More Bang for Your Buck: Home Theatre

WSVN--Wizard Of Oz: "There's no place like home."

They are some of our favorite scenes from the silver screen.

Gone With The Wind: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

From sappy to surreal

Star Wars: "Luke, I'm your father."

We can't get enough of the movies. But with two young children, the Barron family knows going to the theater can be quite an adventure...So they found a way to enjoy their entertainment without leaving home.

Spencer Baron: "We decided lets bring it up a little bit from just a TV. So we wanted to make a nice comfortable environment that we could all participant in."

But building a home theater doesn't have to cost as much as a Hollywood blockbuster.

With a little planning, you can find a system to that fits just about any budget.

Spencer Baron: "You want to establish some sort of cap of what you want to spend because electronics can get exorbitant especially if your coming from a place where we didn't know where to start."

A good place to start is with quality surround sound. Russell Sinacore from the Criteria Company says a basic set up requires five or six speakers, a receiver, and a subwoofer that provides the bass and special effects sounds. You can find packages that include all of these elements for around six hundred dollars.

Russell Sinacore: "Speakers can run anywhere from a hundred dollars each to unbelievable prices."

To save when shopping, consider buying your front speakers first then your rear speakers when your budget grows.

Russell Sinacore: "We always recommend quality over quantity when it comes to components like this."

Of course, a home theater won't be complete without a big screen. But if you haven't shopped for a television for a while you'll be surprised at how far your dollar will go.

Russell Sinacore: "Prices on many of these display systems have dropped to an economical level. Plasma displays have dropped down to a few thousand dollars where a couple years ago they were double that or more."

Next, you'll need some way to play your movies. When shopping, look for a carousel DVD player and make sure it has a built in Dolby digital decoder to reproduce movie sound effects.

Russell Sinacore: "A single play DVD player. They can start well under 100 dollars. And some of the finest players today are still less than 5 or 6 hundred dollars which years ago was unattainable for the level of service they can provide."

As for the Barron family, their home theater provides not only hours of amusement but many happy endings.

Spencer Baron: "It provides a sense of relaxation and comfort that you can control. You can control that environment. And that's what you want and in an affordable way it makes it really nice."

Another tip if you want to save, consider refurbished equipment. They are usually sold out of the box for up to 70 percent off the original price.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Contact: lgarrigan@wsvn.com

Russell Sinacore
Criteria
(954) 929-5333
(954) 367-1420
1500 NW 1st St
Dania, FL 33004
www.criteriahifi.com