Buyer's guide - Home Cinema systems

A set of speakers for wrap-around sound

Are you looking to boost your audio-video set-up? Check out some of our PC loudspeaker sets and surround sound bars! 5.1, 3.0 or even 2.1 PC speaker sets (with built-in amplifiers) will give you all the power and sound quality you need without taking up much space. Most surround sound is in 5.1 format, which means there are 2 front speakers, 2 rear speakers, 1 central speaker, and a subwoofer for bass frequencies. Films on DVD will never be the same again! Surround sound bars give you the same surround sound quality as 5 separate speakers conveniently stashed in a 1.1 model. You can say goodbye to cable clutter once and for all! Surround sound bars fall into the high-end category; they’re made of several loudspeakers cleverly positioned on the bar to give you the impression of being wrapped in sound. With speakers like this, sound effects will be flying around you, sneaking around every corner and plunging you into the heart of your films! Some sound bars even handle video: a single HDMI cable connected to your player is enough to carry video, audio and control signals between two digital components... You can finally enjoy HDTV without any messy, unsightly cables!

DVD Home Cinema systems

Bring together your audio and video equipment without compromising on the quality of your films with a DVD Home Cinema system! Great films deserve great sound! Complete with a DVD player, an amplifier and speakers, DVD home cinema systems bring together the best in home entertainment. You'll even be able to pump out your favourite tracks in high-quality sound thanks to the amp. The amp optimises the sound on the speakers and subwoofer for room-shaking bass reproduction and depth! It also determines how loud and how well balanced the sound is, and in most cases allows you to select from a variety of effects to create different sound stages to suit different film, music or programme types. DVD systems also provide top-quality video. They're usually able to read burned DVDs (DVD-RW or +RW), DIVX format and even JPEG files, which means you can enjoy photos on your TV screen. Most DVD releases have 5.1 sound, guaranteeing a high-quality digital experience!

Impressive Home Cinema systems

Turn your living room into the most comfortable cinema with a Home Cinema system! Home Cinema systems usually have a DVD recorder – or sometimes a Blu-ray player – a highly specialised set of speakers and an amplifier for unrivalled sound performances. Floor-standing speakers provide exceptional acoustics and fit easily into any living room. They’re obviously larger than compact speakers, which means their loudspeakers are not only bigger but they can also hold more of them. Turning the volume up a notch means the amp has to double its power output. The greater the amp’s power output, the more comfortably the system will run at your regular volume – to guarantee the best sound, choose an amp that’s more powerful than your speakers. Sound bars are sometimes fitted into a TV unit, taking up minimum space while giving you amazing sound and video quality. If you’d rather keep the TV unit you already have, larger sound bars are wall-mountable to give you all the power a large screen (over 40 inches) requires without any cable clutter.

Blu-ray players

The age of High Def has arrived… don’t miss out! If DVD quality is already so good, why should you upgrade? Because TVs are getting bigger and more technologically advanced, so sound quality and picture detail are getting better too! Why wouldn’t you want that for yourself? Get a breathtaking picture and unbeatable sound with a Blu-ray player in your Home Cinema system. Thanks to HD resolution and 7.1 surround sound, pixelated images are a thing of the past, even on the largest screens, and you're guaranteed outstanding acoustics. You’ll be blown away by the quality!

Connectivity

Loudspeaker cables

Your system is only as good as its weakest link, and the quality of your Home Cinema depends on the cables you use; even the best speakers can hiss and sound dreadful with poor quality connections. Pay particular attention to loudspeaker cables! Choose proper cables and connect them to your amp and speakers carefully - you don't want to short-circuit your system! You should also use equal lengths of cable, even if one speaker is right next to your amp and the other is a metre away - but don’t make these cables too long either, because they’ll pick up interference and compromise sound quality. 2.5 mm² in diameter is generally a good choice for cables, even though a diameter of 1.5 mm² is sometimes enough to connect an amp to speakers right next to it.

Audio-Video cables

The SCART lead, the most common method for connecting stereo and analogue audio-visual equipment together, is being replaced by the HDMI cable that allows for fully digital audio-video transfers. The HDMI cable supports multiple channels simultaneously and it accepts the most developed HD audio formats effortlessly. Instead of using RCA jacks, opt for optical and coaxial connectors for clear and powerful digital sound.

Amps

If you’ve forgone the all-in-one package and built your Home Cinema system piece by piece, don’t forget the amp! It’ll considerably improve the sound of your system and give your films sound quality to die for. The amp boosts the signals from your speakers and subwoofer and redistributes the sound evenly, even in a large room, so you can really bring out the best in those action scenes! Amps are more versatile than you might think. With a built-in tuner, the amp can even replace your Hi-fi system!

Different kinds of speakers

Whether they're compact, sound bar or bookshelf, speakers are more than just music boxes; place them strategically around your room get the best out of all your films and music. With a 5.1 pack, your set-up should be as follows: 2 speakers in front (on either side of your screen), 2 at the rear and 1 in the middle, preferably close to your sofa or armchair. And as for your subwoofer - you can put that pretty much anywhere! This set-up will give you the best surround sound experience, especially during films – the 2 front speakers focus on music, the central speaker on dialogue and the rear speakers on special effects. Your speaker’s format, and that of your amp, should be proportionate to the size of your room. If you're short on space, go for compact or satellite speakers. They’re just as efficient as larger models and can be mounted to your wall or set on stands. You can also get in-wall speakers, which are convenient and even more discreet, but require quite a bit of installation… Music enthusiasts might prefer bookshelf speakers, because even mid-range speakers give excellent sound while staying relatively small. You can set them anywhere you like, and they’ll blend in with any decor, especially if they’re made of wood. Thick is out and thin is in. Sound bars range from the simple to the sophisticated, and can be placed on a shelf or mounted to a wall beneath your TV. Not only are they slender and elegant; they’ll fit in anywhere and give you great-quality bass and treble. Not all sound bars are surround bars, so you may want to check specs before buying.

Audio technology

Dolby Digital has become a more common audio technology in Home Cinema systems than DTS. To minimise the space audio soundtracks take up on a DVD, Dolby Digital and DTS compress audio data. Consumers need a built-in decoder, like Dolby Digital or DTS, to decompress and deliver DVD soundtracks. Dolby Digital has been used in most films for the past fifteen years or so, and is more technologically advanced than its predecessor Dolby Prologic II (which only handled stereo audio recordings on VHS and DVD). DTS technology compresses audio data less, giving you clearer sound and better quality overall, even if these subtle differences are sometimes difficult to hear… The latest built-in decoders are naturally being manufactured for High Definition. DTS HD and Dolby True HD broadcast uncompressed sound on 8 channels (7.1) at high speed in order to reproduce sound that’s as close as possible to the master track produced in a studio.

Amazing sound

Don’t just focus on speakers when choosing your Home Cinema system. To get maximum power, you’ll need an amp to optimise the distribution of sound effects, and a subwoofer to give you bass sounds that’ll shake you to your core. Subwoofers and amplifiers complement each other – you can even find active subwoofers that include an amplifier uni,t so you get the deepest bass sounds, which are harder to hear than high or medium-pitch sounds. The size and organisation of your living room can change the type of sound your amp produces. If your room has lots of furniture, the sound will be a little muffled, so investing in an extra-powerful amp isn’t really worth it -- adapt the size of your equipment to the size of the room you’re putting it in. Try to keep all your speakers at an equal distance from your sofa. This will ensure you get the best surround sound possible. With every metre that separates you from your speakers, you lose 6dB that the amp has to make up for - keep that in mind when buying your amp!