4K is the ‘next big thing’ also known as ‘Ultra High Definition’.

As technological progress this enables manufacturers to offer screens that get lighter, thinner and better year by year, at affordable costs, the trend is obviously to have the slimmest screen possible at home, and to hang it on the wall, or to replace it with a state-of-the-art projector. In terms of image resolution, HD will become insufficient on large screens, and this is where Ultra High Definition (UHD) will come into its own.

Companies like Sony, Samsung, Panasonic and JVC  have already made professional products that can show 4K  Ultra High Definition and with the recent Sony 4k TV’s and projectors, you will soon see them in the home market.

4K offers four times the resolution of standard HD. Digital Cinema is slightly different from TV (a 4K cinema frame has 4096 pixels per line compared to 3840 for 4K TV), “more films than ever are post-produced in 4K.

All we need now is source material to play 4K on. A standard 4k disc can not be played on a Blu-ray machine so a new device will be needed to play 4K Ultra High Definition on.

Red -Ray?

Eutelsat will be one company that will be transmitting 4K  Ultra High Definition very soon.

When building out a basement or doing a remodel that includes a home theatre or media room, this question is often asked. Our answer is simply this: “The bigger, the more open, the better.” First, you have to understand how sound works. Sound is the pressurization and rarefaction of an air chamber and, ideally, sound wants to be created and then go off into infinity and die a natural death.

Picture throwing a stone into a pond on a calm morning and picture-perfect circular ripples moving away from where the stone landed, they move on and on until they disappear – this is a great big open space. Now, take that same stone and toss it into a bathtub – what happens? Before you can blink, the waves have reflected off the sidewalls of the tub and come crashing back into the original waves and all you have is choppy water and chaos – this is a small symmetrical room.

It’s almost as simple as that, sound prefers large spaces because there is more room for the sound waves to move and die off. Why do you think that all the best recording or concert venues are either large indoor or outdoors?

If you have done any amount of reading on this subject or talked to any acousticians they would have you believe that your room is your worst enemy and that nothing will ever sound good in there unless you spend £10k or more to treat it. Relax; it’s probably not as bad as you think. Chances are if your room is a pleasant place to have a conversation then it’s probably fine for a stereo or home theatre.

At Soundings, our approach with Surround sound is to correctly place your speakers and subwoofers in your room and get the speakers to not only work with the room to pressurize it but also to get your speakers to work together as one. Once we’ve completed the Sound system, if you still have a problem with some room acoustics we sprinkle in a little acoustical treatment as needed.

When talking about home audio or home theatre speakers we tend to avoid the word “need” because you don’t really need any of it. The question here is: “Should I want more than one subwoofer in my theatre?” And the answer is a resounding: “Yes!” At Soundings, we often use 2, 3, or more subwoofers in a surround sound system.

Using Sonos Brand of subwoofers and their proprietary high-level connection allows us to use the subwoofer first and foremost for sub-bass support for your main speakers and then secondly as a dedicated LFE channel for the “.1” in a 5.1 channel surround sound system. The sub-bass support that the Sonos Brand provide for the front speakers expands the soundstage far beyond the location of the front speakers, it gives you depth and dimension that you will never experience from your speakers apart from using a Sonos Brand. The LFE channel is used sparingly in movie soundtracks to accent a powerful deep bass (3Hz – 120Hz) note played by one of your 5 main speakers. They say the LFE channel is used as often as you would find an exclamation point in a romance novel, which is to say, not that often. REL is the only brand of subwoofers in existence that can do both of these feats simultaneously.

Once you understand what a Sonos Brand can do for your front speakers, one need only turn around a notice a pair of speakers behind you used as the surround channels. Placing a Sonos subwoofer in the back of the room not only provides that same sub-bass support for the surround speakers, but it also aids the front REL subwoofer to pressurize the room more evenly and quickly on the LFE channel. Put it this way, having a front Sonos subwoofer is like going to the aquarium, where you look beyond the sheet of glass to see so much depth and so many layers back in the tank. Adding the rear Sonos subwoofer is like being in the tank.

