Q1. I am finishing my basement and planning to incorporate a home theatre. We are working with a budget so keeping costs to a reasonable level is important. Could you please give me some advice regarding general room construction that will provide the best environment for the theatre?

 A1. There are many different factors that go into designing a custom home theatre. Here are a few simple rules that will ensure you get the best performance possible. You are starting from scratch so first you need to decide on the dimensions of the theatre. Ideally, no two room dimensions should be equal (ie. length 14' x width 14'). Stay away from a square room. Rectangular shaped rooms are good and a room that tapers out from from to back is ideal. For the best possible bass reproduction the room should be completely enclosed and sealed with a heavy door. If the room is not sealed properly the sound will escape into the rest of the house, and you may need additional or more powerful subwoofers in order to achieve ideal levels of bass

 For the construction of the walls, use 2'x4's on 16" centers. Add bridging between each 2'x4' stud to ensure the walls are as rigid as possible. For the construction of the ceiling, stay away from suspended ceilings as they tend to rattle. A drywall ceiling is ideal. Fill all cavities in both the ceiling and walls with sound absorbing insulation.

 Q2. We have an extra room in our house that we would like to turn into a home theatre. Could you give me some advice on the finishing of the room so that the theatre will achieve its optimal performance?

 A2. For the finishing of the theatre's walls and ceiling use as dark a colour palette as you can. Charcoal gray is ideal. With new projection technologies, such as DLP, there is a substantial amount of ambient light reflected off of the screen. The darker colours will help reduce the reflected light in the room to an acceptable level. If possible, use a paint that has a flat finish. This will also help in the reduction of reflected light.

 A heavy carpet installed over good quality underlay will help in the absorption of undesirable sound waves. Again, the darker the colour the better. Stay away from hardwood floors as they reflect sound.

 All glass doors and windows should be covered with drapery constructed out of the heaviest material available. The drapery will not only reduce undesirable reflected sound waves, but will also control light levels in the theatre. We design all of our systems with extreme care and attention to detail. We strive to offer a level of customer satisfaction unsurpassed in the industry. 

 Q3. I am wiring a room in my house that will be used as a home theatre. Any advice you could give me regarding lighting control and configuration, as well as general electrical requirements I may need, would be appreciated.

 A3. I would recommend that you or your electrician install at least one 15amp dedicated circuit for your stereo components. Depending on the power requirements of your equipment, a second 15amp circuit may be needed. The reason for dedicated circuits is to ensure that all your components have ample power to operate at their highest level.

 For lighting, use at least two different banks of lights; one bank for general lighting of the room and the other bank or banks to create a warm and cozy atmosphere through the use of ambient light. Each bank should be controlled independently by its own dimmer. During movie viewing, some ambient light is required to reduce the strain on your eyes. By installing different banks of lights you will be able to control the light level in the room so that it does not affect the performance of your video display.

 Wall sconces and pot lights installed around the outside of the theatre work very well in achieving the desired lighting effect. If you are using either a direct view or rear projection television, the installation of a light that creates diffused light behind the television will help reduce the strain on your eyes.

 Q4. I am in the market for a video projector for my home theatre. Could you please explain the differences between a DLP, LCD, and CRT projector?

 A4. CRT offers the best image but they also are the most expensive. Prices range from $15,000- $75,000+. The image they produce is very "film like". Their downfall is that they are fairly large, need to be mounted in a fixed position, and need a dark environment to operate at their best. They also need to be re-calibrated every few months by a technician. For about $25,000 you can get a good projector that produces an excellent image.

 An LCD projector is used mostly for business presentations. They are small in size, easy to setup, and are the least expensive. Their downfall is that their image isn't that great. The image is made up of tiny pixels and they are visible. They look like tiny dots. They work well with text or simple graphics but when watching a movie the image is less then great. A lot of people choose them for a Home Theatre application because of their price. They range from $ 6,000- $15,000. Sony has an LCD projector for about $11,000 that produces a very nice image and will also display HDTV.

 DLP is a new technology that was developed by Texas Instruments. Like LCD, DLP projectors are very small, easy to setup, and easy to operate. The image is more "film-like" than LCD. There are also products out there that are able to improve the image. The price of a DLP, transcanner (which improves the image), and a screen is approximately $10,000. DLP technology is the way to go for a home theatre application, unless you have the budget for a CRT.

 Q5. We are in the process of furnishing our family room. We plan on using the room as a home theatre. Before we purchase the furnishings, are there any tips you could give us that will help the theatre perform at its best?

