Best home theater upgrades for the big game

If you want to get the most out of the upcoming football game featuring the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots, you should consider upgrading your home theater gear. Better sound for all those grunts and tackles -- not to mention the croons of Lady Gaga during the halftime show -- could have just as much impact as a big new TV.

Whether it's speakers, sound bars, AV receivers or streamers, these are the best products to enhance the game as it happens live. We've generally ordered them from the cheapest ($35) to the most expensive. Game on!

Cutting the cord? You can watch the big game without a cable box by adding an inexpensive streamer such as the Chromecast to the back of your TV. Fire up the "Fox Sports Go" app on your phone, press the TV-shaped "Cast" button and open your favorite beverage -- no cable subscription required!

Roku's latest Streaming Stick, equipped with a native Fox Sports Go app, offers headphone listening through your mobile device if you don't want to disturb your household with the sounds of the game. Though we can't be held responsible for any shouting you might do.

The Apple TV offers one of the best onscreen interfaces and is a definite upgrade from the Chromecast. Use the Apple remote to fire up the Fox Sports app on the device itself, and maybe play a game of Flick Quarterback TV afterwards.

At $150, the Companion will let you fire up your TV, receiver and TiVo box with one button press -- and maybe dim the lights too -- and it's one of the easiest universal remotes to program, too.

The SP-BS22-LR speaker has consistently earned raves for its sound, and is a definite step up from a sound bar. Just add a decent budget receiver and feel those tackles.

Don't want to muck around with receivers and speakers? Get a sound bar. The Yamaha YAS-106 is one of the cheapest, yet is fully featured and sounds great too.

Speaker designer Andrew Jones is a big deal, as his Debut B6 speakers attest. These can slap speakers twice the price quite silly. Again, you will need some amplification.

One of our favorite sound bars at any price, and also designed by the ubiquitous Andrew Jones, the SP-SB23W will capture every cry and bone-rending crunch of play. Plus you can stream your music over Bluetooth to it when it's all over.

If you're serious about sport, a real surround sound system is the way to go. Nothing captures the feel of "being there" like crowd noise from actual rear speakers. This Vizio is one of the most affordable out there, and it actually sounds good.

The Sony STR-DN1070 is a talented all-rounder offering excellent home theater and music performance. It's the best value-for-money receiver of the last 12 months.

Stepping up from a sound bar to a receiver means you'll get more inputs and more features -- including Yamaha's multiroom music system. Just add speakers.

The massive Klipsch Reference Premiere RP-160 5.1 system ain't cheap, but paired with a good receiver it'll pound your big game party into happy submission.

Got a fancy new TV for watching the game? The Samsung HW-K950 is one of the best sound bars you can get, with Atmos playback and Wi-Fi music streaming.