I'm building a new house with a dedicated home theater room and just trying to get up to speed on chairs. I've heard some brand names like: Douglas, Palliser, Berkline, DirectorsCollection and StudioCollection. Are there some other names I should be looking at? Could anyone in the know please lend some advice. My preference would be for black leather, well made with a quality manual mechanism and a clean, contemporary design...I don't really go for the overstuffed Lazyboy look.

Thanks in advance for your help!!! :)

Blankenship,

There are too many manufacturers who make HT seating today. Several, which can be recommended are:

TOP OF THE LINE (comes with the price tag):
Cinematech
Fortress
Elite
Bass (Jaymars)

Affordable chairs:
Berkline
Coasters

The Berkline and Coasters are very popular on this forum. Do a search, and you will find tons of info on either.

I too went through this, but did spend a few extra dollars to get a good chair. For my own HT room, I went with the Jaymar 58000 line. I chose the electrical reclining option, with antiqued brass cup holders, and removable headrests. I am pleased with the purchase and look forward to years of use! Here is a link with some pics to see them:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=612409

Here are a few links to look through for differnt options:

http://www.americanleather.com/
http://www.barcalounger.com/
http://www.beachmfg.com/
http://www.cinematechseating.com/
http://continentalseating.com/
http://www.douglasfurniture.com/
http://www.elitehts.com/
http://www.fortresseating.com/
http://www.irwinseating.com/
http://www.jaymar.ca/
http://www.lanefurniture.com/
http://us.natuzzi.com/
http://www.palliser.com/
http://www.premierehts.com/
http://www.salamanderdesigns.com/
http://www.bradington-young.com

I purchased mine from Robb & Stucky. http://www.robbstucky.com/

Holy smokes! I bet there weren't 1/4 of those 5 years ago.

Shake1,

"a good chair" is a very relative term. Something which is good for you may not be good for someone else. I know people who would only buy Cinematech even if it costs 5-7K per chair, and I know people whould not not spend more than 1K for 3 seats like Coaster saying that anything else would be too much money.

Same goes to the comfort - such a subjective term. I have tried so many different chairs. I personally think that the Cinematech is the best quality wise and comfort wise if the price is no object. I also found that Jaymars are very high quality chairs, but to me were very uncomfortable, and at the same time the Berkline seats which are lower quality chairs were much, much better comfort wise. Yes, I am bias, I have the Berklines for almost 5 years now, and they are still like new. I also think that they are the best value for the buck and ones of the most comfortable chairs on the market. Again, I have tried seats from about 12 different manufacturers and just sharing my own experience and thougths...

Roman,

Not sure why you had to state the first paragraph in your post. Of course "good" (value)is subjective and relative to our own experiences. It's an opinion. This is fundamental to the existence of forums such as AVSForum.

I shared my own experience, and then provided 16+ websites to help the poster with their own journey to find "what's good to them". Although Cinematech's URL is in my list, Berkeline is not, only because I did not have the URL to share with the poster.

Take care,
Shake1

Shake1,

When you say that you "went through this, but did spend a few extra dollars to get a good chair", it sounds that anything cheaper than the Jyamar is not a "good chair", which is basically not true. While as I mentioned that the Jaymar is a very well built quality chairs and for you and many others can be a very good choice, IMHO they are not very comfortable. At the same time I did not mean to start a flame war here, and if I misunderstood you, accept my apologies.

Thanks Roman. No flames from me. I've appreciated reading your posts on the forum, relating your own experiences. In my post, I did not mean to imply anything other than a what i selected was inferior. For others, it is likley to be something else. No right or wrong, just our own criteria, circumstances and perceived value.

Take care,
Shake1

Blankenship;
The listing from Shake1, with the addition of Berkline as noted by RSH, should provide you with most of the significant players in HT seating.
I just went through the selection process and it took me almost 6 months to locate and test the seats I was really interested in. Test sitting for at least 30 minutes, more if possible, in any seats you are seriously considering should be done if you can. I can tell you that if I had bought from what I saw on websites without testing them out I would have a real problems with with upper management at home!
I approached the process from the vantage point of how much I liked the seats as my 1st priority and price was secondary. That doesn't mean price was irrelevant as my 1st choice was CinemaTech and spending as much on seating as I was for a new car for my son didn't jive with my priorities. Deals are available on seating like everything else in our hobby.
For what it is worth, my selection was Fortress. The price was "competitive".
More importantly it was a combination of the comfort, quality and design that sold me. Testing it side-by-side with CinemaTech, considered top of the heap, helped answer questions too.
The reason I mention Fortress is that you can get what you want with them. While I went with motorized chairs it was a close call vs. the manual relcine mechanism. It worked very well. Check out the website to see the various designs they offer. They can be made firmer, softer, larger, smaller, etc...anything you can imagine they can do, for a price. But there is great flexibility in their standard offerings.
This is such a personal decision that I don't think there is a right or wrong answer from any poster here. Only your brain can tell you how comfortable your body is in any seat and how you will feel about it 3-4 hours from when you sit down.
I would also suggest you turn each seat over to see how they are constructed. There are differences "under the covers" and that is why similar looking seats can be priced over such a wide range. Of course, some manufacturers just price their seats absurdly high but you will weed them out of the process as you recognize the value just isn't there.
Your timing is close. Most good quality seats need to be constructed just for you and a waiting time of 6-8 weeks is not unheard of. So get out there and start testing. Let us know what you try and how you like it.
Good luck!
BP