 A5. Ideally, the couches and chairs for the room should be constructed out of as dense a material as possible (ie. the heavier the fabric and the more stuffing or foam, the better). The extra material used in the construction of the furniture will assist in the absorption of undesired, reflected sound waves. The colour of the furnishings should be as dark as possible to keep reflected light levels as low as possible. Avoid glass objects such as tables, bookshelf doors and walls, as the sound will reflect off of these objects thus affecting the sound. Bookshelves filled with books will help reduce the undesirable reflected sound waves.

 Q6. I am doing research on which speakers will work the best in my new home theatre.What are the basic factors I should be looking into.

 A6. There are so many different factors that go into speaker selection that I could write an entire book on the subject. Here are some basic rules that will keep you on the right track in the selection of your speakers. The single most important factor is that all speakers have similar or preferably identical sound characteristics. To achieve the same sound from all the speakers its is preferable that you purchase all of your speakers from the same manufacturer.

 Most speaker manufacturers offer different speakers (ie. front, centre, surround... ) that incorporate the same drivers (tweeters, woofers, etc.). The reason for the speakers having the same characteristics is simple. During the movie, as the sound travels around the room, any difference in sound characteristics will be noticeable. This can become distracting and will take away from your movie viewing experience. The left and right main speakers will handle most major sound effects during movie playback, as well as normal two channel stereo listening. For this reason, I recommend spending more money on these speakers. However, do not sacrifice the quality of your centre channel speaker, as this speaker, in my opinion, is the most important in a home theatre speaker system. All dialogue, as well as sound effects, are reproduced through the centre channel speaker. The human voice is one of the hardest sounds to reproduce accurately. A quality centre speaker is required for the most accurate reproduction.

 The surround speakers handle the sound effects that create the ambiance in the room. They can be smaller in size than the main speakers, but again, similar sound characteristics are important. The subwoofer will handle all of the low sounds from movie soundtracks and music. A quality sub or two greatly increases the enjoyment and realism while watching a movie or listening to music. The better the sub, the more realistic sound effects, such as explosions, will sound.

 Q7. Which type of surround sound speaker should I purchase?

 A7. There are different technologies used in the construction of surround sound speakers; dipole, bipole, and direct radiating. Dipolar and bipolar speakers are designed to produce sound to the front and rear of the room equally. The ideal listening position is in the null area - the point where they don't directly project sound.

 The idea of bi-polar and di-polar speaker design is to achieve the greatest ambiance possible. The difference between Dipolar and bipolar is the drivers in bipolar speakers are in phase (the front driver and rear driver move forward and back at the same time) and Dipolar drivers are out of phase (when the front firing driver moves forward, the rear firing driver moves back). Dipolar speakers are said to create a more diffuse sound field. When using direct radiating speakers for surround sound, the sound is more easily located (ie. a sound coming from the right rear of the sound stage will sound like it is coming from the right rear of the room instead of the sound surrounding you from the entire right rear area of the room).

 Most experts select dipole speakers for the surround channel. However, if you plan on using your theatre to listen to new multi-channel audio formats, such as SACD and DVD-audio, then I recommend direct radiating.

 Q8. I have a DVD-ROM drive in my computer. I have purchased a sound card with a digital output and a video card with S-video output. Will this setup perform as well as stand alone DVD player designed for home use?

 A8. The audio performance of the DVD-ROM drive in your computer will be noticeably worse than a stand alone unit. As of now, with a high quality sound card the engineers have yet been able to reproduce dolby digital at an acceptable level. Yes it will work, but not well. The funny thing is if all of the information from the DVD-ROM was on your hard drive, the quality of the audio would approach a more acceptable level. The video performance of a DVD-ROM drive is also subpar. From what industry experts are saying, computers and their components will be able to reproduce excellent quality images sooner rather than later.

 Q9. I am having problems with the positioning of all the speakers in my home theatre. Can you help me locate them properly?

 A9. Speaker placement depends on many different variables such as room dimensions, furniture layout, type of speaker, etc. Here are some general rules that will give you an idea where each speaker should be positioned. In order for the best possible performance of your home theatre speaker system some tweaking may be required.

 The left and right main channels should be placed at an equal distance from the centre of your screen. To determine the distance between the left and right speaker, a general rule of thumb is your main listening position should be 1.5 times the distance between the two speakers. Eg. Main listening position is 12' away, then speakers should be 8' apart. The speakers should be placed slightly ahead of your viewing screen so that a gentle arch is created. This will ensure that the sound will not reflect off of your television screen. The speaker's tweeters should be at your ear level when you are seated. The speakers should be slightly turned inward so that when you are listening to two channel stereo the sound sounds like it is coming from the middle of the two speakers.

