4 tips to improve your home entertainment set-up

4 tips to improve your home entertainment set-up

Your home entertainment set-up keeps you from getting bored, especially on cold, wet or dark days. It helps you keep up with the latest TV, watch movies and listen to your favourite music too. Whether you have a very modest set-up or you’re obsessed with AV tech, you can always do a few things to improve your home entertainment and make it better for you and your family. With just a couple of easy changes or upgrades, you can make your home entertainment set-up more secure, more convenient and more fun. Try these changes for some excellent improvements to your tech.

Smart TV icon

Make it smart

If you don’t already have a smart TV, you should think about getting one. A smart TV allows you to connect to the internet and benefit from all kinds of things, from streaming to games and online services. A smart TV definitely doesn’t have to be expensive, with a range of price points available. Of course, paying more could get you a better quality picture, better sound, and even a more reliable connection. Cheaper smart TVs might not last as long or have as many features. But you can still get a lot out of them, even if you don’t buy the most expensive TV on the market.

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Keep it secure

If you’re making your home entertainment smarter, you should also think about keeping it secure. Anything that requires an internet connection could be vulnerable to being exploited in some way. Whether you’re using an Amazon Fire TV stick or streaming from your favourite streaming site, a VPN can be helpful to protect your private data. At Troypoint.com, you can find out about the benefits of using a VPN when you’re watching TV and movies. It could be useful when you’re streaming music too, as well as for other online activities.

Home entertainment icon

Rearrange the layout

Changing the positioning of your home entertainment set-up can make it better too. This can include moving around not just your tech but also seating and other things. If you put your television at the right height, it will be more comfortable for you to watch it. By putting your speakers in the right position, you can get the best sound when you’re watching TV. You can experiment with where you put everything, but it’s also a good idea to find some guidelines online that suggest the best layouts for your set-up.

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Perfect the sound

While the picture is important on your TV, you can’t neglect the sound. Everyone wants to have a crisp sound when they’re enjoying a movie or a show. Plus, if you have excellent audio, it can be good for listening to music too. You might want to upgrade to some quality speakers or even consider installing surround sound to get great quality audio at home. Make sure that you put your speakers in the right place too.

With an improved home entertainment set-up, you can prevent yourself and your family from getting bored at home and enjoy all the movies, TV and music you want.

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Home entertainment rooms: bring a vintage cinema vibe to your home!

'Home entertainment rooms - Bring a vintage cinema vibe to your home' blog post banner

luxe home cinema roomimage credit
Do you love cinema? Are you getting a little tired of watching your favourite movies in a cold and boring sitting room, on a laptop or worse, God forbid, a mobile phone screen? Do you happen to have a spare room or are you living with someone who doesn’t mind you transforming the living room?

If the answer to all of the above is yes, you’re in luck: we’ve come up with ideas for the ultimate home entertainment room. Here are a few tips on how to bring that fun and classic vintage cinema vibe into your home.

Elite home cinema seats from Reclinersdirect

Furniture

It wouldn’t really be a vintage-themed home entertainment room without a set of black or red leather recliner chairs. They’re stylish and retro without having to compromise on comfort.

If your budget is tight, why not transform that set of old sitting room chairs you scored from a charity shop or car boot sale into glorious & unique red velvet cinema chairs?

There are plenty of upholstery tutorials on the web, most of them are easier than you think, and you’ll be able to source all the fabric and materials online or from many DIY shops.

vintage film posters on a wall going up stairs to a home cinemaimage credit

On the walls

As a rule of thumb, it’s best to keep the walls on the dark side so they don’t catch the screen’s light. Black-out curtains at the windows & doors are also something to consider to prevent light from filtering through. To mix it up a little, hang your favourite vintage film posters on the walls: use large black wooden frames for a sleek & chic look.

minimalist red & white home cinema roomimage credit

Hide away that tech: screen & audio system

There are some good options to prevent bulky, often ugly, home cinema equipment from ruining the look & atmosphere of the room. In terms of screens, why not opt for a home cinema projector?

Easily connected to a laptop (unless you choose to go for an old school, auto-load projector of course!), it takes up the minimum of space and can be easily hung from the ceiling, out of the way.

Be aware however, that some parts such as the bulb will need to be replaced from time to time and it’s likely to cost a little bit more than what you pay initially. If you’re buying second-hand, it’s always good to ask the vendor if it’s recently been changed.

As for the audio system, if you’re on a budget, vintage can often be good in terms of sound quality and value for money. You can source quality, second-hand equipment on the web, at auction and from charity shops.

If you’ve already invested in new equipment, it’s going to take a little bit more effort and clever hacking to camouflage depending on your setup. Why not have the audio assembled on a trolley that can quickly be rolled out from inside an easily accessible cupboard prior to a screening?

vintage home cinema with vintage seats, popcorn maker and snack trolleyimage credit

Final touches

Rome wasn’t built in a day and the same pretty much goes for a vintage cinema-themed home entertainment room… but that’s most of the fun!

Depending on your budget and your charity shops and flea market finds, you can keep adding to the room with a few extra touches that will give the room a lot more character: popcorn maker, vintage lighting and furniture, classic movie memorabilia…

Enjoy the show!

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