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Today we’re counting down the top five gadgets you need in your home theater, other than a TV.
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At number five an HDMI switch.
I don’t know what kind of TV you’ve got, but there’s a good chance you have more theater components than HDMI ports on your tv.
Instead of getting a new tv.
For an AV receiver, you can probably get away with an HDMI switch.
You run HDMI cables from your set-top box or whatever to the switch then run a single cable from your switch to the TV.
Number four is a weird one but it’s part of my life, a network switch.
So many set-top boxes come with an Ethernet cord.
If you’re streaming video on something like a Roku or a Playstation, you might be better served with a wired connection instead of a wireless one.
If your router’s close enough, consider running an ethernet cable to a network switch, that lives in your home theater.
Yes, it does create more cables to manage, but your devices are less prone to interference.
[SOUND] At number 3. Other speakers.
Pretty much any external speaker system is better than the speakers you find in your TV.
You don’t have to go all nuts with speakers everywhere, but at least consider a sound bar.
Moving on, at number two some kind of set top box.
Wanna watch Netflix or YouTube on your TV?
Get some kind of set top box.
You can go small as a Roku streaming stick or get a gigantic thing like a game console.
They all offer tons of streaming options.
If you go with an XBox One or a PlayStation 4 you get the bonus of something that can play Blu-ray discs, or DVDs, or CDs, or optical discs, still talking.
At number one a universal remote.
There is no reason to juggle multiple remote controls when all you want to do is watch something in your home theater.
One of our favorites here at CNet is the Logitech Harmony Home Control.
It controls up to eight devices including some smart home devices.
So if you want to sit back and have the lights dim at the same time you do it with one button.
For more top five, check out TOP5.
CNET.
COM.
For less top fives, skip to number three when you hit play?
I dunno.
Anyway, I’m Iyaz Akhtar, and we’ll see you next time.
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