In A Ventilated Area With Sufficient Space

I will say that like most electronics, you’ll want to place the PS5 in a well ventilated part of your theater room with open space so it functions properly.

This is also important due to it’s size, with the physical version of the slim being 7 pounds, 14.1 inches tall, 3.8 inches in width, and 8.5 in depth.

The digital is slightly smaller at 5.7 pounds and a width of 3.1 inches, with other measurements remaining the same.

But regardless, if considering the PS5 for a theater room, ensure that it’ll be placed in an area where there’s lots of open room

The good thing is it can be placed horizontally or horizontally for more variability in how it’s placed.

As a whole though, as someone who owns both a PS5 and surround system, it’s an amazing complement to a theater room in my opinion.

Check PlayStation 5 Slim Availability

The PlayStation 5 Pro

Back in 2016, I remember being excited for the PS4 Pro which came out 3 years after the base PS4, and noticed it visually benefited my games massively.

That was when I got my first 4K TV, and just seeing some games running higher than 1080p was so impressive to me.

So following a similar tradition, the PS5 Pro, released in November 2024, is what you can think of as a supercharged PlayStation 5.

It’s a mid generation upgrade where the internals have been ramped up to support a bigger range of features.

While it’s still technically still a PS5 and can play the same games, it has a few really big draws over its base counterpart — especially from a home theater standpoint.

Reason #1 4K & 8K HDR Gaming Support

Simply put, 4k is a resolution that’s 4 times that of 1080P, otherwise known as full HD.

8K resolution is 4 times the resolution in pixels from even that when considered horizontally & vertically.

That bump in resolution provides a huge visual difference where games look crystal clear — especially if paired with a quality screen that supports HDR.

Although the PS5 can also do this, the Pro is capable of doing so at a higher degree of fidelity.

However this takes a lot of power to do, and so that brings me to my next reason you may want one.

Reason #2 More Powerful Meaning Games Can Also Run Better

Another reason you might be interested in this one is if you care about how your games actually run too.

With so much power, the pro is not only capable of pumping out some truly impressive looking games, but running them at higher frame rates too.

When I say impressive looking, I mean some of its games have graphics where it’s almost hard to distinguish from real life.

Things can really look that good on it, though it depends on if the game has a Pro mode and the degree to which the developer put the effort in.

For example the racing game Gran Turismo on the PS5 Pro has a mode that runs at 8K 60fps.

Even if you didn’t have an 8K TV, there’s other modes where it’s running at 4K 120fps, or 4K 60fps with raytracing.

Adding to that, there’s a proprietary AI upscaler called PSSR that can allow lower resolution games to run at higher resolutions.

That’s not even to mention that it also supports all of the latest Dolby Digital Formats including Atmos.

So if you have a good sound system in your theater room, wow are you in for a treat.

One thing to keep in mind though is that it doesn’t play 4k Blu-rays natively, so you’d need an additional disc drive attachment if you prioritized physical media.

Also remember that it needs sufficient space just like the base console so it functions properly.

But for a media room as part of an entertainment center with sufficient space, it really is an awesome console.

Check PlayStation 5 Pro Availability

The Xbox Series S

The Xbox Series S, released on November 10, 2020 has some compelling differences should you decide you want to get into the Xbox ecosystem.

Reason #1 Xbox Gamepass

One of the most compelling things about the Xbox Series consoles besides the games themselves, is their support of a service called Xbox Gamepass.

Xbox Gamepass is a monthly service that provides access to hundreds of rotating games from first and third party developers.

Their ultimate version even has cross platform support for PC, cloud gaming, and access to their first party titles on day 1 which is pretty incredible.

As subscriber currently, there’s so many to choose from across so many genres that it’s hard to not find something worth playing.

What’s also cool as a somewhat related note is the fact Xbox Gamepass has an app that’s even available on some Samsung & LG TVs now.

That means with a controller and that TV, you could still access those same games.

So if you have a newer TV in your current media room, that service could be there too.

