Question two: What are you getting?
After narrowing my decision to a home theater audio system, I still had some choices. How many speakers did I want? 5.1 surround (five speakers plus a subwoofer) is the standard, but 6.1 (which adds a rear center channel speaker) and even 7.1 (adding two back surround speakers instead of just one) are possible and becoming increasingly popular.

I ended up choosing a 6.1-channel home theater audio system — specifically, the Onkyo HT-S760 — giving me a fuller soundfield than with a 5.1 system. The versatile receiver sends 100 watts of power out to each of the six matched speakers, taking care of just about any volume demands I might place on the system. Plus, the receiver?s DTS Neo: 6 mode takes non-surround sound signals, such as regular stereo and VHS audio tracks, and redistributes them to all the speakers — I could enjoy some version of surround sound with almost anything, even if it wasn't originally encoded that way.

As you?re shopping around, make sure the system you?re considering is compatible with what you have. Remember that while almost every boxed system comes with all the necessary cables to connect the provided components, hooking up what you already own to your new addition is another story.

Onkyo's instructions show how it all goes together. Here, three possible video connections are clearly outlined.

Sometimes, you can reuse cables you already have. To get stereo sound, all I needed to do was reroute the DVD/VCR audio feeds that originally went to the TV over to the receiver, using the same cables I'd used before. To get surround sound, though, I did need a new cable to run from the DVD portion of the player to the receiver. DVD players transfer the surround sound information from the disc via a single digital cable (either optical or coaxial) to the receiver. The Onkyo could accept either optical or coax, but my combo just had a coaxial digital output, simplifying my choice. I began a shopping list of things I needed to purchase for my home theater audio system. Item one: the Onkyo HT-S760. Item two: coaxial digital cable.

Question three: Where is it going?
That is, where will each component be going? Nothing ruins the excitement of getting a new system home more than the realization that it doesn?t fit your room properly. Thinking about your space can help with system selection in several ways.

For example, if you?re using some kind of cabinetry for your components, make sure the opening is large enough, and that there?s plenty of room above the receiver for heat dispersal. The center speaker should either go directly above or below the TV. If it?s going above, make sure the TV has a wide enough top to support it (or else you?ll be adding a center channel speaker shelf to your shopping list).

Look around the room and imagine where the speakers will go. The Onkyo system I chose had fairly substantial speakers (7-11 lbs.), which I needed to mount on stands (clear wall space is at a premium in our family room). Speaker stands became item three on my list. For my setup, the rear center channel would be resting on a buffet table, so I only needed to add four rather than five speaker stands.

You?ll need stands — and perhaps a center speaker TV shelf.

Consider everyday use of the space as well. My system, for example, was going in the family room. If we still had small children, I would have selected a system with much smaller speakers for wall mounting, to avoid the possibility of having a heavy speaker come crashing down on a youngster.