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For a custom installer, one of the most important parts of any bid is to set the client's budget expectations promptly and accurately. For someone who doesn't work on home theater systems for a living, the list of components needed is typically quite small. The average consumer will budget for a display, speakers, receiver, Blu-ray player, and cables. But that leaves out a large portion of expenses that can drive up the price of the project significantly. In the professional world I used to advise clients at a 30/30/30 starting point. 30% of the budget would be spent on the display, 30% on sound, and 30% on everything else (Yes, I know that leaves 10% left over. I'm not that base). Over the years I started to modify the budget, especially thanks to decreasing display prices, but the general idea remained the same. The goal was to get clients thinking about all of the small things that are needed to successfully build a home theater. As much as we would love to spend the entire budget on speakers and a display, that would leave us with nothing to watch and no way to power the speakers. With that mindset, below is a list of things to consider when building your own home theater system.

Choosing a TV wall mount can be a difficult decision because there are many different sizes, brands, and types of mounts. This guide breaks down the three most common types of mounts, full-motion/articulating, tilting, and low-profile, and then provides a few tips on what to look for in a good wall mount. Ultimately, as long as the wall mount you purchase is rated to handle your TV you shouldn’t worry about the TV falling off the wall. All of the extra features we talked about are great to have, but not always necessary. The real trick is knowing how to install the TV so it is secure and looks good. There are a lot of specialty mounts not covered in this article. The best place to find detailed information is on the manufacturer's website. If you take a look at some of the major manufacturers like Peerless, Sanus, Chief, and Omnimount you should be able to find a solution that fits your needs.

Internet direct (ID) speaker manufacturers are often considered to provide the ultimate value in audio. However, sometimes there are hidden costs associated with their products that may nullify the advantage of cutting out the middle man. Going from a vinyl to veneer finish may significantly increase price. Speaker grilles may cost extra or shipping might add few hundred dollars to the bill, and what about the ability to return the speakers if you don't like them? We decided to compare the policies of most major Internet direct brands in an effort to help consumers make an informed decision about what they buy and whom they buy it from. We put together a table that directly compares each brand and then wrote a detailed description of their associated policies. We hope this article will help you make a more informed decision when purchasing speakers from an Internet direct manufacturer. You may be surprised at what we found and please share your experiences with these brands in the dedicated forum thread for this article.

This is a simple, direct (but accurate) guide about everything an inexperienced shopper needs to know when choosing speakers for their home theater system. We discuss the various speaker options that are best suited for particular applications or budgets along with citing examples. If you’ve got an family member or friend that needs advise on a pinch, just print this article out and hand it to them. It even has nice pictures to supplement the text making for a more pleasant read. Your brother-in-law will be so grateful that he’ll buy you dinner (for once!) and you’ll look like the pro that you are for explaining it so clearly and thoroughly. Help a budding Audioholic today by empowering them with the knowledge of choosing the right speaker system for their needs.

So you bought a Kindle. Welcome to the new way to read. The Kindle is a phenomenal product that is revolutionizing the way we read and store books. On top of that, it's gaining even more traction as "cloud computing" becomes more and more mainstream and consumers look to digital consolidation for all of their reading materials. This is especially true for students and those who would need a large amount of reference material. But like all new implementations of portable electronic technology, the Kindle needs to be protected - unless you don't mind having to buy a new one if you drop it accidentally. We surveyed the landscape of Kindle covers and located 5 solid solutions that we really feel top the charts for users of all different walks of life.

Have you been keeping up with the LED lighting movement? I'd even go so far as to call it a "transition". The future is here - it's just a tad expensive right now. What is driving consumer and professional fascination with LED bulb technology is that it lasts longer, uses less power and should, eventually, cost less. LED lamps produce more light than heat - and that means they are more efficient. They are also safer - both for you (they don't shatter) and for the environment (they are toxin-free). You can also run LED lighting with existing dimmers. Right now they have a higher threshold for dimming than their incandescent counterparts, but they do indeed dim. The other thing we like about LED lighting is that it doesn't require the expense or bulk of a ballast system. That's less to troubleshoot, and less to pay for. It also makes LED lamps smaller - giving them the potential of being used in some pretty creative and compact scenarios where fluorescent technology fell flat on its face. For home theater, LEDs represent the next logical step for projectors - and they've already made their way into the backlighting systems of flat screen televisions.

You asked for it, and now you have it. The new AVENTAGE RX-A3010 from Yamaha has got a lot of people asking, "How does it stack up?" Well, we'll tell you. We took the top offerings in the $2000 price point from Denon (AVR-4311CI) and Onkyo (TX-NR3008) and weighed them up. While we didn't really find any of them lacking, we're sure you have an opinion on them.

It's that time of year again and we're taking a look at the new receivers. At the $600 price point we have offerings from Onkyo, Yamaha, Pioneer, Marantz, Denon, and Harman Kardon (the TX-NR609, RX-V671, VSX-50, NR1602, AVR-2112CI, and AVR 2650 respectively). Most of these are within $50 of the target price though we gave a slight edge to the Harman offering by choosing an $800 offering. Will they crush the comparison with their extra MSRP? Things to expect at this price point - 3D, Audio Return Channel, HDMI upconversion, networking, tons of power, and two zones of audio.

What is the point of a listening test? For the listener, the intent is easy to identify. They are (often) thinking of buying a product. But when a short demo isn't enough, what options do you have? The obvious solution is third party validation. Manufacturers will often try to sell you the line that their speakers are as good as speakers many times their price. They'll even run their own tests (often Single or Double Blind) to prove that the participants couldn't hear a difference between their and another speaker. But what are they really saying? We break it down for you and show how these claims prey on people's lack of statistical understanding.