THE PAINLESS WAY TO A HOME THEATER SYSTEM

1. Keep your movie-going costs down?

2. Improve your TV viewing experience?

3. Please the kids?

4. Satisfy your Partner?

The answer just might be: Home Theater-In-A-Box.

Home theater-in-a-box is becoming quite popular amongst mainstream
consumers. These systems are a great introduction to the fun of home
theater. Here are some benefits:

First: Home theater-in-a-box systems are reasonably priced. Complete systems
start as low as $200, but can go as high $2,000 or more. You will find these
home theater systems at just about any consumer electronics retailer,
including Best Buy, Circuit City, and even Wal-Mart.

Second: Home theater-in-a-box systems contain most (or all) of the
components needed for a basic Home Theater system, including all speakers, a
surround sound receiver, and most-times even a DVD/CD player.

Third: Home theater-in-a-box systems are compact. These systems are designed
so as not to overwhelm the average consumer. The central DVD/Receiver units
are sometimes not much larger than a DVD player, although some systems do
include separate DVD player/Receiver components. However, the speakers that
are included are very compact, the five or six satellite speakers are small
enough to be mounted unobtrusively in room corners or shelves. Even the
included subwoofer is usually of very compact design so as can be placed
easily in a corner or next to a chair or table without attracting attention
- except the deep bass sound it generates.

Fourth: A home theater-in-box is easy to install and use; most all the
connection cables are provided. All you need is a TV with AV inputs and
Audio outputs, A HiFi VCR, and/or DVD Player (unless one is supplied), and
you are set and ready to go. No special skills are required, just the
ability to read simple instructions and diagrams. Also, most systems come
with a remote control that is used for all the functions of the system.

However, there are several cautionary points to be made when considering a
home theater-in-a-box.

First of all, these are not high-end systems. Home theater-in-a-box systems
have a tendency to cut corners on speaker construction and quality, when
compared to their separate unit cousins. However, with advances in both
compact speaker and compact subwoofer technology, some of these "budget"
systems will suprise you as to how good they can sound.

Secondly, home theater-in-a-box systems are designed to optimize sound for
home theater use more than for music listening. If you are a serious
listener to music from CD, SACD, DVD-Audio, or even Vinyl, you might not be
happy with the performance of most home theater-in-box sytems.

Thirdly, many home theater-in-a-box systems, do not deliver the "clean"
power that you might need for a larger room. The specifications may indicate
a large wattage output, but you must also consider what distortion levels
are present at the system's rated power output. In fact, some of the more
expensive home theater-in-box systems may actually deliver better sound,
even though they may have a lower power output than a "cheaper" system. For
additional information on this issue, refer to my article Power Mad!

Lastly, if you have other devices, such as a VCR, video game console,
digital cable or satellite, make sure the system you get has enough
auxillary inputs to plug everything in. Most systems have provisions for at
least one or two additional audio/video device(s).

Depsite the above concerns, at a price range from $200 to $2,000, there is a
home theater-in-a-box system out there that will fill basic needs for home
theater and casual music listening, whether for an apartment, meeting room,
or moderately-sized living room. My advice is to check out how the system
sounds at a local dealer before making a decision. In addition, make sure
you can return the system in a reasonable time if it doesn't fit your listen
needs once you try it out at home.

You are taking the first step into the joys of home theater, just remember
to get out of the house once-in-a-while!