Reason #2 The Games

Microsoft’s Xbox Series consoles also have a spectacular assortment of games as well.

From Forza to Starfield, let’s just say it’d be really hard to be bored due to how many games they have across various genres.

The games offered here at top notch in my opinion, and look beautiful on a competent display.

Backwards compatibility with a large portion of the games from prior Xbox console generations enhances that, with features a visual enthusiast would appreciate like auto hdr, frame rate boost, & resolution boost to older supported games.

Reason #3 4K Digital Movies Support

While the Series S supports up to 1440p depending on the game, and although it doesn’t have a disc drive so it can’t play physical 4K movies, it can still play and stream 4K movies & shows digitally.

There’s also 4K support in media apps like YouTube so things still look crisp.

Reason #4 HDR Support

Besides being able to display 4k digital content, it also can display HDR content as well.

HDR again stands for High Dynamic Range.

Think of it as an exponentially increased contrast ratio that mimics how the human eye see things.

It allows you to see more details in those light & dark areas, and whether it’s games or movies, it can make a pretty big difference if done right.

It’s something you would need to see in person to appreciate, but as long as you have a TV that’s properly capable, you can take advantage of this new technology.

Reason #5 It’s Small

The Series S is also really small compared to other consoles, at 10.83 x 5.94 x 2.56 inches and 4.25 pounds.

So if your theater room doesn’t have a lot of room, the Series S can work well in that aspect.

As a whole, the Xbox Series S is a spectacular gaming console with features like 4k digital media capabilities & HDR making it an attractive option from a home theater perspective.

As far as the social aspect goes, that’s present here as well with a booming online multiplayer network.

Overall, there’s plenty to keep you entertained.

Check Xbox Series S Availability

The Xbox Series X

The Xbox Series X, given it’s in the same console line as the Series S, has a lot of the same positives talked about previously like great first party games, backwards compatibility for many older Xbox titles, and access to Xbox Gamepass.

There’s even visual benefits for many older games with features like auto hdr, frame rate boost, and resolution boost helping them look better.

It even allows you to have dynamic backgrounds on your dashboard that move which I think is really cool.

However the is Series X is also a big step up in terms of power and gaming capabilities.

Here’s a few ways the console differentiates itself & why it’s a worthy inclusion in a home theater setup.

Reason #1 Physical 4k Blu-Ray Player

Being the next step up, it makes sense that it would sport this feature.

Though it supports 4K digital media like its smaller sibling, the Series X also has 4K Blu-ray player meaning it can play your physical UHD discs too.

This can be great if your theater room has a large physical collection or if you just prefer it since there’s reasons for both types of formats.

Reason #2 8K Resolution Media Playback Capable

Where it further differentiates itself though is its support for 8K resolution playback in media.

While there’s not much 8K native content currently, that feature could be useful later if you’re building a more future resistant media room.

Reason #3 Dolby Vision Media & Gaming

What I personally really like about the Xbox Series X, especially looking at it from the home theater lens, is that it supports Dolby Vision both in media & gaming.

Dolby Vision is an advanced type of HDR that basically allows for an increased level of vibrancy and colors, and can really benefit the image when implemented correctly (depends on that game or movie)

So the fact that it supports this not only in movies, but in some games as well really lends itself well to being used in a media room.

Reason #4 The Power Allows Games To Look & Run Great

I’ve mentioned how incredibly strong it is right?

Though it depends on the game, the Xbox Series X is capable of up to 4K resolution and up to 120fps in gaming.

Not to mention all the other bells and whistles like HDR10, VRR, and Atmos support.

This means that if you’re concerned with in game graphics or audio, it’ll look, run, & sound great with a solid display and surround system/soundbar.

While the Series X supports the same games that the S does, it does so at a much higher fidelity.

From the clarity of games, to how smooth they look, it feels like a step up.

If you’re one for eye candy and a smoother gaming experience overall, it’s an awesome option.

