Setting up your Small Home Theater

Put off by the overpriced refreshments and ticket prices costing you about the the same as it does to buy a DVD, T3 is here to take the cinematic experience back to the confines of your own living room.

Follow our guide below on how to put together your own private cinema sanctuary, and before you know it, you"ll be pulling the curtains and settling down to your favourite flick in blissful new surroundings.

Step 1: HOOK UP THE BASICS

Place the four basic components of your cinema system in a suitably sized room. You'll need a set of speakers including a subwoofer, a television or projector, a multichannel amplifier and a video source, such as a DVD or Blu-ray player. The simplest way of connecting your Blu-ray player to an AV amp is with a single HDMI cable. The next best option is a component video cable, or an S-video lead. Composite video is best avoided.

Step 2: POSITION YOUR TV

Your TV's position is dictated by the dimensions of the room, but ideally it should be mounted at eye-level – that's seated eye-level, of course – and at a comfortable viewing distance from your sofa. As a general rule, the ideal distance is roughly five times the width of the screen. Another HDMI cable is all you need to connect your amp to your TV, but make sure it's capable of carrying a 1080p signal over the distance.

Step 3: PLACE YOUR SPEAKERS

When arranging your 5.1 speakers the front pair should be able to deliver a good stereo image, so position these first and point them at your ideal listening spot. The centre speaker should be in line with them and close to the screen. The rear speakers can be placed on the back wall, or to the sides of where you sit. Low frequencies are non-directional, so you can place the subwoofer anywhere.

To complete your brand new home cinema setup head to the Knowledge, where you can find the last 3 steps plus more handy guides to help you master your favourite tech.