Whole house audio and video — your selected entertainment available in every room of your home — on demand.

While millions of Americans have multiple home computers connected in networks, the real fun can be in connecting all your home entertainment devices into a system and enjoy audio and video anywhere you want in your home.

Although this article deals specifically with the issues you need to take into consideration when making an investment in a home audio system the basic principles apply to video as well.

These are the main considerations you need to take into account:

1) Start with what you want in your system. And let’s start with no restrictions. Here is my ideal/dream system description:

** I want to put all my CDs, records (yes I still have vinyl), and MP3 files on one device.

** I want to be able to pull any music I want up immediately even if I can’t remember the album title.

** I want to be able to select music by either the mood I’m in or the mood I want to be in. (Pumped up for a work out or mellow to relax after a hard day.)

** I would like the music to be mobile and follow me through out my home.

*** If the family is at home I want each family member to be able to select the music they want to listen to where they want to hear it.

2) Next consider your current home infrastructure. Are you wired for whole house audio or video? Are you about to do a major re-model and want to include this wiring in the project?

3) Is wireless an option?

4) Will it adapt to equipment I have?

Sounds like an impossible dream doesn’t it? Well it isn’t anymore! There a lot of choices on the market at different price points with different features. While the choices can be confusing they really boil down into two categories:

1) Hobbyist or do it yourself solutions. These solutions vary but tend to be much lower priced however the work begins when you bring your new purchase home. Many of these products have fairly complicated set up requirements such as external computers, an understanding of how to set up the device on your network, complicated setup to name a few. If you know how to do these things already then you’ll have no problem but if not it is the equivalent of going to buy a car and going home with a box of parts and a box of tools. At the end of the day you might be able to put it together and make it work but if you wanted a car you could drive off the lot this is definitely not the way to go!

2) Ready to play solutions. These solutions contain more complete features such as integrated storage, complete user interfaces, components that integrate into existing systems. They tend to include more advanced features and while they are certainly more expensive, for those who don’t consider themselves computer wizards this is an excellent option. Continuing with my car analogy this would be the car you drive off the lot.

The prices and features are really quite varied from a gadget you can connect to your computer for a few hundred dollars all that way to a system that includes a raid array for tens of thousands and there is a lot in between. If you are in the market for a home audio system be sure to look carefully at all the options and decide which type of system you want first before you even start narrowing down which system you want to look at. Then key to choosing the right decide what features are must haves such as controlling music from any room or is it OK to use a wall panel or turn on the TV. Is central control important to you or are several music libraries acceptable. Would a wireless option be of interest to me or is my home already wired? Once you have your list of must haves then it will be easier to narrow down the choices that are right for you.

More Home Audio Articles

There’s nothing quite like watching a favourite or new movie on the big screen; the sheer magnitude of everything that is going on around you means the ensuing few hours are an uninterrupted emersion into whichever world you have chosen to plunge yourself.  Be it battles with dragons, Western shootouts or technology-filled forays into space – the cinema can take you there and back from the comfort of a cinema seat.

Alright, so cinema seats aren’t really that comfortable, especially compared to your sofa at home.  They also don’t have a pause remote balanced on their arm and a kitchen with a supply of tea-bags within easy reach; but watching a film at home isn’t quite the same is it?  Well, that would depend…

What if you had a sophisticated home cinema installation, with a 72” high-definition screen and speakers wired all around the room, surrounding you with perfect quality sound and audio?  Wouldn’t that make staying in for a private cinema experience from the comfort of your own bed or sofa a preferable alternative to dealing with angry teenagers in dirty aprons?  Combined with a stack of your favourite films on DVD or Blu-ray and a fridge next to the sofa and I doubt whether you’d ever leave the house to go to work, let alone the cinema!

The surprising truth is that home cinema systems like this are becoming ever-more realistic possibilities for many of us, even in these times of penny-saving.  Although they are quite expensive up-front, home cinema systems are an impressive and long-term asset to your house, which could even save you some money in the long run; when you consider that taking an average family of four people to the cinema can cost the best part of £50, it doesn’t take too many visits before the prices start becoming comparable.  If you deal with the right company, the process of getting a full home cinema system installed in any room in your house is relatively quick and stress-free and, what’s more, modern design techniques mean there won’t even be any visible wiring running all over the room!

Should you decide that this sounds like the perfect addition to your home, make sure you base any decisions about your system first and foremost on the way it performs and the manner in which it will be installed; it’s no good having a great-looking system that doesn’t work properly.  There is such huge variety of choice available that it is also worth deciding which features you want in your system before you go out and start actually comparing them, lest you just confuse yourself with options.  It is also very advisable to use a home cinema installation company that will ensure everything is set up perfectly for you.

So, when it’s that easy to get yourself a cinema in your own home, why put up with awkward cinema chairs, annoying teenagers and overpriced junk food, when you could just as easily cuddle up on the sofa and watch whatever you want, as many times as you want at your own leisure?