Reason #5 It Can Be Placed Horizontally Or Vertically For More Placement Choice

Believe it or not, the console isn’t terribly large either at 9.8 pounds and 12.2 x 6.3 x 6.3 inches.

This is due to much more efficient internals.

You would think something this powerful would be lumbering, but fortunately it’s not.

What’s also great is it can be positioned horizontally or vertically in your entertainment room for more placement choice.

To put it bluntly, it’s a beast.

Check Xbox Series X Availability

The Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo switch certainly is unique in that it’s technically both a home and portable console. When at home, the console rests on a dock, and the sides of the switch come off.

These are called Joy Cons. When you decide to go out, you can attach the joy cons to the console and use it like you would say a handheld 3DS.

So what are some compelling reasons for integrating this one into a theater room?

Well..

Reason #1 The Games

In my opinion Nintendo has always had incredible games, and the Switch really continues that streak.

They started off the generation in 2017 by releasing the console, and the groundbreaking game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

The game was so good that not only was it one of the highest scoring games in history, but everyone collectively lost their minds over it (me included)

Then with the holiday season approaching, they decided to go with a 1, 2 punch and release Super Mario Odyssey, one that scored just as high.

I’m not one to buy into the hype; in fact I’m usually a huge critic.

But oh my..  Zelda and Mario, I can comfortably say, are 2 of some the best games I’ve ever played.

I wish I could convey to you the joy in actually playing them, but it’s something that’s simply experienced.

But it’s not just those; the switch has a plethora of really great games that could fit well into an entertainment room or even family room due to their often colorful art styles that looks great on a TV.

Reason #2 Convenience

Being able to take the console with you anywhere you go, and use headphones with it is awesome enough.

But being able to prop it up via the kickstand on the back, slide the joycons off, then play 2 players with someone else on it seems like such a novel idea that I wish it existed sooner.

It makes a portable console a social event which is so cool.

So there’s versatility given you can take it with you, then place it back on the dock in the entertainment room when you’re back home.

Check Nintendo Switch Availability

The Nintendo Switch 2

The Nintendo Switch 2, which releases June 5th 2025 makes an even stronger case for use in a theater room in my opinion. Not only does it have the benefit of great games and portable convenience like it’s predecessor.

But now since it’s much stronger, it has a lot of the more home theater based features too like 4K support and HDR which is awesome.

My Personal Favorite

So here’s what you’re really curious about…(probably not but I digress)

Which console do I personally like the best?

Plot twist…..all of them.

What??

Yep.

I wish I could pick a favorite, but each console brings with it something so unique that I couldn’t honestly choose.

Plus being the gamer that I am, I’ve always had at least one from each of the big 3 (Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo) since they had exclusive games that I knew I had to play.

It’s not even just that they have fantastic games either; but it’s the sheer amount of fantastic games offered from each system.

You really would be hard pressed to go wrong with any of them though.

And forget about it when it comes to playing them on your speakers.

You think it’s intense playing it on the television, but you hook it up to a good surround system and say goodbye to anything you planned to get done that day.

They’re such an entertaining addition to a home theater.

So to answer the original question, realistically, it’s really going to boil down to what features you specifically prefer.

Other than that, they’re great systems.

But that’s about wraps it up for this one.

Until next time make it easy, keep it simple!

Audio Video Receiver Common Settings (9 Worth Trying)

Given there’s many home theater receivers with different configurations & features, I figured a guide on 9 common but impactful audio video receiver settings might be helpful.

Inspired from years of tinkering and unfortunate trial and error, (lots of that one) it’ll be an overview on some of the more notable ones I’ve experienced.

I feel like the receiver is one of those components in a home theater that doesn’t necessarily get as much acknowledgement as the other devices do.

Though I wouldn’t say it’s completely overlooked, compared to something like a TV or subwoofer, it’s understandable why someone would initially think its job is to simply power the devices.

While partially true, what if I told you there might be an entire host of really cool settings in your receiver that you may not even know existed?

