Building your first home theater can seem like a daunting task. For video there are so many technologies, sizes, and price points that the options can simply overwhelm someone looking to build their first home theater. More often than not, with so much attention focused on the video side of things the audio portion is often just quickly thrown together. Assembling the audio portion of your first home theater can make or break your upgrade options in the future.

This article discusses some of the options and different price levels of purchasing a receiver and speakers.

A Note on Home Theater in a Box (HTiB)
These things can offer a more affordable solution for bringing the surround sound experience home, but more often than not a separate receiver and speakers could be purchased for the same price. HTiBs don’t offer much in the way of upgrade options as the speakers are usually built custom for the Receiver/DVD player and vice versa. If you buy an HTiB and want to upgrade later on, you’ll need to repurchase the receiver and speakers again as opposed to upgrading parts independently.

The Goal
Build a home theater sound system at $1000 with a receiver and speakers. It can be a rough to cram the full surround experience at this price, but there are more options than you may think.

• Big Speaker Solution - $300 receiver, $500 pair of full-range main speakers, $100 center channel, $100 surround speakers
  
  This solution can offer the best sound for music listening by having much higher quality main speakers, which allows the center and surround speakers to be upgraded later on while still bringing surround sound home. The large main speakers reduce or remove the need for a powered sub by supplying a decent to great amount of bass response.
  
• Stereo Speaker Solution - $300 receiver, $700 pair of full range main speakers
  
  This option doesn’t bring surround sound home, but rather brings the highest quality sound possible from good set of full range speakers. The idea here is that you plan to add high-quality center and surround channels later. This is a great start for audiophiles who may listen to music as much as movies, or for those who want a path to higher quality sound overall.
  
• Sub Sat Solution - $300 receiver, $300 for five satellite speakers, $400 Powered Subwoofer or, $300-$500 receiver and/or a $500-$700 sub/sat package
  
  The idea behind these options is to get a powered sub right away. The subwoofer can be the most important speaker you can buy due to it handling all the bass frequencies. A subwoofer also frees up your options on the size of speakers you need all around.

• Sub/Mains Solution - $300 receiver, $400-$500 powered sub, $300-$200 pair of satellite speakers
  
  This is similar to the stereo speaker solution above except the main speakers are replaced by a power sub and satellite speakers.

Overall, for $1000 you can build a home theater that is a good core to build on based on your own preference of what’s important to you. Options that put off getting a powered sub could be especially important for those that live in condos, apartments where noise levels may be an issue.

As your budget gets bigger you can add money to certain areas you want to improve. Below is a list of what you can expect to get at certain price ranges. Note: price ranges can very $50-$200 due to sale prices and regional differences.

Receivers
For $200-$300 you generally get a basic receiver. It’ll do digital surround sound and will have decent connectivity option for audio and video.

For $300-$500 you start to get more HD video connection options and begin to get in the range where on-screen menus are offered wherein the receivers menu is displayed on your TV. You also begin to get better amplifiers resulting better sound quality.

For $500-$1000 you get multiple HD connection options with more future-proof connection options, multiple types of HD inputs, and more digital audio options. Sound quality and processing step up in quality as you step up in price.

For $1000 - $2000 you can find a multitude of high-end options, sound quality and connectivity. Sound quality increases as you pay more.

Powered Subwoofer
For $200-$300 you can find decent powered subwoofers. They’re tend to come with smaller 8-inch or 10-inch drivers and will be able to deliver decent bass response in smaller rooms. In large rooms bass will be deep but not earthquake quality. In this price range it can be easy to over drive the woofer and cause damage to the sub.

For $300-$500 you can step up to 10-inch and 12-inch drivers. You get more bass and in smaller rooms you can get an earthquake rumble.

For $500-$1000 you’re in the sweet spot for subs. In the range you get 12-inch woofers with the ability to crank out some quality bass for music and earthquake rumbling even in large rooms.

For $1000-$2000 you get subs capable of anything you want. You can get monster subs for a visceral earthquake rumble; mini-sized high-powered subs that are small yet can crank out the bass, and musically tuned subs that offer not only deep bass but also articulate musical sound.

Speakers (Mains and Surrounds)
Speakers come in multiple sizes and qualities at all different price ranges. You can go big or small in almost any price range to suit your needs or goals.

Note: different speaker brands offer different qualities at different price ranges. Some provide only decent sound at high prices while others will provide great sound through their entire lineup. Shopping by price alone is not recommended. If you audition multiple speakers and take your time, you can find great sounding speakers in any price range.

For $200-$300 a pair you can get decent sound quality. You won’t get speakers that will play tremendously loud unless you get full range speakers with large woofers. You can find some gems that will perform admirably well.

For $300-$500 a pair you will either get more bass response and better sound quality in towers. Small speakers begin to offer much better sound quality

For $500-$1000 a pair you can get full range speakers that will allow you to forgo a subwoofer until later on. Sound quality is immensely improved as you step up in price.

For $1000-$2000 a pair you can find truly great speakers of any type that will meet your needs and offer high sound quality.

Center Channel
Since is single speaker is all that is needed, the price of a center channel is usually equal to half a pair of similar quality speakers. To get a center that matches $1000 pair of speakers look to spend $500 and so on. Sound quality steps up in the price ranges as well.

Building your first home theater with some basic knowledge can set you on your way to a home theater that can grow with your over time. Good luck and happy hunting!