Another new school year is fast approaching, and if you have kids heading out of the city, province, or country to attend university, you may soon be faced with a dilemma–keep the kid’s stuff intact, or use their absence as an excuse to upgrade your “kid space” to an adult-friendly home theatre space. If you were to ask my parents, they’d tell you they didn’t have to think twice about converting my bedroom to a theatre room when I left the nest, even if it meant cramming all my stuffed animals into garbage bags and storing them in a cold corner of the basement (sorry Cheer Bear!).
So whether you’ve got a den that oozes “teenager,” a bedroom that has just been abandoned, or a basement that needs some updates, here’s what you’ll need to take the room from “all-inclusive-kid-friendly-resort” to “five-star-adults-only-getaway.”
The Television
A TV is the cornerstone in any home theatre room, and without kids around to dominate it every second of every day–or accidentally knock it over when practicing a dance routine, oops–now’s the perfect time to upgrade to a set that makes the neighbours jealous. A set that has it all. A set that dwarfs your previous TV. A set like the Samsung 65” 4K Ultra HD LED Tizen Smart OS (SUHD) TV. New to Samsung, this SUHD TV gives you four times the resolution of Full HD, displaying over 8 million pixels on the screen. That’s next level at-home entertainment we’re talking about here folks. More specifically, that’s 5 ½ feet of 3840 x 2160 resolution, which will literally make you feel like you are an extra in the show when you are catching up on Game of Thrones. With it’s insanely sharp picture quality, rich colours, and photographic detail, this SUHD TV 4K Ultra HD delivers a cinema-like experience.
And of course, it’s smart. The Samsung 65” TV runs on the open-source Tizen operating system, which gives you an integrated home entertainment experience. It’s intuitive to navigate and gives you quick access to content via its Smart Hub feature. You can also share content between compatible mobile devices, so if your kid sends you a video of kittens, you can watch it on your new, jaw dropping, TV.
The Audio
As much as a great TV can stand on its own when it comes to audio quality, when you are creating a home theatre environment, it’s always a good idea to add a little something extra. So to complement your new Samsung SUHD TV, and to take the “adult” factor up a notch, consider adding a home theatre receiver like this 7.2 Channel 3D Receiver from Marantz. Designed for “the future” this receiver is equipped with 4K Ultra HD 60 Hz video pass-through and upscaling, making it the ideal companion for your new TV. It delivers full, rich, and immersive surround sound, and also connects with WiFi and Bluetooth to your home network, which means that if you aren’t using it to amp up movie night, you can use it to stream whatever kind of music suits your mood.
Another fabulous option to up the audio in your new home theatre is this ProCinema home theatre speaker system from Definitive Technology. The set comes with four satellite speakers you can place anywhere in the room for front and surround channels, as well as a center channel loudspeaker and a subwoofer. If you are working with a smaller room, you don’t need to hook up all the satellite speakers, but they are great additions to a larger room, like a rec room or basement. The sound they system delivers is rich, warm, and life-like, while will make you feel like you are actually at the movies.
The Accessories
Just like an outfit isn’t completely without the right accessories, neither is a home theatre room. And I’m not just talking comfy furniture. First, when you are investing in any kind of quality electronics, a surge protector like this PowerCentre 12-Outlet one from Monster is an absolute must. Not only does this model have 12 outlets so you can connect all your home theatre electronics into one bar, but it safeguards your home theatre components from harmful power surges and voltage spikes. It also reduces the electromagnetic noise and unbalanced AC power that can compromise audio and video performance, is wall mountable, and comes with a 6-foot power cord, so it can really become the “hub” of your home theatre system.
Next, you’ll need a quality HDMI cable to connect your home theatre components to your TV. And no, not all HDMI cables are created equal! This 5-foot Monster Black Platinum HDMI Cable has crazy fast digital signal transfer speeds of 27 Gigabytes per second, and delivers incredible picture quality, making it ideal for your new “beat the Joneses” TV and receiver. It also features a gold plated heavy-duty metal strain and connector shield, and corrosion-resistant 24k gold contacts. Essentially, it’s the P-Diddy of HDMI cables.
Last but not least is this Direct ClearStream Digital TV Antenna from Antennas Direct. What, you thought antennas were a thing of the past? Not at all! They’ve just been brought into the 21st century. With this ClearStream antenna, you can watch all your favourite HDTV programming from your local networks without actually paying for it from a cable or satellite provider; and it’s totally legit! Even if you have cable and subscribe to multiple channels from local and non-local networks, the ClearStream is great for emergencies or bad weather. It receives crystal clear Ultra High Frequency HDTV signals from up to 80km away, so unless your new home theatre is in a remote rural area, this antenna has you covered for all your local programming needs.
There you have it folks. With a bit of an investment and a few key items, you too can turn your kid spaces into adult-friendly home theatre spaces that are fit for a king and queen. My recommendation though? Wait until your kids have been out of the house for at least a month before telling them that their room is now a home theatre and their belongings are in garbage bags in the basement … just sayin’.
*Main image courtesy of ApartmentTherapy.com