These range from sound modes to HDMI settings allowing you to get the best sound & function from your AV receiver.

Without further ado, let’s jump right into it.

1). DSP Modes

Here’s an interesting one that some may not be aware of when they get a shiny new receiver; that they can use their remote to alter the sound output with different presets.

Nearly every receiver out there comes equipped with their own version of what called a DSP mode. DSP stands for Digital Signal Processing.

Basically the way it works is it takes the sound from the source coming in to the receiver, and then manipulates it using algorithms — those depending on whatever mode it’s on.

Of course, that’s a vastly oversimplified explanation of what it is, but if you want to know more about the in depth dynamics of it, you can read about it here.

http://www.radio-electronics.com/info/rf-technology-design/digital-signal-processing/dsp-basics-tutorial.php.

Why DSP Modes Can Improve Things

DSPs are awesome though because they can take sound from a speaker that just sounds okay, to something that sounds amazing.

However while most receivers have a different set of these modes, not all of them have the same names or effect.

That means it’d be impossible for me to tell you exact ones the ones to try since every receiver is going to have a different type.

They can even be different from within the same manufacturer.

But I can tell you the mode I’ve always leaned towards on all my receivers — cinema or movie mode.

I’ve often preferred the movie presets since from my experience, they’ve tended to have a good balance between the bass without sacrificing clarity.

Ultimately though, you’ll have to play around with them yourself and make that call because there’s a ton of unique ones on each receiver.

They can range from sci-fi to drama; the list goes on. But they’re certainly fun settings to mess around with.

That, and everyone perceives sound differently so you could have a different preference.

Each One Can Affect A Speaker Differently

The interesting thing I’ve found over the years though is that every speaker reacts differently to them. What I mean by that is that some modes may have a different degree of effect on one speaker compared to another.

What sounds good on one of them, may sound completely different on another.

A DSP mode can also fix a problem I previously covered where a speaker may sound hollow, even when it’s supposedly a quality one.

https://easyhometheater.net/home-theater-problems#hollow

Since it gives you a relative amount of control on how things sound, if the speaker lacks treble or has a recessed mid range, it gives the ability to somewhat remedy that.

2). Adaptive DRC

This is a really cool one too. Within your receiver is something called Adaptive DRC.

DRC stands for dynamic range control, and acts as a way of limiting the dynamism. So why would this setting be worth mentioning?

Well let’s say it’s nighttime and you want to watch a show but you don’t want to necessarily turn up the volume.

What this does is make the highs and lows the same level so there aren’t giant spikes in volume that might scare the crap out of you. This is really helpful when you want to watch things at a moderate level, but you don’t need movie theater levels of intensity.

Keep in mind though that if things seem quieter all of a sudden, it’s possible this setting could have been switched on mistakenly if you weren’t aware of it.

3). Individual Speaker Level

This is one of those settings that lets you customize things even more. With the speaker level setting, you can adjust the individual volume level for each speaker to your liking.

Even though most modern receivers come with some sort of calibration mic to do things automatically, you can still tweak even more if you wanted to so it’s a nice touch.

There’s often capability to adjust your subwoofer levels too, and it’s actually the way I prefer since adjusting the bass digitally is more accurate.

Some receivers even let you tune the response curve and characteristics of the sub’s bass via app, so there’s lots of customizability there.

Keep in mind though that too high of an overall volume level over time can affect how long the device lasts so it’s recommended to listen at reasonable levels.

4). Input Rename

Just like the name suggests, the input rename allows you rename each input to whatever device it happens to be under. So instead of being called HDMI 2, you could change it to Blu-ray or something like that.

This is useful because when you start getting up there with the number of things you connect, you’re going to want an easy way to remember all of it. This allows you to do just that.

5). Stereo Mode

This is the mode that you should use when you have just 2 speakers and want to listen to music. Of course you may add a subwoofer, but this mode limits sound to only 2 channels. This means it technically could allow your speakers to go higher than normal in volume since there’s less speakers drawing power. Stereo has a focus on audio acuity, so this is what you should use if you’re only using 2.

