As with most room-sized entertainment centers dedicated to one activity, home theaters are not cheap. But while online discussions might make it seem like you have to build your house around it, a home theater can be as simple as a good budget-friendly TV and clever speaker positioning. Even if you decide to go bigger, a lot of what you'll need can be found cheaper by buying secondhand.
That said, there are some things you should definitely buy new, and others that you should pay special attention to when getting from private resellers or refurbished goods websites. When taking on a project this big, you should be prepared to set aside some savings. You can start with just a TV and a pair of speakers, but if you want to switch to surround sound, you'll need an audio/video receiver.
You might want to get an AV receiver that supports a few more audio channels than you plan to use now, since replacing a receiver is expensive. Also, it needs decent equalization for when you eventually get around to fine tuning the surround sound . Once you've got your AV receiver, you might as well get some nice speakers to go with it.
You're not going to use a $500 receiver for some cheap all-in-one $200 speaker setup, right? Budgets can quickly inflate when building a home theater, but the secondhand market can help keep costs in check. Let's look at the kinds of devices you can safely buy used. The proud and popular tradition of audiophiles buying way more stuff than they need has made it so s.