As if the moving process isn’t stressful enough, the biggest problem is various complications that can easily occur, especially if it’s your first time. Moving will take up a lot of your time, energy, and money, and that’s why many people decide to hire professionals. The entire moving process includes packing, loading, transport, unloading, and unpacking. As you can see, packing is the first step towards a successful move. There are certain items that can be quite challenging to pack, like furniture, glassware, or audio gear. It’s also hard to pack home theater equipment.
Audio and theatre equipment is very expensive and has a lot of wires and cables that can easily be damaged. In addition, improper packing can lead to severe damage in transport. Packing fragile items requires concentration and good organization, and that’s why we recommend reading the following article. So if you want to learn how to pack home theater equipment, we got you covered.
Packing Supplies
The first step is to gather the needed moving and packing supplies. Keep in mind that you can use small, medium, and large boxes to pack theater equipment. You should use similar materials as if you were to pack and move electronics, so we highly recommend taking our advice and purchasing boxes specially designed for electronics. So, the needed packing supplies include:
- Packing paper and bubble wrap
- Specifically designed moving boxes
- If available, original packaging
- Tape
- Scissors
- Zip ties
- Colored tags
- Permanent marker
As you can see, we mentioned that it would be best to use the original packing that came with the equipment. However, we understand that most don’t think about keeping the original packaging after the purchase. In any, case our packing supplies list will do the job.
Packing a Home Theatre Equipment
The process of packing home theatre equipment can be quite complicated, and that’s why it is essential to follow the steps we’ll thoroughly explain below.
Take pictures with your phone of how every component is wired, including streaming media players, the TV, game consoles, and even Blu-ray DVD players, before finally disconnecting them.
Zip tie all cables in a bundle to prevent any possible tangling and don’t forget to mark every cable with a colored tag while matching the color with the equipment. This way, you’ll know exactly how to connect each cable with the equipment.
Pick out a single box for all the cables, making setting up your equipment way easier.
The same goes for the remotes; pick out a single box for gathering all your remotes. Before packing the equipment, we recommend cleaning it up since this is the perfect opportunity for the job. Use a damp cloth, and dry the equipment with a clean and dry towel.
As we mentioned earlier, if you by any chance have the original box, use it to pack the equipment since these specifically made boxes are specially made to fit the TV. On the other hand, if you don’t have the original packaging, use a large, sturdy box with enough space to place the cushioning. Cushion the bottom of the box with extra cushioning and wrap the equipment with packing paper for two reasons: extra safety and the other is to prevent the bubble wrap from damaging the objects. Seal the box and mark its contents as fragile.
Packing the TV
Every home theatre system includes the TV, which is among the hardest items to pack. It can easily be damaged during transport, so it’s vital to know how to move a flat-screen TV.
Make sure to purchase a flat-screen TV box since this sturdy double-walled box can fit your TV precisely. Although price, double-walled boxes are essential for packing your TV if you want to avoid any damage.
Furthermore, we recommend obtaining a flat-screen TV cover to protect the screen from dust, dirt, and possible scratches.
As we mentioned earlier, make sure to take a photograph of all the cables before removing them and add a colored tag to the cable and the TV.
Zip tie the cables, place them in a bag already labeled “TV,” and add to the box containing all other home theater equipment cables. Put the TV inside the box, and if you notice any gaps that can allow the TV to move, add soft padding like towels. The final step is to seal the box and label it as fragile.
Setting Up the Equipment
Before you start unpacking and connecting your home theatre equipment, we recommend taking a few minutes to think thru where and how to assemble each component carefully. Next, mount the TV on the wall or put it in the desired place like the media console. Unpack the receiver, speakers, streaming media players, and other essential equipment.
Now, remember that box with all the cables? This is why it’s useful to keep all the cables together and take photos since it will be way easier to find them and connect the equipment. Start reconnecting every piece and plug in any equipment needing power. Now test it to see if it works properly. We advise taking care of the major pieces first. The final step is to set up the secondary equipment like the record player or the gaming console.
That’s all the advice you need to learn how to pack home theater equipment. However, some might don’t want to deal with the entire process and risk their items getting damaged, especially with no prior experience on the subject.
If that’s the case, consider hiring professional movers.
Hiring Professional Movers
As we said above, hiring professional movers to pack home theater might be a good idea. However, we still recommend taking photos and marking both the cables and the equipment before the movers start packing the objects.
The best thing about hiring a professional moving company to pack home theater equipment and move it for you is that you won’t have to worry about replacing the items that might get damaged during transport.
Be cautious and only hire a reputable company that accentuates the clients’ needs since many shady companies are posing as legit firms.