Setting up your Home Theater

So you have the big screen television, you have the speakers, you have the receiver, and you have the big reclining chairs. So now what? Once you have everything you need to start you home theater you will next need to decide how to set everything up, not only in terms of technical installation but also in terms of basic layout and setup. You may not consider it, but the layout of your speakers, seating and screen can make a big difference in terms of your overall enjoyment of your home theater.
In terms of your screen the first thing you will want to consider is lighting. It is best to have a room with little to no windows to keep the ambient light levels as low as possible. This will help you avoid the annoying glare that can cause distractions as you watch your favorite movie or the big game. If the room that you will be setting your home theater up in cannot be reduce to very low light conditions then you might want to skip the projector or the plasma television and focus on an LCD or LED television which will perform better in higher light conditions.
In terms of general setup it is important to make sure that you have all of your wiring properly setup. Make sure that you have constant and proper polarity and also make sure that you connect the proper speaker to its proper port on your receiver. Also, don't cheap out on your cables. Cables carry all of your video and audio information and you would be doing yourself a major disservice to spend a ton of money on an awesome big screen, amazing receiver, and phenomenal speakers only to hook the whole thing up with inferior cables.
In terms of speaker setup you should avoid moving your primary three speakers on the ceiling. If there is no alternative to placing the speakers on the ceiling then you should angle them down using an appropriate ceiling mount. You may also consider purchasing a tool to help you calibrate your setup. This will allow you to be confident that you will have the best speaker setup that you might not be able to achieve by simply listening. Above all you should buy your gear from a high quality and reputable dealer. A good dealer will not only allow you to make your purchase with more confidence but you will also be much more likely to be able to solicit help and advice from a specialized dealer of home theater equipment.
Again, if you didn't think about it before hopefully now you will consider how important general setup is to your home theater experience. Having a proper room with acceptable lighting along with good cables that are hooked up properly are only part of what goes into a great home theater setup. So