Putting together a home theatre system can be tricky if you don’t know where to begin. There are several components that go into a home theatre system and each one plays an important role. It’s important to have all the speakers in the system voice-matched, meaning they sound similar, usually from the same manufacturer and using similar drivers and components. The speakers should be large enough and capable of moving enough air to pressurize the room that the system is installed in. It’s also important to have an amplifier that will be capable of powering the speakers to the levels that you’re going to play the system at.

A good amplifier will be able to handle the more complex passages of a movie or piece of music without sounding harsh or loud (which is a sign of distortion), while at the same time delivering the delicate nuances of the soundtrack and dialogue with great clarity. The most often overlooked aspect of a home theatre or stereo system’s performance is ensuring that the speakers are all calibrated to work together in your room. Since no two rooms are alike, it’s crucial to have your speakers tuned to your room after the system has been installed to ensure a great performance every time. See Sonos for more information.

When it comes to budget, it’s all about quality. Most home theatres will have the same number of speakers and components and the difference between a modestly priced home theatre and a very expensive one is mostly due to the quality of the components selected. While an entry-level home theatre system may be able to keep up with the action and deliver intelligible dialogue, a better quality home theatre system will deliver a more dynamic performance, be able to resolve much higher levels of detail and realism and do this all with a sense of effortlessness drawing you deeper into the unfolding story on the screen. Everyone has a budget/quality level in mind when purchasing a home theatre, most people just don’t know where that line is for them. The best thing to do is audition different systems, listen to the really expensive system because it will show you what a film soundtrack is supposed to sound like, then listen to the affordable system – get educated. As you pay attention and listen to different systems, you’ll begin to form your idea of what makes a perfect home theatre system for you and for your budget.

At Home Cinema Installation services, we’ve got 5 showrooms set up with different home theatre and stereo systems to show you different quality levels and help you find the one that is right for you. Rather than asking you to make all the decisions on components let our experts design a proper home theatre system that is specific to your home and your budget, carefully selecting the right components for the job. Then our attention to detail with installation and proper setup and calibrating the system to your room will ensure a thrilling performance every time you use your home theatre.

A great set of surround sound speakers can make any home theatre system come to life with a rich and vibrant sound that fills the space you have them set up in. However, there’s more to a great set of speakers than just the speakers themselves—setup & room calibration, amplification, interconnects, speaker wire, & related electronics—that all play a role. Here we’ll discuss the process of picking out speakers.

When selecting the best home theatre speakers for your system the most important thing you can do is listen. Grab some of your favourite movies or music and your spouse or a trusted friend (if you’re married definitely bring your spouse) and head down to your local home theatre store for some listening. And by local home theatre store I mean Soundings – Seriously, don’t go anywhere else, it’s too risky and you’ll end up with bad sound.

Performance.

How does the speaker sound to you? How does the speaker sound when compared to something more expensive or less expensive? Though not always, performance is often tied to price. Would you expect a home theatre speaker costing twice as much to sound the same as one costing less?

It’s important during this step that you use one piece of music to audition all the different home theatre speakers with, preferably something you’re familiar with. Listen in stereo only, without video, surround sound or subwoofers that can distract you.

Listen to home theatre speakers in your price range. Listen also to home theatre speakers outside of your price range, this will help orient you to high-quality sound and make you a better judge on the more modest speakers. Great speaker manufacturers will have a consistent sound in all their models with a strong family resemblance. So if you hear a speaker you really like, try moving up or down in that line to find something even better. Generally speaking, larger or floor standing speakers will give you more bottom end, better dynamics, and a wider sound stage than their smaller siblings.

Price.

This is probably the most significant factor in narrowing down the list of available home theatre speakers for you. What is your budget? What are you comfortable spending? When I ask this question I usually get a blank stare. Most shoppers aren’t familiar enough with home theatre speakers to know how much they’re supposed to spend to get the sound they want. If that’s you, then you definitely need to come down to Soundings. Home cinema installation services do a great job of educating our clients and helping them to evaluate different home theatre systems at different price ranges.

