The Dream Scheme

One day, all your home-entertainment needs may be fulfilled by an inconspicuous cube that sits in the center of your living room. For now, if you want to do all the cool things modern consumer electronics allow–record DVDs, watch movies in HDTV, save your favorite TV shows for later viewing (with or without the commercials) and load all your CDs onto a hard drive for easier organization–you need space for a wall of sound and video.

Here’s how you do it. Start with the essential component: a surround-sound receiver with a center speaker, four satellite speakers and a bass subwoofer. Next, get the right DVD player; artists such as Bob Dylan and Natalie Merchant have rereleased classic albums in the Super Audio CD (SACD) or DVD Audio formats, which take full advantage of surround-sound systems. Finally, upgrade your TV. Your old set probably isn’t ready for the new high-definition programming (see “I Want My HDTV!”). Once your basic system is in place, you’ll be ready to plug and play for years–or until that cube becomes a reality.