Home theater in box, what is it?
Gatot Susetyo, Contributor, Jakarta
We often hear about "home theater in a box, or HtiB". But what does it really mean? Well, it is a bundled product which gives an aspiring home theater owner an easy and inexpensive way to get entertainment in their home.
HtiB products usually include five magnetically shielded speakers, a subwoofer, speaker wires, surround speakers and an A/V receiver with either Dolby Pro Logic or Dolby Digital surround processing.
All are bundled in one box. The heart of this HtiB is the speakers and subwoofer. And to build a home theater system, we have to have two main front speakers, a center speaker, a pair of surround speakers and a subwoofer.
The speakers are able to produce "audible sound", or accurate sound, from the highest note (20khz) to the lowest (20hz). In order to achieve good results, they should be put in different places in the home theater room. The center speaker, for example, is better placed on or near a TV monitor. Both the tweeter and woofer of the center speaker are magnetically shielded so that they are able to eliminate interference with the TV picture. The center speaker is used to deliver dialog or vocals.
The subwoofer is better placed in the middle of the listening area or in front of the TV monitor. The main job of the subwoofer is to deliver a deep bass critical to movie soundtracks and music as well. It can add even greater depth and impact to your listening experience.
With a 100-watt subwoofer measuring between eight and 10 inches, the audio results will be cleaner and deeper, especially in relation to the sound of the bass.
Almost all of the HtiB speakers are "satellite" speakers. These kinds of speakers use a small driver for the woofer and tweeter, such as six or eight inches.
What makes a satellite speaker so special? "It not only helps save space in the room, but is also able to generate a natural and powerful sound. That's why it is also able to induce emotional feelings," said J. Ricky Sutedja, the owner of Ry Design, a home theater boutique located in the Mangga Dua Mall in Jakarta.
Almost all HtiB manufacturers choose satellite speakers in order to save space. Also, the speakers are compatible with any audio-video player. They're acoustically matched to reproduce a movie's soundtrack details.
To learn more about a HtiB, let's look at the HTP-211 series of the Pioneer HtiB system. The set has five satellite speakers (20 watts x 5) with a 100-watt subwoofer, 10-bit/27 MHz video digital-to-analog converter and 24-bit/96 kHz audio D/A converter.
The tweeter in the satellite speaker is combined with dual carbon graphite long-throw woofers to provide maximum output in a deep and wide soundstage. It also includes an AV receiver, type VSX-D510, which features Dolby Digital and DTS decoding, a DVD player, Dolby Digital/DTS surround decoder and a six-piece speaker system and 10-inch subwoofer which delivers deep bass.
And, which is rare for an HTiB, it has the ability to play CD- Rs, CD-RWs and MP3 CDs on its DVD player. Maximum recommended amplifier power for satellites (front and rear speakers) is 100 watts, and for the center speaker it is 150 watts. And, because the HTP-211 is designed as a system, set up is easy. AV remote is included for controlling the system (including a satellite receiver).
Besides Pioneer, there are many other excellent speaker systems from companies such as Atlantic Technologies, B&W, Definitive Technologies, JBL, Denon, etc.
So if you have a small room, such as four-by-six meters, why not build a home theater system the easy way with HtiB? All you need to do is attach a TV and a hi-fi DVD player to the HtiB and you are ready to experience the drama of a working theater in your home.