How to Build Your Own Home Theater - Part 1 of 4 - Page 3

Yup. See Ch 13 of Toole's book. Here's a teaser:

Uhmmm, Ii think it goes without saying that we want to replicate the good theatre experience, not the crappy $1 theatre.

Your comment regarding 35mm projector is just silly

1. Most theatres now use digital projection
2. It's not about bringing the theatre Equipment home but bringing the theatre experience home

This article was not meant to be a "only one way approach" to home theater, but meant to give ideas and maybe prevent mistakes by a beginner when building a home theater. Everyone is different. That's why there are so many variations of projectors, sound systems and movie formats. I also believe that the article was discussing the use of small rooms.

Hehehe........I was thinking the same thing. For me my "theater experience" at home is better than at a "real theater" for some of the reasons you mentioned above. The only advantage the "real theater" has over mine is screen size.

And if you sit at 1sw, your screen is plenty big. I sit 10' back from a 10' wide screen for 2.35 material. It's a little overwhelming for 16:9 material, though, so I move back to the second row for that.

Mistakes... you mean like light-colored walls? THOSE types of mistakes?

Thats right. And the equivalent of the commercial theater would be a bus. I wouldn't want a bus just like I don't want my "home theater" to be like a commercial theater. And although a Ferrari is a nice car, it is mostly for showing off, and I wouldn't pay that amount of money just for show off purposes.

When buying a car you choose one that fits your needs and budget and you do the same when creating a "home theater". It is not useful to tell people that they need certain things in order to qualify for a mere title - "Home Theater". What is useful is to help people get the best experience for their needs within their budget.

For me going to a projector with a screen had a vast positive impact on the way I experience movies. My projector is some years old now and I would really like to upgrade to one with higher contrast. On the other hand my relatively cheap KEF satellite speakers and sub are perfectly fine for me. I never felt the need for something better and listening to speakers of much higher price didn't make me feel that I want to spend that amount of money to get what for me was only marginally better.

An IB sub with 8 AE IB-15 woofers is not just "marginally better" than your KEF sub. I do get the point you are trying to make... but I mean... really...

BTW, I love KEF speakers... one of my all time faves... up there with Dynaudio (what I have).

This is the key to what a Home Theater is. When you hear the term, what do you envision in your mind? I would say most people envision a dedicated space with a riser for each successive row of seating, a projector, surround sound, etc.

It makes me think of a room with a banging sound system with a projector or very large screen tv. Nothing else.

So... it could be a bedroom then?

Sure. Bedroom/living room. Living room would make more sense but it defiantly doesn't have to be a "dedicated" room at all.

Woot! I found my dvi>15 pin connecter from my old Power Mac. I'm going to get a dvi>hdmi and see if it works with my brother's In Focus projector. If it does we have the making of a real low budget home theater.

You guys can call your "true home theaters" what ever you want. Though, I believe that the description "true home theater" is a little misleading in the first place and is causing much confusion. The majority of the people here that claim that their setup is a "true home theater" are logically attempting to replicate a theater itself, and not just for the experience.

In my room I use a 22" HD Monitor with a TV Tuner, a PC streaming 5.1 PCM audio to my Yamaha RX-V663 with Polk Audio 2xM40, 2xM30s, CS1, & a JBL PS-1200W. When all of this hardware processes a movie in 1080p with DTS-HD Master Audio or Dolby TrueHD it sounds better and is a better experience than any movie "theater" that I've been in. That being said, it would be silly for me to consider my setup a "home theater".

I am not trying to replicate a theater or create a "true home theater" in any way. What I did try to do was create a higher quality sound experience for which I have succeeded to my taste. For me, that is a "true accomplishment". I would rather watch movies on my setup than to attend any "true theater" any day! That is all that matters to me and I am happy.

^^^
most sensible, logical and factual post on this thread. Kudos!!

