The order
- Sound, if it is currently the television’s own speakers. The largest gap in the system.
- The room, which is free: curtains, a darker wall behind the seating, a lamp moved, a subwoofer repositioned.
- The screen, if you project. A flat surface of the right size with a black border.
- The projector or display, last — provided the current one is bright enough for the image size and the room. If it is not, it moves to the top.
The prices that are not the price
- A “5.1 speaker package” usually contains passive speakers and no amplifier. The receiver is the missing half and the more expensive one.
- An ultra short throw projector requires a screen built for its geometry. On an ordinary white surface it looks worse than a cheaper machine on a good one.
- A pair of bookshelf speakers needs stands to put the tweeters at ear height. The stands cost less than the difference between two tiers of speaker, and matter more.
- A lamp projector has a consumable with a stated life and a stated price. Both belong in the comparison.
What to buy once and keep
The amplifier and the speakers. Both outlast several generations of source and display, which is why a system built around them can be improved a piece at a time rather than replaced.
Questions people actually ask
What is the single best value purchase?
A soundbar with a centre channel, on a system that currently uses the television's own speakers. Nothing else in this catalogue changes the experience as much for the money, because nothing else is replacing something as compromised.
Where is money most often wasted?
On resolution and on cable. Native 4K over good 1080p at ordinary viewing distances is a small difference; a certified two-metre HDMI cable does everything a very expensive one does. Both are the specifications most prominently advertised.
Last reviewed 4 September 2026
