The Best Gear for Building Your Home Theater

Updated Dec 10, 2022

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Everyone loves watching a great movie on a big screen with a kickass speaker system. Our AV team spends thousands of hours each year seeking the best-looking and best-sounding home theater equipment. Whether you have a dedicated theater room planned or are thinking of upgrading your weeknight living room movie night, we have recommendations covering whatever space and budget you have.

JVC DLA-NX5

The best-looking image for all sources

The JVC DLA-NX5 produced the best overall image of all the projectors we tested.

We recommend

BenQ HT2050A Movie Projector

Best projector under $1,000

The BenQ HT2050A has the best contrast ratio in its price class, as well as realistic color, great detail, and a robust connection panel.

Budget friendly

Silver Ticket STR Series (White Material, 100″)

Our favorite screen

It has comparable performance to those costing seven times as much, plus it’s easy to set up and install. It's a huge bargain for what you get.

We recommend

Yamaha RX-V6A

A great future-proof receiver for all sources

The RX-V6A sounds great, features surprisingly good room correction, and checks all the right boxes in terms of features.

We recommend

Polk Signature Series S15

Great performer, great value

The S15 bookshelf speaker pair sounds great, looks cool, and is surprisingly affordable.

We recommend

Polk Signature Series S35

An easy-to-place center speaker

Thanks to the S35’s low-profile design, you can fit it easily in front of a TV or mount it on the wall.

We recommend

Polk Signature Series S10

A compact surround speaker

The small S10 is easy to fit or install just about anywhere, so it’s ideal as a surround speaker.

We recommend

ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2

Big sound for home theater

The B6.2 has a powerful sound, and a matching Dolby Atmos add-on module is available. But its form is bulky and not very attractive.

Another good choice

ELAC Debut 2.0 C5.2

A matching center speaker

This fairly compact center speaker is a good match for the B6.2 bookshelf speakers.

Another good choice

ELAC Debut 2.0 B5.2

A smaller bookshelf speaker

The B5.2 is a little smaller and usually a little less costly than the B6.2, so it’s a good choice for the surround channels.

Another good choice

Rogersound Labs Speedwoofer 10S

A great subwoofer

The Speedwoofer 10S offers an ideal blend of bass power and finesse in a compact and affordable package.

We recommend

Peerless-AV PRGS-UNV Projector Mount

Easily adjustable

This is the closest thing to the perfect projector mount we’ve used.

We recommend

LG C1

The best OLED TV

The LG C1 produces fantastic 4K HDR images and performs just as well as higher-end OLED TVs for a significantly lower price.

We recommend

Hisense U7G

The best LCD/LED TV

The Hisense U7G offers great image quality, superb gaming features, and the Android TV interface, but it has a narrower viewing angle and comes in fewer screen sizes than some other TVs.

We recommend

TCL 5-Series Roku TV (model S535)

Best 4K TV on a budget

The TCL 5-Series delivers a great-looking 4K image, the latest gaming features, and your choice of streaming platforms, but its brightness, contrast, and motion don’t measure up to what the best LCD and OLED TVs offer.

We recommend

TCL 5-Series Google TV (model S546)

Best 4K TV on a budget

The TCL 5-Series delivers a great-looking 4K image, the latest gaming features, and your choice of streaming platforms, but its brightness, contrast, and motion don’t measure up to what the best LCD and OLED TVs offer.

We recommend

Samsung HW-Q900A

The best high-performance soundbar

The Samsung HW-Q900A sounded the best to our panelists, creating realistic surround sound without extra speakers.

We recommend

Vizio Elevate

The best all-around soundbar system

The Elevate, with dedicated surround speakers and a subwoofer, delivers a dynamic, immersive audio experience, but voices don’t sound as clear as they do through our top pick.

Another good choice

JBL Bar 2.1 Deep Bass

Room-filling sound at an affordable price

The JBL Bar 2.1 Deep Bass plays loud, puts out plenty of bass, and sounds exceptionally clear with little adjustment needed (or offered).

Budget friendly

Sanus VMPL50A-B1

The best tilt-only TV wall mount

The sturdy build and helpful post-installation adjustments make it our favorite tilting TV wall mount.

We recommend

Sanus VLF728-B2

The best full-motion mount

The VLF728-B2 offers a long extension, easy adjustments, and smooth motion. Its long mounting bars provide a lot of flexibility for you to center the TV on a wall.

A better upgrade

Panasonic DP-UB420

The best 4K player for all of your video discs

The Panasonic DP-UB420 provides the best image quality with 4K Ultra HD discs, thanks to custom tone mapping that optimizes HDR video for your display.

We recommend

Panasonic DP-UB820

If you own a Dolby Vision–capable 4K HDR TV

The Panasonic DP-UB820 supports all the major HDR formats, including Dolby Vision.

A better upgrade

Sony BDP-S1700

If you don’t need 4K playback

The Sony BDP-S1700 is a good basic player that will handle your Blu-ray and DVD playback needs, but it can’t do 4K.

Budget friendly

Google Chromecast with Google TV

The best media streaming device

The redesigned Chromecast player offers an intuitive interface, intelligent search, a useful remote, and support for 4K HDR video (including Dolby Vision).

We recommend

SofaBaton U1 Universal Remote Control

Good features and performance for the price

The U1 can control up to 15 AV devices and supports Bluetooth control. And it relies on a mobile app for setup. But it lacks backlighting and activity buttons, and programming advanced tasks can be challenging.

We recommend

Antennas Direct ClearStream Flex

A powerful TV antenna with flexible installation options

The Flex pulled in an above-average number of channels in every location we tried it. And it’s one of the few flat antennas that let you use whatever cable you want.

We recommend

Monoprice 4K Certified Premium High Speed HDMI Cable

A sturdy cable from a well-known cable brand

This inexpensive but well-built Monoprice HDMI cable is available in many lengths, and in our tests it handled 4K HDR video with no issues.

We recommend

Monoprice 2747 12-gauge

Best for the money

This speaker wire impressed all our audiophile ears.

We recommend

Tripp Lite Protect It 12-Outlet Surge Protector TLP1208TELTV

Home theater protection

In testing, this surge protector was one of the best at preventing voltage from reaching its outlets, plus it safely stops all power once the protection wears out. It has 12 AC outlets plus coax and phone ports.