Your first audio-equipment purchase might have been a $99 boom box that you carefully placed atop a cinder-block bookshelf. But that certainly won't cut it in today's world of cineplex-sized TVs, elaborate home theater systems, and wired homes with music piped into every room. The consumer electronics industry has been more than happy to indulge us in our quest for bigger and better everything, delivering stunning new technologies over the past decade to dazzle our eyes and ears.

As you configure your ultimate 21st-century audio setup-no small task if you're a true audiophile-there are things you should know and steps you can take to keep your energy consumption (and bill) within reason. Whether you're thinking about a home theater system, or are just delving into digitizing your music collection, here are some factors to consider.

Don't be so needy: unplug the unnecessary items
In a recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) podcast, Andrew Fanara, an Energy Star product specifications team leader, reminded listeners that our need to entertain ourselves is costing us: "If you go back to 1980, about 5 percent of the energy used by your home was for consumer electronics. That's more than doubled-almost tripled, actually-to current rates of about 13 or 14 percent. And we're estimating right now it'll probably be somewhere closer to 20 percent of the bill in 2015."

To reduce the chances of wasting energy, start by conducting a home audio audit. What do you truly need? What do you really want? What do you really use? Take account of what kinds of audio capability you desire in each room of your house, and think how you can pull it together with the smallest number of devices that need to be plugged in.

Then, consider your computer. Has it become your jukebox, loaded with digital tracks that you've ripped from your CDs and downloaded online? If so, perhaps the computer, a couple of good speakers, and an MP3 player for portability are all you need for your musical enjoyment, and you can eliminate lots of power-hungry stereo equipment from your home. If you have a wireless network installed, you can send the music from your PC to a receiver at your home theater (or elsewhere) so it comes out of your biggest and best speakers. Anything you can do to eliminate stereo components will save energy and money in the long run.

One of the most energy- and cost-efficient ways to enjoy lots of audio is to focus on your main home entertainment system-the place where your largest television set is located-and build your best audio setup there, equipping the rest of the house with smaller CD players, radios, or small external speakers for your MP3 player.

Assembling the components: what to look for
If you aspire to build a tricked-out audio system or a home theater that includes a big-screen TV with the requisite set of five to seven speakers-plus inputs from cable, a digital video recorder (DVR), a DVD player, and perhaps a CD player for good measure-now is the time to invite your geekiest friend over and pump him or her for information in exchange for a home-cooked dinner. Make sure you talk through all the following topics.

Compact-disc players: You probably already have a CD player. But if it's a boom box, it will likely be of limited use if you're trying to assemble a home theater system. Consider moving it to the kitchen or bedroom as you start from scratch in the living room. If your current CD player has the inputs and outputs you need to work with the additional speakers of a home theater system, you're in good shape. If not, upgrade to a carousel model that can hold three to five CDs at a time.

Even better, try to combine your DVD player and CD player into a single purchase. Most DVD players can play CDs, so that's a good way to have one less component to worry about. As always, shop for Energy Star-approved models.

Receivers: Chances are that any elaborate audio setup will revolve around some kind of receiver/amplifier. This is the main brain of the system, the box that takes in all the audio inputs and dishes them out to all your speakers. Your choices are limitless. Some receivers are actually invisible, built into other devices such as CD players. Others are elaborate boxes that look like NASA launch-control systems and cost thousands. You'll save money (and energy) by looking for combination gadgets that jam several features into one box-for example, receivers that include CD or DVD players. Whatever you do, make sure the receiver you pick has all the inputs and outputs you need for the configuration you desire. (Ask your helpful friend!)

Speakers: Your neighbors may have a stronger opinion than you do about the type of speaker you should choose. Speakers and the amplifiers that power them are typically described by their wattage, a number that, like thread counts and horsepower, is better when higher-up to a point. You live in a house, not a dance club, and you should calibrate to your surroundings the amount of audio oomph you truly need, keeping in mind that the bigger the boom, the more energy you're using (and the more neighbors you're annoying).

Home theater surround sound: Today's home theaters and DVDs generate Dolby Digital Surround Sound (or something similar) that delivers five or more audio channels, each of which requires a specific type of speaker that is ideally placed in a specific location in the room to create an immersive audio experience. Some of those speakers can be powered by the receiver. Others, such as the large subwoofer-whose job it is to shake the floor when a bomb explodes in a movie-generally needs its own power supply, in the form of yet another energy-draining wall wart. If you want the full audio treatment, it's going to cost you.

If shopping for home theater speakers seems daunting, consider a bargain-priced "home theater in a box" solution, which provides all the speakers you need (and sometimes a DVD/CD player as well) in one package, making it easier for you to comparison-shop by relative power consumption. The top-rated systems at the online technology-testing site CNET typically have 1,000 watts of amplifier total output power (about 10 cents per hour) driving six speakers (and a DVD player) for about $350.

Once you achieve home theater nirvana, you may want to take a final geeky step and replace your growing pile of remote controls with a single universal remote, which, after a little wrestling and some complicated programming, should be able to control all your devices, sometimes from a snazzy touch-sensitive screen. (Logitech makes several good models, with prices ranging from $150 to $500.) The big benefit, besides convenience, is that you'll cut down significantly on our battery needs, which is good both for the environment and for your wallet.

Powering up: the electrical bottom line
True audiophiles are a fanatic bunch, and they're more than willing to spend thousands on racks of amps, receivers, and speakers, and obsess over arcane specs and stats in order to achieve perfect fidelity. The cost of keeping the whole system and all its blinking lights powered up probably isn't a primary consideration for them as long the bass booms appropriately and the high notes come through with crystalline clarity. For the rest of us, cost is likely a big consideration.

By buying combo devices when you can and keeping your speaker choices somewhat humble, you should be able to assemble a respectable music/home theater audio system that's easy on power consumption for about $500. That price doesn't include a dazzling flat-panel TV, of course. For most TV-centric people, that purchase is the place to direct a few hundred extra dollars. Classical-music lovers, however, will want to invest more in quality speakers.

Remember that every gadget in your home theater will draw at least a couple of watts of standby power at all times (a big TV may draw 10 watts; a DVR, such as the TiVo, draws 30 or more watts, 24/7). Shop for a power strip that's designed for home theater systems, and try to plug in everything there. You wouldn't usually power down a DVR (it needs to be awake to record those episodes of Weeds), but you can shut off everything else if you're away for any length of time, and the watts and money you save may really add up.

Extra for experts: grow your own speakers
The speaker subculture is vast and obsessive, full of audiophiles who go to great expense to handcraft speakers out of every imaginable kind of raw material in search of that perfect sound. High-end speaker manufacturers are also in on the action, building speakers out of just about anything-including, in the case of one well-known company, old whiskey barrels.

Speakers have also gone green. A simple Internet search can lead you to models whose guts, specifically the vibrating cones, are crafted out of hemp, bamboo, or even banana plant fibers. What better way to become an environmentally sensitive audiophile than to use speakers that you'd like to believe could one day sprout leaves?

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