My name is John Zimmer. I'm the owner of Sound Representation, which specializes in the sale of high-end audio equipment. I really learned everything that I know about high-end audio from working at this store that we're sitting in right now, Stereo Exchange. I'm going to teach you what to look for when you want to shop for a stereo.

I'm gonna teach you what to look for when you want to shop for a stereo. When talking about home theater, it's important to understand the source material it's designed around. A home theater was meant to play back information on a DVD. A stereo was meant to play back the information found a CD. So a CD you have information for two speakers hence, a stereo system. On a DVD you actually have information for five separate speakers so the point one that you always hear, like the five point one or the seven point one that point one stands for a sub woofer. Usually bigger is better when it comes to a home system so you can really position speakers' kind of all around you and kind of be in the mix of the whole thing. In smaller rooms, I would just suggest getting smaller speakers. In order to hear a DVD in the way that it was meant to be heard, you need five speakers and a sub woofer or seven speakers and a sub woofer set up in you listening room.