The Home Theatre System

Here’s a fairly comprehensive list of what you typically put in your home theater
Sources: These provide the content you watch or listen to.
• Audio cassette player/recorder
• CD player/recorder/MP3 player
• Turntable
• AM/FM tuner
• DVD player/recorder
• Blu-ray disc player
• VCR
• Personal video recorder (PVR, also called a digital video recorder [DVR] by some folks)
• Camcorder
• Satellite or cable set-top box
• Video/audio server
• Gaming console
• Home theater PC or Windows XP Media Center PC
Receivers/controllers: The heart of the system, this feed content to your displays and speakers.
• A/V receiver
• Controller/decoder
• Power amplifier
Displays: This is what you watch.
• Direct-view, rear-projection, or flat-panel TV display
• Front-projection system with separate display screen
Speakers: These are what you listen to.
• Two front speakers
• One front center speaker
• Two side speakers
• Two or four rear speakers
• Subwoofer
Connections: These are connections to content inside and outside your home.
• Over-the-air antenna
• Satellite or cable video feed
• Internet connectivity — preferably broadband, such as DSL or
cable modem
• Home network — preferably both wired and wireless to make the connection between your Internet service and your home theater and your home theater and our PC (with Media Center Edition) or
Mac (with Apple’s Front Row)
Accessories: These are devices that make your home-stored content accessible from elsewhere.
• Universal remote controls and touchpad
• Internet access devices
• Home media servers and digital media adapters
Naturally, as you extend your home theater to other points in your home, you can add to the quantities mentioned here, but most of the components are the same. You also ight choose different qualities and (in the case of displays) sizes of these things, but the basic formula remain the same.