Fix the sound first: on almost every setup that has been assembled rather than designed, audio is further from good than the picture is.
Why sound comes first
A television or projector is a fully engineered picture; its built-in speakers are an afterthought constrained by a thin chassis. The gap between a flat panel’s own audio and a modest soundbar with a centre channel is larger than the gap between two generations of the panel itself.
Then the room, because it is free
Ambient light on the screen, a pale wall reflecting the image back, a lamp behind the seating, a subwoofer in the corner. Every one of those is adjustable at no cost, and each changes more than a specification step.
Then the screen, if you project
A flat surface of the right size with a black border is the cheapest visible improvement in a projected system, and an ultra short throw machine needs a screen designed for its geometry to work at all.
The machine last
It is the item most people replace first, and the one whose replacement changes the least — provided the current one is bright enough for the image size and the room. If it is not, that is a placement and brightness problem, and it belongs at the top of this list rather than the bottom.
Questions people actually ask
Is it really worth treating the room before buying equipment?
The free part is: closing curtains, moving a lamp, and darkening the wall behind the seating cost nothing and change contrast more than a step up in projector does. Acoustic treatment is a larger project and belongs after the speakers.
Where does a subwoofer sit in that order?
Early, and its position earlier still. Moving an existing subwoofer around the room changes its output at your seat more than replacing it with a better one usually does, and costs nothing.
Last reviewed 4 September 2026