So if I have a 20" CRT with an old dolby receiver in a dedicated room, does that make it a home theater? Or if I have a 70" projector with 5.1 surround sound but somebody else has a 120" projector with 7.1 surround sound both in dedicated rooms, does that not make mine a home theater since the other person has a bigger setup? How can any Home Theater compare with a properly setup commercial theater with stadium seating, 40' wide screen, 20'+ ceilings, multiple speakers arrayed around a large space?

A home theater is just a place in your house where you have a nice TV and some sort of surround system that you enjoy watching movies in. Yes, some are better and more expensive than others but they are all home theaters, just at different levels.

The post above shows the misunderstanding of screen size. It's not the screen size that matters. It's the screen size vs viewing distance ratio that matters.

Yes you can't have 370" screen, but then again you don't watch is from 60ft away. But if you have 10ft screen viewed from 10ft away than visually you'll have the same theater experience as in the commercial theatres.

A person with 50" TV viewed from 7ft away will have a more theatrical experience than someone with a 65" TV viewed from 14ft away.

Would love to go back to the mid '80s where people with a 27" TV with a surround set up (including myself) calling their set up as "home theatre". Did I enjoyed my set up back then? Yes! Did I call it a home theatre? No! Why? Because it's just NOT a home theatre!

ahhh the simple times.

Seems like semantics are causing problems...

"Home Theater" means different things to different people obviously.

Not many can afford a home (with dedicated square footage) to have the "true" Home Theater, complete with the uber expensive equipment.

I think that most people would call any area that incorporates a big screen TV and (at least) a 5.1 surround system their home theater. Sorry if this offends some but their reality is not mine or yours.

It's the experience people want to replicate in the home... not the equipment, not the screen size, and not the dimensions.

Can this experience be possible without a huge screen and projector?
Does a 5.1 system convey the experience, or is 7.1/2 or 11.3 necessary?
Opinions will vary... but that's life!

For me I want to be emersed in the movie in my downstairs family room, just like at the theater. I have a 54" LED TV with a 7.2 AVR that will do height/wide/rear. I have that emersion into the movies I watch.

Do I have a home theater? Many may say no, others will say absolutely! All I know is with the limits of the space I have, I have done the best I could to get that experience, and I am very pleased with the results!

If you are happy with your results you have acheived in replicating that experience, then I would say that qualifies as your "home theater".
Too bad if others would disagree or are insulted at such a thought.

And just to be perfectly clear, I do not call it a "home theater"... it's the TV room... with a kick ass picture and sound system! (Kinda hard to imagine "Spongebob Squarepants" or the evening news as home theater material!)

It's interesting that people who, more than likely, are better off than others, with their dedicated "true" home theaters; would actually be insulted if people with less means(see: the majority) called their rooms a home theater. As if us lesser people aren't deserving of the title, which is only reserved for the proper class.

I'd suggest you actually read what your writing and see how ridiculous you all are being. Allow others to have their fun too. Are BMW M3s, Ferraris, Porches, etc the only cars allowed to be called sport cars?

Personally, I've always called my dedicated room either a game room or an entertainment room. But I think my simple room with a couch, TV and 5.1 will be called a Home Theater from this day forth.

Snobs.

Nobody resorted to name calling until you came along. Thanks so much for your valuable contribution to the discussion. BTW, I have a full home theater with 10' screen and tiered seating. But you almost certainly make more money than I. It's not about being a snob or being in the "proper class". It's about priorities. There are many things I do without... like a wife and kids.

Money has nothing to do in terms of building home theatre and entertainment system. I know of many people whose ONE speaker cost more than my entire home theatre yet they opt to take the entertainment room route.

Funny enough, most of these type of people I know never call their system as Home Theatre because they realize what is a true definition of Home Theatre is.

So true. So true.

Quite an interesting thread to follow. I see that Part 2 is up. I'll have to go read that.

I think that's an excellent yardstick to determine what a "Home Theater" is.