Anyone who has a love of television and especially movies loves the idea of having a home cinema system.  There is a great selection of systems on the market and because electrical appliances have come down in price so much in recent years there is something to suit every budget.  Once upon a time home cinema was something that you could only consider if you had a lot of money to spare.

The first signs of people using audio and visual technology in this way can be traced right back to the 1960s when home movies were getting to be so commonplace.  There are still many older people with reels of cine film stored away in boxes in a dusty corner of the attic, but is over the last thirty years that such equipment has slowly become so much more popular.

Home cinema really began to take hold in the 1980s with the advent of the Laserdisc.  Sound systems were also beginning to get a lot more high tech.  By the time the 90s came along it was state of the art to have a large rear projection television hooked up to a S-VHS video player or a Laserdisc.   By the time that DVD and Dolby Digital 5.1 channel sound arrived on the scene in the late 1990s things were really getting interesting.

Today we can apply ‘home cinema’ to a wide variety of set-ups.  On only a very small budget it is possible to create a very impressive little system.  DVD players have become ludicrously cheap and by wiring one of these to a normal (but the bigger the better) television and a low price 2.1 speaker system you will find that you have created yourself a nice, affordable home cinema set-up.

Of course, there is always the other extreme… If you have a look at some of the home cinema installations from the high end of the market then you will soon discover that you can spend an astronomical amount of money.  In the United States it is not at all unheard of to spend $100,000 on a top of the range system.  Mind you, this does normally include proper ‘cinema-style’ seating arrangements in custom-built ‘screening rooms’.

It is quite possible to spend thousands of pounds on high quality speakers alone.  Proper aficionados of stereo sound, or ‘audiophiles’, will maintain that without spending a great deal of money it is impossible to attain a true, authentic sound.

In between these two extremes, it must be said, are a lot of reasonably priced systems with some really good features.  You don’t have to ‘make do’ with a very basic set-up just as it isn’t necessary to run up an enormous debt to pay for something that will be on the scrap heap whilst you are still paying off the interest.  Like all things in life, you need to find a happy medium.

New home or resale? Here are 5 things to consider.

Whether buying new or resale homes, choices abound in today’s home buying market. Buying a newly constructed home may be top of mind as many factors come into play. One reason buyers go the new home route is that they are given plenty of choices and options in the level of customization of their home. These options may range from being able to choose color schemes, upgrades like trim moldings, kitchens finishing’s, selection of flooring options throughout the home, home automation and more.

Among other factors that home buyers should think about when purchasing a new home vs. a resale home are:

Buyers input:

New home buyers have plenty of choices in features and amenities. New home buyers can have their builder add their personal touches that satisfy their personality, personal tastes and needs. Being able to choose home’s fixtures, carpet type and colors, wall covering designs, countertop finishing’s among other things, gives greater flexibility and control for a home buyer who is looking to build their home, their way.

No home repair cost:

This is a significant factor when buying new. Home repairs on a new home are kept at a minimum. And even if repairs are needed, today’s builders include warranties for certain period of time. Most builders cover home repairs for the first year you live in the new place. In addition, many builders offer complete warranties covering both inside and outside the house. Resale homes in other hand, can offer warranties, but often are limited in the items it covers. Many times these warranties need to be purchased separately by the buyer. In the case of new homes, the extended warranties provided by new home builders can give the buyer peace of mind when it comes to potential home repairs and maintenance.

Home automation:

Home automation also makes buying a new home that much more appealing. In the case of a resale home, implementing today’s new technologies may be cumbersome and not necessarily cost effective. Since more and more builders are integrating new technologies on new home designs, the costs savings can be dramatic. Technologies such as wireless internet access, intercom systems, and surround sound are just some of the aspects of new home technologies that can be expected in the today’s new home designs.

Home construction considerations:

Materials found in older homes can be hazardous to your health. From lead-based paint to asbestos insulation, the materials found in resale houses can be costly replace, many times impossible to replace. New homes are subject to more stringent building codes and safety requirements than what older homes have. In addition, materials used in new construction, asbestos and lead have been eliminated. This in turn benefits the new homebuyers and their families from hazardous materials or unsafe environments. Then there is less risk of fire in today’s new home construction. Wiring systems have improved as well. In addition, most of today’s new homes have hard-wired smoke detectors with battery-powered backup.

Energy efficiency:

As home buyer become more conscious of the environment, having a home that is energy efficient, has become an important factor when buying new. The appliances available today are far more energy efficient than they were 10 years ago. Energy efficient solutions found in today new homes can help greatly reduce overall energy cost. This in turn helps to save in utility bills. Improved heating and cooling systems and better insulation techniques in new constructions offer greater efficiency than older homes. This can in turn offset the cost of a new home.

New home buyers after having considered all the hidden costs of resale homes, may actually save money by buying new. The level of customization, home automation, energy efficiency and construction durability as well as safety, are among the many benefits that buying a new home would bring.