 The centre channel should be placed either directly above or below your screen. If you are using a projector/screen configuration, you can purchase a perforated projection screen that you can place the centre channel directly behind. If you have a big screen TV and you are placing the speaker on top of it, then you may want to either angle the centre channel speaker down or raise the left and right main speakers slightly. The idea is to create a front sound stage that reproduces sounds uniformly as they travel across the room. A sound effect such as a jet flying across the screen should not sound like it dips or rises.

 The surround channel is a whole different ballgame. There are different types of surround speakers; dipole, bipole, and direct radiating (For more information on the different types, see question 6). Dipolar and bipolar speakers should be placed on the side walls at least 1.5' above ear level, parallel with the main seating area. Direct radiating speakers should be placed behind the main seating area, to the far left and right of the room. They should be positioned well above ear level and you may want to adjust their positioning so that they angle up or down or left or right. Trial and error works the best for positioning direct radiating surround speakers. There are many other options for surround speaker placement such as in-ceiling, in-wall, etc. It all depends on your desired performance and aesthetics.

 The subwoofer placement in your room has the most possible positioning options. Room dimensions, furniture type and placement, subwoofer quality and performance are just a few factors that can affect a sub's performance. Placing the sub in a corner will help increase the bass levels in the room. Once all of the furnishings are in the room, you can start by placing the sub in either the front left or right corner. Using either a CD or DVD you are familiar with, that reproduces lots of bass, have someone move the sub in and out, back and forward, while you are seated in the various positions in the room. Ideally, you shouldn't be able to tell where the subwoofer is positioned. The bass should be tight, not boomy. The bass should not linger and it should sound the same from the different seating positions. You may have to move the sub around the room or purchase a second subwoofer in order to create uniform bass response.

 Q10. I am in the market for a new television and I am confused about terms such as "HDTV compatible", "HDTV ready", and displays HDTV. Could you please explain the difference in these terms? Do you recommend purchasing a TV that displays HDTV?

 A10. Almost every customer I have spoken with is just as confused on this topic as you are. HDTV is a new video display technology that is being gradually introduced in North America. The performance of HDTV far surpasses our current NTSC standard. Here in Canada, we are several years behind the Americans due to the fact that the CRTC is run by a bunch of incompetent individuals. In every major and some minor American television markets, consumers are able to view HDTV through either an antenna on the roof or through cable. Canadians are able to view some HDTV programming through mini-dishes such as Star Choice. When the majority of the population in Canada will have access to HDTV programming is still up in the air. In order to view HDTV, you will need not only a video display that can reproduce HDTV but you will also need a separate HDTV decoder. Some HDTV televisions, cable boxes, satellite receivers, etc., have the decoders built in.

 In response to your question, "HDTV ready" and "HDTV compatible" is one of the most misleading phrases I have ever come across in consumer products. What manufacturers mean by saying "HDTV ready" or "HDTV compatible" is that once HDTV becomes available the consumer can purchase an HDTV decoder. The decoder will convert the HDTV signal to our current NTSC signal and the image can be displayed on that television. The television will work but you will not be watching HDTV. In order to be able to watch HDTV you need a television that will display the various HDTV formats.

 As for whether you should purchase a television that displays true HDTV now, if you can afford the extra cost of an HDTV display, then I recommend buying one. Video displays designed for viewing HDTV material also do an excellent job of displaying what we are watching now, NTSC. Keep in mind that when HDTV does finally become mainstream, the screen ratio will be different from what we are viewing today. HDTV's format is 16:9 (which resembles the shape of a screen in a commercial movie theatre) and NTSC, what we are watching today, is 4:3. Many manufacturers are making HDTV displays in the 4:3 format so that the current NTSC image will fill the whole screen. If you do decide to purchase a HDTV widescreen (16:9) display there will be black bars on the left and right side of the screen if you are watching television. A letterboxed DVD or VHS movie will fill the entire 16:9 screen. Keep in mind most DVDs only come in the widescreen (16:9) format. In the future when HDTV is available, HDTV displayed on a television in the 4:3 format will have black bars on the top and bottom of the screen.

 In my opinion, if you can afford an HDTV display, purchase a 16:9 TV if you watch mostly DVDs. If you watch mainly television and VHS movies, then purchase a 4:3 TV.