Home Theater Budget Breakdown
Contents
Is entertainment a big part of your household ? Maybe you’ve always dreamed of having that Home Theater where you can spend an evening relaxing either watching your favorite shows or listening to your favorite music. There are many things to consider if this is something you decide to do.
Well first of all, if you have the convenience of planning this room while your home or a new room is being built and its in the rough in stages, this can give you options that you wouldn’t normally have in a room already built. You need to start with a Floor Plan as to where you want everything
Sound System
Lets face it, probably the most important thing in an Entertainment room / Home Theater will be the sound system. With so many options available for sound equipment, what do you pick ? Depending on your budget obviously will determine how extravagant you can do this for. The least expensive way would most likely be buying the all in one systems that usually include some type of Radio Receiver/Amplifier/DVD player with the options of hooking in external devices such as MP3 players, TV or a blue ray player, etc. Usually the speakers would hang off the side of the unit or give you some extra wire where you could separate the speakers to some extent from the main unit.
Now lets say you have the option of doing some prep work to a room that’s either being built or you have access to the roughed in walls with no drywall on them. Your options are unlimited. For example, having the speakers in the wall or ceiling not only make a clean professional installation, but can make the sound in your room sound Fabulous. Depending on the size of the room should determine on how many speakers you would need and where they should be installed. Usually if you are going to install speakers in the walls while the walls are open, at this point, you are mostly going to be just running wires and putting in some mounting brackets for the speakers. These speakers will then be mounted after the walls are completed. You would run these wires to wherever your main entertainment center will reside and connected later. Its always a good idea to run extra wires in case some get damaged when the construction of the walls and ceiling are being completed. Costs for these sound systems can range from the lower end ones from $300 – $750, while higher end systems could cost you in the thousands of dollars. It all depends how elaborate you want to get with it
TVs
The same for TVs, depending on budget, your options are unlimited. Again, if you have the option of pre-wiring a room while its being built, this can allow for a professional clean installation. Wires and cables will need to be run back to the main entertainment center where all your speakers will be connected as well, while walls are open all wires can be completely hidden when the room is completely finished. Your cost on a TV can vary, since there are different technologies, some better than others, determining what will work for you obviously will depend on your budget. When shopping for a TV, do your homework, compare from store to store, compare when searching the internet and based on the price you want to spend, you can usually filter by price what is available when searching online, at that point, learn everything you can about them, why one is better than the other and decide which options you really need. Don’t pay for what you wont use. Costs of TVs range based on size, brand and whether or not it is LCD or LED. For a Entertainment room, you are probably looking at least a 50 inch LCD or bigger, though smaller can be used, but the average cost for a 50 inch LCD vares from around $500 – $700, while a 50 inch LED could cost slightly more
Lighting
Lighting is important when it comes to an entertainment room. Recessed lighting is used in many entertainment rooms when installation is allowed for. Florescent lighting is not recommended at least for watching TV. Whether you have the option of installing recessed lighting or not, you should plan on putting some dimmers on the lighting in your room. There are multiple options for this as well. Even remote controls are available for dimming lights. Same goes for prices on lighting, no need to spend money on the most expensive fixtures especially if they are recessed as they arent really visible when mounted in the ceiling.
Other Home Theatre Costs
Furniture will be something you will need to decide on and placement of it when planning your room, make sure you leave enough space for various types of furniture, from chairs to sofas to tables and lamps. Acoustics in a room are very important if you are a sound geek. Different materials can change the way sound reflects off the walls and ceiling. Many people choose to use a drop ceiling to deaden the noise which helps the sound not to reverberate off the walls and ceiling. There are various materials for walls as well to help with sound, but sometimes the looks may not be worth what you gain in sound, its all a personal preference.
Complete Home Theatre Budget
Because there are so many options when considering building an Entertainment / Home Theater room, it is hard to estimate an actual cost. I have seen rooms built from as low as $600 to multiple thousands of dollars. When putting a budget together for a room you should do some price shopping ahead of time to get an idea what things actually cost so you aren’t caught off guard after you start building it. If you are wise and diligent, you can save hundreds to thousands of dollars on all the equipment and material you need, do your homework and you will save.
Summary
Building an entertainment room from scratch while the room is in its rough stages with no walls or ceiling, definitely gives you more options, as well as getting a professional look. But if that is not an option, there are many stand alone entertainment systems that can do just as good of a job. You may have to put up with wires showing or not have the surround sound you planned on, but with some careful and creative thinking on your part you can still build an awesome Entertainment Room / Home Theater that looks and sounds good.