I'm building a new house with a dedicated home theater room and just trying to get up to speed on chairs. I've heard some brand names like: Douglas, Palliser, Berkline, DirectorsCollection and StudioCollection. Are there some other names I should be looking at? Could anyone in the know please lend some advice. My preference would be for black leather, well made with a quality manual mechanism and a clean, contemporary design...I don't really go for the overstuffed Lazyboy look.

Thanks in advance for your help!!! :)

My question on this is where you found so many seats to sit in? I would come to NY (from DC) if you could tell me what store had what, how frustrating this is!!!


I have most internet info memorised (or so it seems) but won't buy anything I haven't sat in. I am looking for a living room style 3 piece w/adj headrests.

In the Berks the only choice is 075 but can't get heat but still haven't found 1 to even test fit

Mark

Thanks for eveyone's help. I think I'm leaning toward the Jaymar 59000 Series motorized chairs.

www.acousticinnovations.com/theater_chairs.htm

www.cineloungers.com/cineloungers.html

Hey Opi;
You are right, it wasn't easy to track down these seats to test them out. It took a fair amount of web work and then phone calls to get it all set up. Can't tell you how many times web sites identify a store that carries their product but when you go there they never seem to have them on display.
I am more than happy to give you the locations where I was able to try them out if you PM me and tell me which brand you are interested in.
I live just north of NYC and was able to try out a few brands there but they were in furniture stores, not HT stores. I still found the visits valuable.
I do know a guy in southern Jersey who makes seats at a very attractive price with the Acoustic Innovations factory used by AI before they changed recently. That shouldn't be too far from you.
Let me know if there is anything I can do to help you loacate the seats you want to test.
Take care.
BP

My question on this is where you found so many seats to sit in? I would come to NY (from DC) if you could tell me what store had what, how frustrating this is!!!


I have most internet info memorised (or so it seems) but won't buy anything I haven't sat in. I am looking for a living room style 3 piece w/adj headrests.

In the Berks the only choice is 075 but can't get heat but still haven't found 1 to even test fit

Mark

Cineak Luxury Seating

Anyone ever get to sit and test Elitehts chairs? How much better are they compared to say Jaymars (Bass)? I am looking to buy 8 motorized chairs in the next week or two and nailed down to Jaymar, Elitehts, Eliteleather dot com, Bradington Young. Jaymars, Eliteleather, and Branding Young cost 40% less than Elitehts. So, I would like to know if elitehts chairs are that much better to pay that much more.

In furniture world, I hear top rating for anything leather made by Bradington Young and Hancock & Moore.

Any opinions on Elitehts chairs is appreciated? Thanks.

I purchased the Lane hollywood chairs because I found them the most comfortable chairs on the market. I tried berklines, lazyboy and many of the others.

Anyone have Natuzzi Theater chairs with motor recline? I've seen couple of styles at Scan furniture store and they look very very stylish, comfortable, and LOOK well built. How do these compare to Jaymar's in overall quality?

Natuzzi's are costing almost the same as Jaymars from a very famous store in NC but the delivery time is over 16-weeks while for Jaymars it around 6-weeks.

Because Natuzzi must come from China now; Jaymar from Canada.

Jaymar or Accoustic Innovations

Anyone know of a place to get wholesale?

If money were not object I would be looking at these.
http://www.tktheaters.com/seats/

Thanks for eveyone's help. I think I'm leaning toward the Jaymar 59000 Series motorized chairs.

Did you decide on the Jaymar? If so, how do you like them?

I am currently looking at several lines to put on top of my D-BOX SRP-230 (http://www.d-box.com/en/home-theatre/motion-platform/srp-230/).

I was looking at CinemaTech and Cineak, but they want crazy rediculous money for their chairs.

