When setting up a home theater system, it’s easy to choose the biggest, brightest screen and call it a day. However, a fantastic audio setup is just as important or even more important than a screen. Therefore, it is important to choose something that offers you the best.
The important thing here is to make sure you’re buying something with quality at its core – because poor sound is something that quickly becomes annoying when your films or music aren’t presented at the level you or a loved one would expect. Get it Right and you can feel like you’re in a movie theater at home too – plus you get tons of other software options and hardware optimizations for different devices.
Emotiva XMC-2+ 9.1.6 Discrete cinema processor
If you already own a few home theater devices and want something new, why not get a processor to act as the brains of the operation? This piece of kit manages and enhances the audio signals for various devices you connect to it, and choices like Emotiva’s have additional features for cinematic viewing.
Options like the XMC-2+ allow you to control and balance a range of inputs; It has 8 HDMI ports, 16 XLR ports, 3 RCA plugs, 2 USB-A sockets, a WLAN antenna, an Ethernet port and other inputs. This allows you to connect various Hi-Fi devices and speakers, including 8K screens and Dolby Vision devices.
The full range of DTS features are available with the Emotiva, including DTS-HD Master Audio for high-quality music, DTS:X Pro for precise surround sound and DTS Neural:X for remixing older content into a more cohesive sound distribution. If you care about your home theater or hi-fi system, a device like a processor is a good addition to control and balance everything.
Insignia 5.1.2 channel home theater soundbar
As anyone who owns one can attest, soundbars are a fantastic addition to a home theater setup, and that’s even more true with a kit like Insignia’s 5.1.2-channel option – a four-part bar with wireless connectivity between the main bar, subwoofer and two additional rear speakers, allowing you to position each component in your room for immersive sound.
You can place any component of the soundbar anywhere in your living room, and the soundbar’s internal technology makes your content feel like it’s all around you.
Insignia’s soundbar offers multiple audio modes for different types of content, allowing you to adjust sound settings with the touch of a button and connect to your TV or screen in a variety of ways, including HDMI eARC, Bluetooth, 3.5mm jack and USB. It’s easy to use and an absolute treat when it comes to upgrading someone’s home theater setup.
Insignia 75-inch Fire QLED UHD TV
Quantum Dot technology on 4K TVs like this Insignia set offers realistic-looking colors and high maximum brightness so you can enjoy vivid images. That’s just the technological highlight of this part of the Insignia kit, but there’s a lot more to like: at 75 inches diagonally, it’s huge, offers 4K display and comes with the Fire TV operating system. Plus, like the company’s other purchases, it’s easy on the wallet.
On the audio side, the Insignia QLED also offers DTS:X and DTS Virtual:X, which help complement the colorful screen technology with enhanced audio. On a TV like this, these features can help bring you closer to the surround sound experience of a theater through the speakers on either side of the set.
NZXT Capsule Elite
While you expect an excellent listening experience from an audio kit, another important consideration comes into play for people who want to record audio. How good does it sound when played on the other end?
That’s no need to worry with the NZXT Capsule Elite, a USB-connected gaming microphone designed for gamers and content creators. Not only does it capture 24-bit 192kHz audio, has a microphone to isolate your voice and a built-in pop filter, but it also offers DTS software to ensure your vocals are as tuned as possible.
The CAM app lets you balance sound with a customizable equalizer, complement your recordings with filters like noise reduction, limiters and gates, and check your sound before going live on air.
XGIMI Horizon 20 Max
Projectors are a great way to get a cinematic experience without taking up too much space in your home, as options like XGIMI’s Horizon 20 Max can be placed on a shelf or mounted to the ceiling and still create a screen up to 300 inches in size in an instant.
The Horizon 20 Max offers useful features such as lens shift and zoom to ensure you get the best possible image quality. And one of its special additions is DTS-Virtual:X via the built-in speaker, a version of DTS:X designed to work when you only have one speaker. It uses internal intelligence to mimic the full range of audio that DTS:X would allow, but without requiring you to incorporate other high-fidelity technology into the mix.
This is combined in the projector’s speaker with DTS-HD, an audio codec that supports high-resolution audio, allowing you to enjoy soundtracks and scores in more detail than you’d expect from a single speaker, all in a smaller package because less technology is required.
Logitech G522 gaming headset
A good audio setup is crucial to truly immerse yourself in gaming. Whether you’re losing yourself in a fantastical world, hearing where enemies lurk nearby, or communicating with your team, it’s important to have a headset that can handle your game.
The Logitech G522 Lightspeed promises to be such a headset. It uses internal technology to amplify a 3D soundscape that surrounds you – not just left and right like typical surround sound, but also up and down. If you download the DTS Sound Unbound app, the headset actually supports 360-degree sound, so you can hear a battle around you or a monster on your trail.
The app also lets you create custom soundscapes for each game to get the most out of a title and tweak it between games.
With the G522 you also get a built-in microphone, an RGB array, and support for Logitech’s Lightspeed Wireless, which ensures lag-free audio without cables.
Acer PREDATOR HELIOS 16 AI high performance Intel gaming laptop
For gaming in general, Acer’s Predator Helios 16 is a… well, a beast. It features an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 graphics card, an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, and a 16-inch OLED screen that supports 240Hz refresh rates.
These are some cutting-edge specs that offer new internal components and plenty of performance, allowing you to use the Acer to play any type of PC gaming on the go or at home, with reviews praising the solid performance underneath.
Sound customization is possible via the DTS:X Ultra app, which allows you to customize the audio experience for music, movies, calls or various genres of video games, whether you’re using the laptop’s built-in speakers or your own headphones.
65″ Sony BRAVIA 8 II QD-OLED 4K UHD Smart Google TV
Sony’s Bravia range of TVs is often one of the most talked about sets, especially at the higher end, and it’s hard to deny that this 2025 model is packed to the rafters with amazing specs.
It features an IMAX Enhanced certified OLED screen so you can enjoy vivid colors and deep darkness, and has 4K resolution so you can enjoy every pixel of your content. Sony’s XR OLED Motion technology brings clarity to fast-moving images, Dolby Vision and HDR10 increase the color depth of images, and a 120Hz refresh rate means you can connect a console and enjoy smooth motion.
All this means that you can enjoy movies or exciting TV shows with the best possible graphics, but the audio systems are in lockstep. The TV supports a range of audio formats, including DTS:X, DTS Digital Surround and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, and automatically enhances content if you don’t have the space (or inclination) to add a soundbar to your repertoire.
