Whether you’re watching a movie, or streaming your favourite music, a good home cinema system can enhance your entertainment experience by making everything sound better than the TV’s built-in speakers. From simple plug and play soundbars to multi-channel surround sound systems, you’ll find the perfect solution for your budget, space, and viewing habits in our selection of home theater systems canada.
What is a home cinema system?
A home cinema system is a television set-up that uses a large projection image from a video projector or flatscreen high-resolution HDTV system, and audio augmented with a multi-channel power amplifier and anywhere from two speakers and two channels of sound to five or more surround sound speakers. Some home cinema systems also include a HTPC with a media centre application to act as the source for video and audio content.
More sophisticated home cinema systems may incorporate seating and other ambiance features to improve the cinematic experience. Some luxury home theaters feature movie theatre-style padded chairs for viewers and guests, along with sound insulation to prevent noise from escaping the room and specialized wall treatment for optimal acoustic performance.
In terms of audio, the most common home theater systems have a surround sound speaker arrangement – usually in the form of 5.1 or 7.1 – that reproduces a surround sound mix on a two channel audio format. While these systems can be used to listen to music – and most have the ability to do so – we would caution against buying them if you’re going to be using them solely for audio playback, as most music is mixed for stereo, rather than surround, use.
For an even more immersive home entertainment experience, you can replace your side and rear surround speakers with upward-firing ones to create height audio – the sounds that bounce off the ceiling to give a sense of depth and place in a scene. Ideally, you should buy speakers from the same brand as your AV receiver in order to keep a consistent sonic balance across the entire speaker configuration.