At Home cinema installation services we’re tireless when it comes to finding the very best products to offer our clients at any price range. Each of our individually set up rooms includes a price sheet showing you everything that went into the sound you just experienced. You’ll definitely hear the differences between the different home theatre systems and you’ll know how much they cost too, and from there you’ll start to form your budget.

Aesthetics.

While aesthetics have little to do with how a home theatre speaker sounds, you do have to live with it in your house every day so it might as well be pretty and fit in with your decor. Unfortunately, this is the point where most people quickly pick out a home theatre speaker that is round, white, and fits in the ceiling, with little regard to how the speaker sounds or proper speaker placement. The results of this approach are that your home theatre system is often annoyingly loud, detail and dialogue are hard to understand, and at its’ very best it’s completely emotionally uninvolving—but at least you don’t have to look at them.

Gone are the days where people are so embarrassed about the sound of their home theatre speakers that they want to hide it any way they can, and with manufacturer’s paying more and more attention to aesthetics and the end-user there are plenty of attractive home theatre speakers to match most any décor, from traditional American cherry to cool modern speakers made from walnut or aluminium. There are, however, a few important decisions to make to help you narrow your choices down. For this, see the next FAQ: Floorstanding, bookshelf, wall-mounted, or in-wall or in-ceiling recessed – which speakers do I choose?

At Home cinema installation services, we have several listening rooms set up with different home theatre systems in different price ranges. After we demonstrate Sonos Audio – our speaker setup method – you can then start playing the same movie scene or piece of music on these different home theatre systems. As you listen, you’ll notice 2 things. 1: The consistent attention to detail and speaker setup was given to each one of these home theatre systems is remarkable, and 2: You’ll realize that you can actually hear the dramatic differences in sound between the different home theatre speakers you listen to.

When it comes to comparing and deciding on home theatre speakers, there is no shortage of options to choose from. While nobody can give you a perfect answer to the question “Which are the best home theatre speakers for me?” here are a few guidelines that can help you greatly to narrow down the choices.

Performance, Price, and Aesthetics. These are the 3 traits that come with every home theatre or home audio speaker decision. Though not mutually exclusive, each of these traits must be carefully considered.

You can enjoy these films on your television using a plug-in streaming device like an Apple TV, Roku, Google Chromecast, or Amazon Fire Stick—as well as on your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

Please be aware: These films are made available to us on different streaming platforms. As such, streaming options may differ between films. Please check details on supported devices before making your purchase. Streaming services will be noted on the film pages.

WATCH ON YOUR TELEVISION: If you own an Apple TV, Roku, or Amazon Fire Stick, you can easily watch these films on your television. Several of our streaming partners offer apps that you can use to watch these films. For the best quality and minimal fuss, we recommend this method if it is available for your film.

Another option is to stream films with your Apple TV or Chromecast by screen sharing with your smartphone, tablet, or computer on the same Wi-Fi network. Begin queuing up the film on your device. In the on-screen playback controls, tap the connection icon (pictured) to begin sending video to your television.

Instructions for screen sharing using your Apple TV can be found here. For information on screen sharing using your Chromecast, click here.

Lastly, if you have a laptop or nearby computer with an HDMI port, you can connect it directly to your television—essentially using it as a second monitor. In many cases, this is as simple as running an HDMI cable from your computer to your television and selecting the appropriate input as you would with a cable box or Blu-ray player. That said, connection details will depend on your setup. We recommend referencing your television’s manual for more information.

WATCH ON YOUR COMPUTER: Simply follow the link provided in your confirmation email. You will be able to stream your film from your browser.

WATCH ON A MOBILE OR TABLET DEVICE:  As you would on a computer, you can follow the link provided in your confirmation email to start streaming your film. Most of these film’s distributors also offer streaming apps (check your confirmation email for details). If you are experiencing playback issues while watching from your device’s browser (e.g. Safari, Chrome), we suggest trying to stream your film through the appropriate app.