Generally speaking, a home theater system is a combination of electronic components designed to recreate the experience of watching a movie in a theater except that your feet don’t stick to the floor. When you watch a movie on a home theater system, you are more immersed in the experience than when you watch one on an ordinary television.

Some might think that a home theater needs to be a giant room with a projector and screen and complex sound system. However, a large Blu-ray flat screen TV, a high definition sound system coupled with some construction creativity can turn an unused bedroom into your very own movie theater experience that are you and your friends are guaranteed to love.

There are three main differences between just watching TV at home and the movie theater experience that the Home Theater System attempts to recreate:

• The sound experience. When you go to see a movie in a quality movie theater, you'll hear the music, sound effects and dialogue all around you. You are more involved in the experience of watching the film.
  
  
• The large size of the movie screen. In a theater, the screen takes up most of your field of view, which makes it very easy to lose yourself in the movie.
  
  
• A very large, clear picture. The detail at a movie theater is much sharper than what we see on an ordinary television, and the movement is much more fluid.

The basic idea of a home theater is to recreate these three elements with home equipment.

If you're looking to save money and you already have a good-sized television and a stereo system, you can upgrade your entertainment system into a basic home theater with a couple of extra speakers and a few other inexpensive components. If you invest in a basic surround-sound system and a new DVD player, you might spend $500. For a more advanced system, with a larger television and an advanced sound system, you might spend about $5,000.

Just add popcorn!