Everything You Need to Build Your First Home Theater From Nothing

During the pandemic, I finally splurged on a large OLED TV and a soundbar, and I can never see myself going back. I wasn’t able to go to the movies anymore, sure, but with the quality I was getting at home, I wasn’t missing much. It’s a humble setup, relatively speaking, but it works for my small New York apartment. And if you’re any type of cinephile, I definitely recommend setting up your own home theater as well. Even now that theaters are back up and running, my fiancé and I absolutely love diving into all kinds of movies on our setup, another benefit of having a theater quality experience at home. With a little effort and even a modest budget, it won’t be too long until you’re doing the same.

What do I need for a home theater?

When setting up a home theater, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by options, especially because your needs will differ based on your home. Do you want a TV? A projector? What about blackout curtains?

It’s easy to get lost in all the possibilities and just splurge on the most premium gear, and that’s fine if you’ve got the budget for it. But for the rest of us, it’s helpful to have a plan of attack before we start shopping. Keep the following in mind, and you’ll get an option that’s best tailored for your space.

How big is your room?

Before you even start looking at gear, take note of how big the room where you want to set up your home theater is. This will help you pick the size of your screen, which in turn could help you choose between a TV and a projector.

For instance, if you’re sitting seven or fewer feet away from your picture, it doesn’t need to be that big. That’s what our setup is like, and we’re perfectly happy with our 55-inch screen. Anything bigger would have us craning our necks.

If that sounds a bit cramped to you, keep in mind that everyone’s house is different. We couldn’t get farther from our screen if we tried, and going for a bigger picture where we are would be a worse experience. But if you do have enough space to start sitting further away, that’s when you can start thinking about larger sizes. These can go into the hundreds of inches, and do feel a bit more like a traditional movie theater.

Here’s a trick: Use RTings’ TV-size-to-distance calculator before you start shopping. These people know their stuff when it comes to picture quality, and through their tool, you’ll find the right size TV for your room size. For example, you can use their chart to see that an 85-inch screen from about 12 feet away is equivalent to a 43-inch screen from six feet away.

Should I get a TV or projector?

That brings us to maybe the most important decision you’ll make when setting up a home theater: Do you get a TV or a projector?

A projector might seem like a no-brainer, right? It’s what they use in the theaters, and we’re trying to get the same experience at home. But a theater is a highly controlled environment, and the reality is that getting the same experience outside of that environment may not mean using the same tech.

Projectors thrive in dark environments with lots of space, but setting one up in a small living room or in an area with a lot of windows can compromise your experience pretty quickly, giving you a dull picture that doesn’t look as good as a TV of an equivalent size would. There are models that can compensate for not having much distance between the projector and the surface you’re projecting on, or that add extra brightness, but you’ll be paying a premium for them.

You might be surprised to hear, then, that TVs are actually great home replacements for a cinema screen. Professional theaters don’t use them because they don’t play nice with analog film and they’re difficult to produce at large sizes (although a few are testing out giant TV screens), but we don’t have to worry about that at home. Opting for a TV over a projector can save you money, give you more flexibility on placement and distance from the couch, plus give you a brighter picture with more contrast depending on your setup. Oh, and you don’t have to worry about fan noise like on some projector models.

Now, there is definitely space for projectors at home, especially if you want to hit very large screen sizes. TVs start to become a bit less budget friendly above 80-inches, and at that point, their value can flip when compared to projectors. Projectors can also feel more authentic, even if they’re not the most sensible pick, so they can be fun for hobbyists.

One note: If you also want to use your setup for gaming, I suggest a TV. There are some pricey projectors that promise low latency, but in general, you’re going to get better response times with a TV, as the tech behind projectors inherently means waiting longer between inputs and adjustments to your image.

Once you’ve picked whether you want a projector or a TV, you can dive into your second most important decision: Which projector or TV do I get?

Best projectors and TVs for a home theater

Once you’ve decided between a projector and a TV, you can start diving into the nitty gritty. There’s still a lot to research before you get a device, after all.

The most important thing to pick is your resolution, and if you really want to differentiate your home theater from a typical living room TV, you’re going to want to pick 4K. There’s no need to go above 4K—most content doesn’t support 8K yet—but 4K is going to let you get the most out of your streaming content, and more importantly, Blu-rays. Resolutions as low as 1080p will work in a pinch, but when blowing a picture up or sitting close to your screen, the higher the resolution, the better.

Next, you’ll need to pick the type of device you get. For projectors, this means choosing between laser or bulb models, as well as long throw, short throw, or ultra short throw ones. For TVs, you’ll need to choose between screen tech like LCD, QLED, OLED, QD-OLED, and Mini-LED.

All this vocab means different things, and there are even more brand-specific terms out there. Let’s cut it down to the basics. In projectors, throw refers to how far a projector needs to be from a wall before it can show a workable image, and laser or bulb refers to its light source. Short throw and ultra short throw projectors are popular because of their versatility, but all have their pros and cons.

With long throw, the benefit is usually price and brightness. You’ll need more space, and it’s more likely an object will get in between the projector and the target surface, but in turn, you’ll usually pay less and will often have a brighter image. Short throw and ultra short throw, meanwhile, tend to cost a bit more and struggle with brightness. Because they’re so close to the image, they also suffer more from light bumps. You may also see some ultra short throw projectors advertised as “Laser TVs,” but they operate on the same principle.

To find whether a short or long throw projector is best for you, I suggest the throw distance calculator at Projector Central, where you can search for a specific projector and see how big your image will be depending on how far away from your target surface it is.

