Checklist

If you're thinking of buying a home theatre system, here's what you need to know about specifications, features, and how to set it up.

What's included?

"Home theatre" includes a set of speakers designed to reproduce the full range of sound you hear at the movies, plus a unit consisting of a signal receiver and amplifier. A blu-ray player is usually part of the deal, and may be built into the receiver unit.

An integrated blu-ray player reduces the clutter (and the number of remote controls), but gives less flexibility. A non-integrated player means you can select the blu-ray player that best suits you.

The home-theatre systems we tested could all either directly play CDs or have inputs for a CD player (or an MP3 player – with a suitable connector-cable). So they can replace your stereo system for playing music.

Although you can buy some quite cheap home theatre systems, our tests have shown their quality will leave you unsatisfied. This is because home theatre isn't just about connecting more speakers to a blu-ray player. You need a good amplifier that produces good sound through quality speakers. You also need a good TV (preferably an HDTV) with the right video connectors.

Specifications and features

Power
At least 30 watts per channel is needed for a smallish lounge, but a really big room might need 100 watts. A more powerful subwoofer channel could help boost explosive sound effects on a lower-powered unit.

Connecting up
Having the blu-ray player, receiver and tuner in one unit cuts back on cable clutter. Using HDMI cables also helps as they carry both HD video and digital audio signals (though digital audio signal can also be carried by coaxial digital output or optical digital cables).

Make sure the speaker wires are long enough. You'll want to tuck them discreetly out of the way (along the skirting, say) and still be able put the speakers where you want. "Wireless" rear speakers cut some of the clutter, but they need a convenient power point. Check the handbook has clear wiring guidelines.

Picture outputs
The video signal from your home theatre system can get to your TV using several formats. HDMI, as mentioned above, is currently the best for HD video (which is what you should get from blu-ray). Older composite video (usually a yellow RCA plug) is available on all models and gives the lowest quality. S-video is a little better than composite, and component video (which splits the video signal into 3 colour components) is better still. For more information see Connections.

Remote control
There are many features to operate, but user-friendly design is still possible! Look for a logical layout with well-grouped buttons (sound in one group; play controls like play, skip, stop in another). Button size, colour contrast and shape are also important.

Receiver
Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby Digital and DTS are proprietary systems that organise the sound into its appropriate speakers. Most receivers can handle all these, at least.

Upscaling
While it's not perfect, this feature attempts to upgrade a lesser-resolution video format to one of a higher resolution – for example, the standard 576i picture of a DVD movie to 1080p.

A point to note is that some cheaper blu-ray discs of previously released films have not been upscaled to full HD perfectly and may not have a crisp 1080p image.

Speakers

You'll often see home-theatre systems described with a number like "7.1". This refers to the number of speakers the system has – for example, 7.1 means 7 surround speakers with the .1 referring to a subwoofer.

The typical home theatre system has more than 5 speakers, each of which plays a particular role. As with any stereo, speaker-quality is the key. Look for a bit of weight. In general, solid-feeling speakers sound better.

Standard speaker connections make it easier for you to upgrade your speakers if you decide you want a better sound than the home theatre system’s speakers can deliver.

Satellite speakers
There are 2 pairs of surround speakers (left and right, front and back) for localised sound effects. It's best not to have them on the floor. Front speakers should be on the same level as the TV. Rear speakers should be screwed to the wall or put on stands, slightly above and behind the viewers. Some systems allow you to tune the speakers to their location.

"Wireless" rear speakers could be useful, though they need at least one wire – to a power point.

Centre speaker
This handles most dialogue and sounds from the central focus of the picture. It's aligned with the centre of the TV.

Subwoofer
For enhanced bass effects. Bass sound is usually non-directional – you'll hear (and feel) the T-rex in Jurassic Park coming, but you won't know from which direction. This means the location of the subwoofer is not critical.

Active subwoofers have their own built-in amplifier. It doesn't seem to improve the sound significantly, but does take some of the load away from the receiver unit.

Getting the best sound

To hear decent sound effects, you need to connect each speaker correctly to the proper terminals and place them for the best effect (on stands or walls). Fail to do this and your sound will probably be inconsistent and move in the opposite direction to the action on screen.

Take the time to get the speakers correctly balanced – it makes a huge difference. Some systems have a useful auto-calibration feature, using a special microphone that plugs into the unit. The microphone is placed at your listening position and the auto-calibration automatically adjusts the relative channel volumes and (slight) delays to get the best possible sound.