Creating an Epic Home Theater Package

Written by:  • Edited by: Rhonda Callow
Updated Jul 1, 2010
• Related Guides: Blu-ray | HDTV

Are you on the lookout for the ultimate home theater system? Perhaps you are just daydreaming about an amazing set-up? Check out this article for advice on building your own epic home theater package.

Epic Home Theater Package

home cinema
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There are so many home theater systems out there that finding the right one for you can be a tough slog. You have to consider what you want from it, how it will sync with your existing home set-up and your available budget. You’ll find all sorts of products which can work together to create your very own home cinema. In this article we examine systems in various categories and consider the best combination to create your own epic home theater package. It is possible to create a home theater system to suit most budgets.

Home Theater PC or Entertainment Server

To start with it is worth considering a home theater PC or server. Ideally you want a system that allows for high definition movies, your music collection and web access throughout the home. We are watching more and more content online and not having to store or load physical disks is convenient, so why not consider an entertainment server to tie together your home theater package? It will allow you to store all of your content - movies, music and even photos on a central server and access it from multiple rooms in your home. Just remember if you want to be able watch HD with 7.1 channel sound you’ll need something that supports at least HDMI 1.3 connectivity. There are advantages to a home theater PC. You can buy ready made systems however if you have the skills then the best approach is decide exactly what you want from it and build your own home theater PC.

Digital Video Recording

There are other DVR (digital video recording) options out there and probably the biggest brand name is TiVo. You can also get boxes capable of recording high definition footage with most satellite and cable providers nowadays. These systems are generally easy to use, fit in aesthetically with your home theater system and cater for most requirements. Of course your DVR system can always be connected to your PC so the two are not mutually exclusive.

Blu-ray

Blu-ray logo
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Even with a DVR solution or an entertainment server the chances are you’ll still want a good quality Blu-ray player. You should also consider something which will support DVDs as well as Blu-rays since few of you will have gotten around to rebuilding your film collection on Blu-ray. For maximum quality your Blu-ray and DVD player should support 7.1 channel surround sound and the latest HDMI connections. Here is an article on the 10 Best Blu-ray Disc Players.

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