As for whether to go for a laser or bulb, it depends on how you want to space out your payments. Laser projectors are often more expensive upfront, but don’t need bulb replacements, whereas bulb projectors tend to be cheaper out of the gate but will need you to buy a new bulb every time one wears out. Laser projectors can also be quieter, since they produce less heat and thus need less cooling than a bulb.

A TV shows the same image no matter where you put it, so buying one for your home theater instead means picking which type of screen tech you want it to use. You could go for LCD, QLED, or Mini-LED, which use a backlight, or something like OLED or QD-OLED, which have self-illuminating pixels.

These all have their pros and cons. Display methods with backlights can be better in brightly lit environments, while self-illuminating display methods inherently have deeper blacks and better contrast but can suffer from low brightness. I tend to prefer the latter, since poor contrast can hide entire bits of scenery in a blurry, dark mess. These do come with the risk of burn-in, though, so you’ll need to be careful to turn the TV off when it’s not in-use, and maybe also not watch the same 24-hour news channel on it all the time. 

For TVs, the general order of quality starts at LED, then goes up to QLED and Mini-LED, then OLED, then QD-OLED. There are specifics to be concerned about—Mini-LED and QLED TVs are largely interchangeable and advertise “local dimming zones” that separate out the backlight to allow them to achieve similar effects to OLED. Meanwhile, the big difference between OLED and QD-OLED is that the latter uses “quantum dot” tech for color, producing more vibrant results. It’s all very jargony, and I wouldn’t concern yourself too much with the details, since they’ll differ from TV to TV. QD-OLED is really a splurge at this point, so you’ll be fine with regular OLED, which actually does have slightly more resistance to burn-in than its flashier cousin.

With that in mind, here are a few models to get you started on your shopping, across various options and price points. If buying for gaming, also keep refresh rate in mind: That’s how fast your TV can update its image, and choosing a higher refresh rate means you’ll be able to hit a higher fps.

Best soundbars and speakers for a home theater

As far as core purchases are concerned, the final thing you’ll need to worry about is your audio.

The big thing to keep in mind here is how many channels you want. The more channels your audio solution can use, the more detailed your sound can get.

For instance, if you grew up in the ‘90s, you’re probably familiar with “mono” and “stereo.” Mono used one sound channel, so everything was mixed together, whereas stereo uses two sound channels, which means your music can have greater directionality, sending some audio to your left ear and some to your right.

Fast forward to today, and we’ve got a few more options. The one you’re probably most familiar with is the soundbar. This basically combines a few channels into one long speaker bar that sits under your TV, and is a convenient way to get good-enough audio quality without too much hassle.

The issue is that soundbars are limited in how much your audio can surround you, as well as in bass. Fancier ones can mimic surround sound by shooting sound across the room, but it’s not quite the same. That’s where 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, and other types of surround sound come in.

These are named for how many speakers are included, with the pre-decimal number indicating the number of full-range speakers and the post-decimal number indicating the number of subwoofers. The more speakers, the more detailed your sound, since you can place more of them around your viewing area.

Some of these setups also include a soundbar, which could count for multiple speakers, and some even include your TV’s built-in speakers as a specific channel for making dialogue clearer. What will work best for you will vary on how much space you have as well as your needs. Personally, I do just fine with a single Sonos Beam soundbar, though I will admit that I watch almost everything with subtitles turned on. If you don’t want any text on your screen, you might want to splurge for some extra channels. Here’s a few picks to get you started.

Seating, curtains, and tips

Finally, no home theater setup is complete without proper seating and a good environment to watch in. Here’s where you can start to get fun.

First, if you’re sold on a projector, but want to set up your theater in a room that gets a lot of light, get some blackout curtains. Even some of the best ones can go as cheap as $25, and can instantly transform your space into what might as well be a cave. It’s a great way to get a more traditional setup if you don’t own a basement.

If you are using a projector, also be sure to pick up a screen. While you can project on a wall, using a proper screen will make for a clearer, brighter image, plus clear up any light diffusion issues like hot spotting. These can be bought for as cheap as $50, so it’s well worth it. Meanwhile, if you’re using a TV, be sure to either get an entertainment console or mounting system that places it at about eye-level, or face the wrath of reddit.com/r/TVTooHigh.

Next, figure out how you want to get your movies. If you want to stream, it can be as simple as plugging your favorite streaming stick into your TV or projector. But I suggest going physical if you can. Even 4K streams can end up looking compressed and muddy compared to Blu-ray, thanks to the compression needed to show films over the internet. Blu-rays, meanwhile, are so large that they can pack in far more detail. That’s right: Even movies from the ‘60s can look as crisp as the most modern blockbuster, with the right equipment.

But what about you? It’s important to stay comfortable in your home theater, and that’s why it’s important to get the right seating. There are plenty of ways to get theater-like seating at home, but personally, I love a standard, wide couch. I use a Movie Sofa from CB2, and it gives me plenty of flexibility to stretch out, sit up straight, or snuggle with a partner. You’re at home, so why not enjoy what comes alongside that?

Which brings me to my last point—snacks! Watching a movie without something to chew on feels wrong. While it’s easy to throw some popcorn in the microwave, you’ll get more customizable results with a dedicated popcorn cooker. I also love a good boozy milkshake while I view, so having a good blender on hand is a must.

Here’s a few choice home theater accessories to get you started. The rabbit hole here is huge, and I could go on all day if I wanted to. You could get into soundproofing, tiered seating, bias or overhead lighting, the works. If you find yourself wanting to continue along your journey once you’ve got your basic setup done, subreddits like reddit.com/r/hometheater can be a great resource. And never underestimate the power of buying used, so keep an eye on your local Facebook Marketplace. With the right choices and just a little bit of elbow grease, you’ll find that going out to the movies will start to feel like a thing of the past.