Heads up cinemaholics – this article is for you! If you are a fan of binging TV shows for hours, or you enjoy keeping up with the latest movie releases, you know you need to get things done right. You don’t actually need to leave your house to experience the cinema environment, as you can simply build it yourself, at home. We assure you it’s way more fun and comfortable. Also, quarantine has put us all in lockdown so cinema has become everyone’s latest hobby. But for you to experience a great movie you’ll need to improve your home theater.
Fortunately, we’re here to teach you how to get the job done! Easy and budget-friendly, so you can sit back and enjoy your free time with your family, or all alone while binge-watching a Netflix marathon. Without further delays, here are 5 ways to improve your home cinema:
Consider More Comfortable Seating
While we’re going to take care of all of the audio and visual details below, let’s not forget an extremely important one first: Comfortable Seats! You know what I’m talking about: Reclining Sectionals! They will kick up your home cinema theater to a whole new level. Besides being extremely comfortable, they will also give you a great experience while watching the movie for obvious reasons. A reclining position will give your eyes a new perspective and immersive visual experience. You’ll be able to better view all the angles of the TV, or the projector and, not to mention, enjoy a greater absorption of the sound in your surroundings. Besides, after a long day of work, there’s no greater feeling than coming home, sitting back, and melting away on a reclining sectional for a fantastic power nap! If you’re interested in learning about the best reclining sectionals on the market, be sure to take a look at Sectionalist.com. Now, these can get quite large and hard to move so why not get a great moving service to help you out?
Improve Audio Quality With a Subwoofer
Here are other ways to improve your home theater. Let’s start with the basics – Audio. Home Theater is all about great audio quality, so you can immerse into the movie feeling like you are a part of the action you are watching. Although a stereo sound system is the first and main step in improving your home audio environment, there are other ways you can reach a more fulfilling audio experience. Most of the modern TVs already are part of a Home Theater System, but if yours is not, there are other alternatives to upgrade your surroundings when it comes to audio quality.
First, get a powerful subwoofer! This will provide you with an enhanced movie and music enjoyment. You will surely experience a real kick if you scale up the quality of your surroundings with the low bass effects. Dolby systems have improved their deep bass channels over the years, and this will work wonders whether you are watching a war movie, or are just a fan of soundtracks.
Adjust Your Audio Settings
Although it’s totally worth it, a subwoofer can be a costly investment! You can also consider other options regarding your TV Audio settings and configurations. Let us show you, step by step.
- Set your main speakers to “Small”: They should work below 40-50 Hz, so all the bass is dedicated to the subwoofer. In case you don’t have a subwoofer, this setting will not put too much pressure on your front speakers, so they don’t have to work as hard, which will lead them to do a better job with the remaining frequencies, ultimately creating a better sound in all your surroundings.
- Check the Center Channels of the TV: Make sure you upgrade the center-channel speaker, so you can improve dialogue clarity when it comes to your surround speakers. Most of the people use one old remote, but that’s wrong! The configurations will not provide you the clarity of that specific TV setting. Purchasing a new center-channel speaker that has the same clear, detailed, transparency when it comes to sound quality will be a major improvement to your left and right front speakers. Lastly, the closer the tonal matches with the center channel, and the main left and right, the better your overall experience will be.
- Set up Your Speaker Levels: Audio balance is the key to every home cinema theater. Don’t forget to calibrate your speaker levels with an SPL meter or by using the included microphone in most mid-fi receivers, for example, as they do a pretty good job. A quick personal tip: make sure the center channel is adjusted to 1 dB or 2 above normal for more intelligibility, as this will allow you to set your subwoofer to your personal taste.
- Get a 3D Sound Quality: It’s time to retire that HTIB system. To match your high definition TV, a balanced 5.1 or 7.1 channel speaker system will deliver high-fidelity three-dimensional audio quality, perfect to match your big-screen HDTV.
Improve Your Room’s Acoustics
Better acoustics will definitely improve your home theater. A padded throw rug for a tile floor, and dark drapes on windows create better absorption if the room is too reverberant. Don’t forget to eliminate obstacles blocking the direct path of the sound and make sure the surrounding speakers located optimally, to create a better overall experience. Sound and aesthetics are important variables to take into consideration.
Avoid the traditional “cubed” speakers, as you can find better-sounding speakers with only a modest size for the same amount of money or even much less. Also, it’s extremely important to maintain symmetry. That’s why displacing a proper positioning and calibration of the critical front three LCR speakers with the surrounding ones makes a big difference! Place them across your living room forming a “U-Shaped” curve, so the sound can easily flow between the center and the surroundings, passing clearly in a wave journey from right, to left.
Lastly, point your surrounding speakers directly at each other (not directly to your ears or to the walls, as I’ve seen many people do). This allows the sound to come from behind you and develop in the center of the room, spreading itself across it and, consequently, not distracting you from the on-screen action.
Improve Your Room’s Lighting
Even though I’ve spent 3 paragraphs talking about it, it’s not all about the sound! Lighting is one of the main keys to every movie experience. Start by darkening windows or doors to cut light, and, consequently improve the contrast ratio of your display. Trust me, blackout curtains are a total must! They are not as expensive as you may think, and they will provide the picture on your home cinema theater with much sharper contrast, richer colors, and darker blacks.
Don’t forget to take the TV out of Torch mode! When they are displayed in a showroom or in a store, the brighter TVs sell better, so they are all on that setting. Problem is, they usually come with that fluorescent mode, and when you come home to try watching a movie on your brand new TV, guess what happens? It turns all of your blacks into medium-dark grays – a terrible experience! Most modern TVs already have a home theater display setting, but if yours doesn’t, switch it to Standard mode, as it will work with the regular screen view display, with contrasts and tones calibrated well enough to satisfy all your cinema needs.
Get Your Popcorn Ready!
Turn off your phone, prepare the popcorn, and enjoy it! Having a cinema theater in your home is a total lifesaver for cinephiles! After you upgrade it you won’t regret it! By following these simple steps you will surely have years of carefree listening and viewing pleasure that can come close to or even surpass the experience you have at your local cinema place, and, even though it’s an investment, you won’t believe how much money you can save from cinema tickets after a while.
You now have everything you need to know to update your home cinema, so don’t waste any more time and go see what is the latest release on Netflix or HBO. Oh, and don’t forget the popcorn machine! (because we’ve all been disappointed with microwave popcorn).
Finding Help with Moving Professionals
We hope you found this blog post on 5 Ways to Improve Your Home Cinema useful. Be sure to check out our post on 6 Creative Home Renovating Ideas for more great tips!
Need to Move Furniture? With All Around Moving you don’t need to worry about any unexpected charges. We are always upfront about our prices and take pride in taking care of every need of our customers before and during the move. For a stress-free move where you don’t need to take care of anything contact us today! We are “A+” rated members of the Better Business Bureau and a member of Greater New York Chamber of Commerce & Miami Dade
Discover how uniquely priced we are compared to other moving companies in New York, NY & Miami, Florida. Get a moving quote specifically tailored to your moving needs by calling us TODAY!
Have Experience in the Moving Industry? Want an Additional Income Stream? Work With All Around Moving!
All Around Moving’s Work With Us program provides experienced moving consultants with the opportunity to run their own Relocation Consultant business from anywhere in the USA. We provide licensing, dedicated phone lines and email hosting, moving software for lead tracking, invoicing, and complete set up.
We’ll even provide the carriers, or you can use your own. A nominal one-time start up fee gives you initial-customer-leads to get your business up and running. There are no recurring expenses, except purchasing your own leads. We share profits 50-50 with you from all jobs you book with us. Click here to learn more.