Bonus Setting – Straight or Pure Mode

This mode is particularly interesting because it turns off any DSP settings, equalizations, etc.

Think of it as an even purer stereo mode. This means that all you’re getting is sound from your 2 speakers; this even excludes the subwoofer from being used.

Now why would someone want to use one like that? Well if you are an audio purist and you have a really high quality file of music that you want to play, this would be that mode to use.

You wouldn’t want any external equalizations affecting the sound in any way, so it allows you to get the purest output possible.

Bonus Setting 2 – Auto Calibration Via Mic

So one thing that’s really important in my opinion and that I think helps audio quality a lot is auto calibration via microphone that a lot of modern receivers come with.

For example if your center speaker seems too loud, or your surround speakers seem low in volume, this automatic calibration can often help to improve this.

Like with Denon receivers, they use some form of Audyssey calibration, with Onkyo they use AccuEQ, Yamaha uses YPAO, and so on.

Though the names of the calibration often varies depending on the brand, the general premise is similar; connect the microphone to the receiver, get it into the position & height level it recommends, then start the calibration.

But this process can often make a big difference, and help things sound more cohesive.

Bonus Setting 3 – Sleep Mode

Sleep mode is a feature that’s often included that makes the receiver turn off after a particular amount of time that you set. This can be helpful for instances where you’ll only be watching for a specific time frame and want the device to turn itself off afterwards.

A Quick Note

I thought it was also worth mentioning that the physical placement of your receiver itself is also important.

Keep it in a place that’s room temperature and open with sufficient air flow so it can properly function.

Final Thoughts

There’s probably more settings out there given just how many types of AV receivers that exist, but hopefully with this guide, you have a better idea of what settings work for your home theater.

Let me know of any other cool ones you’ve found in the comments below as it may help someone else with a similar one.

But that’s all for now.

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

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.

How To Create The Ideal Home Theater System For Your Needs

While There May Not Be One Objective Best System, 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 own personal sound system.

While still underrated in my opinion, it’s definitely awesome for anyone that wants to.

But what’s the most suitable one that’d 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 is easier and you know what works for you.

A home theater, as I’ve mentioned before, can primarily be thought of in 2 aspects; the video & audio.

That means deciding on the screen and what form of sound you prefer (speakers, soundbar, etc)

So this is going to be focused on how you can create your ideal system that fits your needs, space and preferences — be it a cozy living room or surround sound for a dedicated media room.

Hopefully it’s helpful so lets get into it!

(If you’re curious about the actual differences between the experience of 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

Determine 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, your budget is going to be one of the biggest deciding factors in what you ultimately decide 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.

Keeping In Mind Other Factors That Play Into Budget

First off you’ll want to take the more personal approach and take the time to consider external factors like your room size, potential seating, etc.

By doing that, you’ll be able to get a better grasp on what the overall budget could be.

Prioritize By Setting Smaller Brackets For The Most Important Components First Within The Overall Budget

For the person who’s 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 a receiver for example.

Awesome, that makes your choice a lot simpler because from there you know what to get within your particular range.

Keeping The Budget Flexible Can Be Helpful In Future-Proofing Too

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

For example if you get a product that’s built with durability in mind, (higher grade components, better wiring, etc) chances are it’s going to hold up 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.

Understanding That You May Feel Compelled To Upgrade Early

So I’ve mentioned this before, but one of the things that I wasn’t aware of until getting into the hobby of home theater was that temptation to upgrade early.

Even after buying something, seeing industry coverage on a new subwoofer or TV would often compel me to at least consider it.

So while I’m not saying this will happen in your case, be aware that that desire for something newer could arise even if you’re content with what you have.

In fact, here’s 5 things that would have been helpful knowing beforehand.