Then, I started to look at Berkline and dicussed using them on top of the D-BOX motion platform with Roman and we decided that they probably would not handle all of the motion.

So, I'm now looking for something of higher build quality than Berkline and not as expensive as CinemaTech or Cineak. I have landed on Jaymar.

Jaymar was selected by D-BOX as the first seating manufacture to offer the D-BOX actuators "built-in" and they seem to be one of the only recliner/loveseat configuration that is built as a single unit (not two chairs put together like a sectional). So, this is why I want to get your opinions on the Jaymar line. A few comments in here scare me as they mention that they are not very comfortable.

Some of the Jaymars were not comfortable at all when I tried them, but the ones that they use for D-Box - 3xx series were quite comfortable and good looking too.

Since Jaymar does not show the 300 line on their web site, I have uploaded the files that I received from Jaymar in this post.

Jaymar 351 is the one that I like the most - very comfortable recliner.

ckenisell,
It sounds like you already have your platform? I was able to sit in the 352 at the Furniture Market in High Point, NC a few weeks ago and can tell you it is quite comfortable and a very stylish seat. I was able to get a nice demo of the seat hooked up to a D-BOX system and can tell you that the D Box functions very well with this chair. Jaymar has reinforced the plywood frame of the seat to withstand the motion. You beat me to posting the .pdf files, but I'll post some photos of the underside of the frame and a couple other photos of the chair I took myself, tomorrow when I'm back in the office.

The Jaymars, in general, tend to sit more firmly than Berklines. I personally like a more firm seat and find most of the models comfortable. But this is a matter of taste as some people prefer more of a "cushy" seat. I have a Jaymar model in my office and find it very comfortable and one of my favorite models out of any ht seats. The finish (stitching and attention to detail) on their seats is very good quality. They do not offer leather match (leather in seating area and matching vinyl on sides and back) so any prices you see are full leather.

Ken,

Actually it was 352 that they have had as a demo chair at the Market. I personally like the 351 better.

You're right... typo. I just edited it. Still same opinion of it, though.

Sounds like I can't go wrong either way and I like the look of the 352 better than the 351. Some pictures of the underside would be fantastic Ken. Thanks in advance.

Sorry for the delay in posting these but I did not get a chance yesterday. Here are two (very similar) photos of the underside showing the reinforced frame for the D-Box-ready Model 352 Jaymar is making, and another photo I took of the 352 shown in black leather.

Jaymar 352 with D-Box Motion Actuators (http://www.stargatecinema.com/home/theater/seating/Jaymar-352.jpg)

Jaymar 352 underside with D-Box Motion Actuators 1 (http://www.stargatecinema.com/home/theater/seating/Jaymar-352-D-Box-1.jpg)

Jaymar 352 underside with D-Box Motion Actuators 2 (http://www.stargatecinema.com/home/theater/seating/Jaymar-352-D-Box-2.jpg)

Let me know if you have any questions.

Sorry for the delay in posting these but I did not get a chance yesterday. Here are two (very similar) photos of the underside showing the reinforced frame for the D-Box-ready Model 352 Jaymar is making, and another photo I took of the 352 shown in black leather.

Jaymar 352 with D-Box Motion Actuators (http://www.stargatecinema.com/home/theater/seating/Jaymar-352.jpg)

Jaymar 352 underside with D-Box Motion Actuators 1 (http://www.stargatecinema.com/home/theater/seating/Jaymar-352-D-Box-1.jpg)

Jaymar 352 underside with D-Box Motion Actuators 2 (http://www.stargatecinema.com/home/theater/seating/Jaymar-352-D-Box-2.jpg)

Let me know if you have any questions.

This is great. Thanks Ken.

It looks like the build quality is very nice and, I'm sure, Jaymar has done plenty of testing to verify that the plywood would hold up under extreme D-BOX conditions.

The pictures of the bottom of the chair seem to suggest that I could always add actuators to the bottom of the chair if I purchased it without the D-BOX system. I guess that would mean that it's "D-BOX ready" at any time and I can add it later.

The pictures of the bottom of the chair seem to suggest that I could always add actuators to the bottom of the chair if I purchased it without the D-BOX system. I guess that would mean that it's "D-BOX ready" at any time and I can add it later.

Yes, exactly. The only question that comes to mind is how the controller box gets mounted inside the arm. There is a cutout in the plywood in the side but that would be upholstered. I did not ask that when I was there but can find out.

Yes, exactly. The only question that comes to mind is how the controller box gets mounted inside the arm. There is a cutout in the plywood in the side but that would be upholstered. I did not ask that when I was there but can find out.

That's okay. You don't have to ask. I appreciate the pics and the info.