Tips and tricks ! The bits and pieces we have picked up along the way from professionals, friends, magazines and our own experiences...

Trust your eyes and ears, not someone else's
Don't worry about what everybody else likes, at the end of the day, you are the one who will be living with your chosen equipement. This rule applies to the dealers who are trying to flog their wares. Listen, watch, compare, using CDs and DVDs that you know. Find a dealer who will let you listen to different models and makes at the same time so that you compare.

As an example, when choosing our amplifier, we narrowed the choice down to the Arcam combination and the Denon 10SE. The Denon had received rave reviews and yet, after listening to the Arcam, the Denon sounded weedy, tinny and generally horrible...

Set yourself a budget and stick to it
Don't be tempted to listen to something you cannot afford, unless you are prepared to wait until you have sufficient funds...

Match like for like
Spending £1000 on an amplifier and £250 on speakers is a waste of money. Best spread the cost more evenly to get speakers that will do your amplifier justice. Go for middle of the range across the board if that's what you can afford and plan to upgrade one thing at a time when you can.

Plan for the cost of cables
Don't settle for bell wire or the cheapest SCART, a general rule of thumb is that cables should amount to 10% of your total system outlay.

Get a picture to match the sound
Shortly after having completed the sound setup, I ran a quick demo to friends using a projector and found the whole setup just perfect. A week later, I did the same demo but without a projector, just our 29" TV. For some reason I was disappointed by the sound. Go figure.

Finally, most important - Get HER involved
The other half usually has LOTS to say when it comes to how this and that should be installed. You are thinking Dolby Digital, DTS, THX, she is thinking color schemes, wires all over the place, HOW can I HIDE all this, etc...
My (Greg's) view has always been that if she hears the different between what she wants and what you want (let's not get silly here) ... then you are more likely to get away with it.
This obviously very much depends on whether she is interested or not. I have to say that Nathalie did not need a lot of convincing...

Our home cinema is now complete... It has taken us a long time.

Things such as a wedding tend to put a dent in progress.

Saying that though, we have been at it since Dolby Pro-Logic was available and have gone a long way since.

Take a look at the details on the left to see what we have achieved...