Deciding On The Type Of Display You Want To Use

When creating a home theater, what I like to do first (besides measuring the room and setting a budget) is deciding on the type of display I plan use.

I recommend doing it this way since it allows you to then base the location of your seating and speakers on that choice rather than the other way around — which could result in having to move things again.

But the 2 options for the visual aspect of your eventual theater room is using either a TV or projector.

While this is a very broad generalization, I’ve found that TVs are good for really bright rooms or for when you’re not looking for a screen size bigger than 100 inches.

Projectors are great for really large or small rooms since they can both provide that extra screen size while simultaneously helping save space since the device itself is smaller than a TV.

But again, I want to emphasize this is a generalization and that there’s tons of nuance where you might prefer one over the other since there’s so many variables and not to mention types of TVs and projectors.

For more specifics with choosing in that regard, these should hopefully offer some insight.

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

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

Are You Choosing A Premade Theater System Or Creating Your Own?

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 premade home theater?

Or are you looking to make your own system?

If it’s the former, then premade setups often referred to as home theaters in a box, can still offer a good listening experience even for surround sound or Bluetooth support.

Here’s a few good ones in my opinion.

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

But if you’re thinking more long term, and want to create a more custom system that’ll serve you for years to come then read on.

If Your Deciding To Create Your Own, Determine The Content It’ll Be Used For

Something important to consider is whether you’ll primarily play music, watch movies, game, or some combination of those?

That’s a big factor that’ll dictate the type of system that’s best to start with.

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

These can be bookshelf or tower speakers — which can also be wired, bluetooth or wireless depending on both the speakers themselves and the room they’ll be in.

But if you’re going after a more complete system, then you’ll want to start with a 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 then decide where to upgrade from there.

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

Your Room Is A Big Factor In Determining The Type Of Speakers & Equipment That’s Best

Another huge factor that impacts the setup and equipment that works best for you is your room size.

Whether it’s the seating distance from the TV, to the size of the speakers, the room is what influences everything within in some form.

Measure The Room For Its Length, Width, & Height

So what I highly recommend after you’ve decided on a budget and type of system is measuring the size of your room with a tape measure for its length, width, and height.

This will give you specific parameters to work within in terms of buying your equipment, optimization, and set up.

Acoustic Treatment Of The Room Can Help Audio Quality

From my personal experience and honest opinion, your room is going to have the biggest impact on experienced sound quality.

The sound waves created by your audio sources will travel throughout the entire room, and any object in that room affects the sound you hear in one way or another.

Take for example your living room.

If there’s hardwood floors and the sound is reflected off that, what you hear will seem harsher than if there’s soft carpet present; in which case would make the speaker’s tone seem fuller.

But it could be the exact opposite, still be hard on the ears, and seem hollow depending on the characteristics of a room.

Basically what I’ve found from my years of home theater experience is that there’s never a guarantee for how a speaker will sound in every room.

That’s 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 recommend is to add more soft fabric objects to the room if you detect any kind of echo or if there’s lots of hard surfaces.

This can be the addition of an extra chair, couch, or even acoustic panels.

Though sound travels and reflects, when that reflection hits a soft surface it gets absorbed.

This can be a great counterbalance to a surplus of hard surfaces in the room — allowing for a perceived improvement in the listening experience.

But I will say that adding too much can worsen perceived audio quality too, so it’s important to keep that in mind.

The Room’s Seating Area Matters Both In Placement & Overall Design

While we’re still on the subject of rooms, your seating area also matters in terms of its placement from the speakers & the TV, and its overall design.

Where you sit in the room is going to have a measurable effect on what you hear; with the size of your TV also influencing the ideal place to sit for screen visibility.

Now figuring out the best listening area placement would be a lot to explain here, but to make things easier, here’s a unique calculator I made that determines optimal seating distance and front speaker placement simultaneously.

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

Also here’s more on seating ideas for a better experience with your theater system.

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

Deciding Whether You’re Using Physical Or Digital Media

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.

