The price of plasma, LED and LCD television sets have dropped in price significantly over the last few years. Because of this, home theatre additions and similar projects have become much more affordable. For the simplest of setups, all you need is a good sized room, a decent sized TV and a good surround sound system. If you have a little extra money to spend, you can go as high-end as you want. You have options such as projection systems, theater seating and an advanced surround sound system. Your basement might be the perfect space. Why?
Quiet and Secluded
Your basement is typically darker than many other areas of your home, which lends to a more nature home theater feel. Furthermore, because they are located underground, they are normally better insulated from many of the sounds that you can hear in your home such as the neighbor’s lawn mower, loud cars and barking dogs. This is also true for containing the noise from your theater if you like to turn it up loud. Housing your theater in your basement will also lead to less disruption in your home and neighborhood due to your loud volume levels.
Planning for Power
Whenever choosing the best way to finish your basement for a home theater, one of the key concerns is power. You will need to create a solid plan for the type of electrical wiring that you need to properly support your home theater equipment. This includes everything from making sure you have adequately sized circuits to convenient light switches, properly located electrical outlets and even special cabling for your theater systems themselves. Keep in mind that you should add support for more than you currently need. The electronics industry moves quickly, meaning that there is a good chance that you will be upgrading in the next few years. You’re better off having your contractor prepare for this eventuality now, than to have to come back in and change things later.
View Angle and Room Size
You need to build your room and seating arrangements around the size of the system that you are installing. One of the major concerns is ensuring that everyone in the room has a good view of the TV. This is often determined foremost by the size of the TV itself. This is much easier to take care of if you are finishing your basement for the first time. Take into consideration proper viewing angles and recommended viewing distance from your screen to provide the best experience for everyone.
With a little bit of work, you can turn your otherwise boring and unused basement into the ultimate home theatre experience for you, your family and your friends. Use its natural seclusion and darkness to your advantage to create that movie theater feel at home, have a place to gather with friends or just a quiet retreat to sit back and watch a couple of your favorite films.