16 Feb Home Theater Integration
We recently blogged about the performance characteristics of great home theater and home stereo systems. Now for the big enchilada: How do you combine the two? Here’s the advice we give our customers that are looking for home theater integration at PAC-NJ, the source for high-end home entertainment systems in northern New Jersey.
Home Theater Integration
First, choose speakers and electronics that were designed to serve both masters – that is, reproduce multi-channel movie soundtracks for great home cinema entertainment, as well as meticulously produced audio recordings. I would rule out miniature speakers and most in-wall and in-ceiling designs. The optimum choices for home theater integration would be high performance bookshelf or floor-standing types. Also, the electronics should be carefully selected to provide plenty of reserve amplifier power, yet also reproduce delicate musical overtones and harmonic structures. And instead of relying on the home theater Blu-ray machine to play CDs, purchase an additional purpose-built CD player. A purpose-built CD player will easily outperform a Blu-ray machine attempting to playback music CDs. If you’re going to connect a turntable to the system, be sure the A/V receiver or pre amp/processor has a phono stage built in. Otherwise an outboard model will be required. Do not skimp on this item for your home theater integration! Also, the cabinet or storage area for the audio video equipment will need a turntable-friendly base or platform for the turntable to sit on. Rigid and low mass home theater stands for equipment work best. The turntable needs to be isolated from the speakers and subwoofers to prevent acoustic feedback.
With proper planning a single, well-conceived home theater integration system can produce satisfying results for both watching movies or playing video games, and listening to your favorite music. And for the best results, we suggest hiring an experienced a/v specialist who has core competency in both two-channel audiophile music systems and multi channel home theater packages and products.