Besides the consideration of room space, this will allow you to map things out beforehand so you have a better idea of the overall entertainment experience you’re ideally going for.

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

Physical Media Vs Digital Media

The Room’s Size Determines The Best Fitting Speaker

Your room size itself will 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 tradeoffs being their size and potentially 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

Using Ceiling Speakers In Your Room

Alternatively, although these are often installed by professionals due to placement logistics and wiring involved, you could also use ceiling speakers for your surround sound system.

This can be helpful for wider room coverage in larger rooms or to simply to save space in a smaller one.

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

Using A Center Channel Speaker Has A Big Impact On Soundstage

If your focus is watching television and movies, listen when I say this, one thing you don’t want to skimp on is 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 some to check out if you’re thinking about adding one to your setup.

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

The Subwoofer Is Important

The next thing that’s really important is the subwoofer.

A good quality subwoofer will provide that visceral, larger than life feeling that enhances the experience and makes things that much more dynamic.

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

Picking a good subwoofer isn’t terribly hard either, since there’s 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 that frequency, called hertz, (abbreviated to Hz) the better.

This means the sub can 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

The AV Receiver Is Important Since It Controls All Of The Components

Now after you’ve done that then you’ll want an AV (audio & video) receiver.

In short, a receiver is where the sound is processed and output, so buying one that’s suitable is important.

Look At Its Ohm Rating

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.

Consider Its Watts Per Channel

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.

Know What Devices You Plan On Connecting To It

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

Understand What Features & Settings You Want It To Have

There’s all kinds of receivers out there that naturally have varying amounts of features & settings, but understanding what you’re specifically looking for it to do can help narrow down the search.

For example some have lots of DSP modes to alter the sound signature, some have support for playing multiple sets of speakers simultaneously, and some support upwards of 13 channels via Atmos & DTS:X with multiple subwoofers so it’s subjective.

But by creating a rough list of things you’d want in one, you can then use that as a point of reference in your search.

Using An External Amplifier For Additional Power

Of course there’s also the option of connecting an external amplifier if your speakers are exceptionally power hungry or you’re using a lot of them — which can help offload what the receiver has to handle for better volume levels.

Or you might prefer using one so it handles the signal separately to get every bit of extra performance out of them.

However I’ve found the degree to which it enhances this to vary widely since it depends on listening levels, the listener, the amp, and even the speakers.

Choosing Surround Sound Speakers Is Less Stringent

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’s 3 Main Types Of Surround Speakers

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, there were no instructions on how to actually place the things so it was up to me to figure out.

So 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 Matching Can Improve The Soundstage Too

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.

It’s ensuring they’re all 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.

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

Buying the speakers from the same line often provides a smoother soundstage, and makes things that much more engaging when something pans on screen and sounds the same directionally — giving a better experience overall.

The Option Of An Outdoor Home Theater

For those of you out there with an outside area like a backyard or patio, an outdoor home theater is also an option.

With this setup, components like the receiver still stay inside, while the outdoor specifically designed speakers are mounted outside and connected via special wiring that’s designed for that purpose.

Indoor and outdoor speakers are different in functionality, so here’s more on that aspect.

https://easyhometheater.net/the-best-outdoor-home-theater-speakers

Operating Your Gear With A Universal Remote

If you find yourself constantly having to switch between remotes to operate your devices, a potentially helpful alternative is a universal remote.

These remotes can allow you to control components like your cable box, TV, and receiver all with a single remote.

In my opinion, using one offers a level of convenience that’s really easy to appreciate — especially if you have lots of gear and have trouble keeping track of remotes.

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

Closing Thoughts

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

It may be a lot to consider, 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 of a note, then as your shopping, writing down each item you plan on getting under it gives you a visual making things easier to 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 that’s if for now.

Like always if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or something helpful you found out, mention it in the comments down below as it may help someone else too.

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

Whether it’s a small home theater or large entertainment room, one of the most important things to keep in mind even before calibrating your home theater speakers & 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.

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