In my family room I have a 52" LCD and 5.1 audio. I don't consider it a Home Theater. Downstairs I have a projector (92" @ 1.78, 117" @ 2.40) and 5.1 in a dedicated room. Everyone that has seen the downstairs room (that didn't come to watch a movie, for example the HVAC repairman, or parents coming to pick up their kids in the next room), have said "Nice Theater". No one said that about our Family Room.

I think it's a matter of presentation, not of price or size.

+1

Within any conversation that ends up with me showing the pic of my HT, 100%, without exception, people will say "oh, you have a REAL home theatre"... And these are NOT A/V enthusiasts. So even the non enthusiasts differentiate between the "so-called home theatre" vs the "true home theatre.

I would have to say that the theater experience trumps equipment/materials in this debate. And since everyone's home theater experience is entirely subjective, that's a likely reason why a man who has surpassed the specs of an IMAX theatre in his own home won't ever convince a kid living in his parents' basement that his 40-incher, HTIB, and parents' old living room sectional couch isn't a "home theater". When his buddies (or girlfriend) come over and watch a movie, and the lights are out, it's a theater-like experience for them. I doubt any in attendance leave the basement thinking, "gee, that movie would've been great if only he had tiered seating, a subterranean basement, and a front projection screen". Of course, it wouldn't hurt to have a setup like David Susilo or some of the other posters above, and one day I look forward to progressing to that level. However, for now, I thoroughly enjoy movies on my puny 47-incher, 6.1, single couch system, complete with self-repleneshing Juicy Juice stains thanks to my four year old. Hey, that last "feature" counts towards having a true theater, doesn't it? Kudos to all who have contributed to this discussion in a positive way that encourages sharing of ideas and opinions without condescension and insults. PS - Love the use of red, white, and blue, Mr. Susilo.

You welcome. It has nothing to do with priorities. The point is that Home Theater is a vague term that defines a theater(or movie watching) experience for the user at Home. When others actually get offended when someone calls their room a Home Theater when it doesn't live up to "their opinion" of what a Home theater should be, that is the issue.


But hey, if it makes you and others feel better to say that you have a real home theater and others don't. More power to ya. I'll be enjoying my Home Theater now.

You are putting words in my mouth. I never said this.

Being brought up in the '70s and '80s, the time when the term "home theatre" starting to become popular, "Home Theatre" can only mean "a theatre... but at home". It's the English language, pure and simple.

The dilution of the term "Home Theatre" start to happen around 1997 during the introduction of the DVD format where companies (Kenwood, to be exact) start with an entry level Home Theatre in a Box (nobody ever used this term before Kenwood) package.

This results in more and more companies diluting the terms "Home Theatre" even further, down to the $59 so-called "HTiB" that includes a DVD player, 5 single-driver plastic-enclosure speakers and a fist-size "subwoofer" that doesn't even go lower than 80 Hz.

So the general meaning of Home Theatre becomes a "free-for-all" term.

Some people with old-school approach call their 100" Sim2 with 2-channel Wilson Audio system in their dedicated corner (not room) as their entertainment system, while some people with new-school approach call their 19" HDTV with the $59 WalMart HTiB set up as their "home theatre". NOTHING wrong with either approach in terms of "you enjoy whatever you want to enjoy". Often times when I'm not in the mood, I prefer my 50" plasma, BD player and sound coming from its own puny crud-tastic speakers over my dedicated room. However, what one enjoys does not change the fact that "Home Theatre" should always be a "theatre... but at home"

Another example, I drive a 2011 VW GTI 2-door with Stage 1 upgrade. Do I love my car? yes! Does it make my car a "sports car"? heck no! Can I call my car a "sports car" of course, it's my right to call it whatever I want... but still it is NOT THE CORRECT TERM because that car is NOT a "sports car"

but hey, English is my second language, so I try to adhere to the actual meaning of the words/terms, not the generalization of said words/terms.

Well, I have real home theater...
It's 7.1 Dolby Digital surround sound...