How To A Beginner’s Guide to Home Theater (1 Viewer)

[Simon-Hans]

Aha, from this I understand that my set-up is not to be called a Home Theatre OK, fair enough, so I call it my "surround set-up". Anyway , I enjoy the forum, and I enjoy my set up!.....

Never the less the list of properties (Shawn shared with us) is an interesting one. Can we add more? Personally I would say that the floor should NOT be concrete, but be able to pick up the subwoofers frequencies.
Property number 3, I simply don't agree. Yes they should match, but not every manufacturer has the same strength.

groetjes, Simon-Hans

 

[Mysto]

Aha, from this I understand that my set-up is not to be called a Home Theatre OK, fair enough, so I call it my "surround set-up". Anyway , I enjoy the forum, and I enjoy my set up!.....

Never the less the list of properties (Shawn shared with us) is an interesting one. Can we add more? Personally I would say that the floor should NOT be concrete, but be able to pick up the subwoofers frequencies.
Property number 3, I simply don't agree. Yes they should match, but not every manufacturer has the same strength.

groetjes, Simon-Hans

Welcome to the Forum Simon-Hans. I don't have a home theater either. My sound system is too small and my screen is too large.
Just join in - a lot of friendly folks here.

 

[JohnRice]

Personally I would say that the floor should NOT be concrete, but be able to pick up the subwoofers frequencies.

Having had many floors that vibrate, I can say without a doubt, that a solid floor is definitely preferable. After all, how many movie theaters have floors that vibrate? A concrete subfloor is a great thing to have. Far fewer resonances. It's not the floor that should be carrying the bass waves, but the air itself.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Aha, from this I understand that my set-up is not to be called a Home Theatre OK, fair enough, so I call it my "surround set-up". Anyway , I enjoy the forum, and I enjoy my set up!.....

Never the less the list of properties (Shawn shared with us) is an interesting one. Can we add more? Personally I would say that the floor should NOT be concrete, but be able to pick up the subwoofers frequencies.
Property number 3, I simply don't agree. Yes they should match, but not every manufacturer has the same strength.

groetjes, Simon-Hans

Don't let what others have said here deter you from calling what you have a home theater. A home theater is what you make of it, as John, Sam, myself, and a few others have stated in response to those few who said otherwise.

Merriam-Webster defines a Home Theater as:

an entertainment system for the home that usually consists of a large television with video components (such as a DVD player and VCR) and an audio system offering surround sound.

 

[Pupp]

I disagree with the OP.

I think the minimum requirement for a home theater is a 3 channel soundbar and a seperate subwoofer...
...which is feasable well under $500.

Everybody has a budget.

I have a budget, it's more than most beginners, but about 1/3 of what I'd really like to spend.

I guess my budget is about $3500 + installation, with about 50% for the AV reviever alone.
-Getting used speakers saves about $2,000 on my build cost, keeping it well under $4,000, including installation.

I'd have to inherit money to afford what the local AV shop has in their luxery high end room. (It was a Klipsch setup though.) The bass rolled through the room like butter.

 

[JohnRice]

This monster simply won't die. Let's get one thing clear... again. The OP (Todd) never stated a "minimum requirement" for a home theater. This thread is not intended to be about minimum requirements.

 

[Pupp]

I wanted to mention, and not start a new thread...

Therr is a huge difference between budgetand high end AV recievers.

At my old house, I ran a 5.1 with Paradigm MillenniaOne Speakers and an UltraCube 10", powered by an Anthem MRX 520.

The Anthem died... during a lighting storm, and as a bandaid, replaced it with a $450 Yamaha reciever for a few months...

The difference was clear. The sub $500 Yamaha sounded weaker, softer, and not as nearly as loud as the Anthem MRX 520. Stuff like the breaking glass on Terminator 2 was soft and sorta blended into the background, compared to The Anthem, where the breaking glass was loud and indredibly crisp.

That's not to say the Yamaha sucked. For $450, it did a pretty decent job, considering the price point.

 

[Sam Posten]

YES. The best home theatre is the one you have and are able to afford. Start there and upgrade over time! It’s not a contest!

 

[Lord Dalek]

Oh wow. My tv set is 6" shorter than the req'd minimum. Guess I am failure at home theater building. >_>

Since this article was published, I have aquired a tv that is 55". I am now a minimal HT'er. Tremble before me.

 

[Mysto]

The bump in posting got me looking in here again. I noticed a few people in here have a very low post number. They were either trolling, or much more disturbing decided not to continue on the forum.
I'm not so sure this thread should exist. A new person interested in home theater might jump in here and then decide this is not the forum for them.

In all fairness, someone that loves theater should strive to set up the best experience they can based on their real estate and funds. Over time we can continue to make it better and we do that with the help of others here who have gone on before.

 

[Todd Erwin]

In all fairness, someone that loves theater should strive to set up the best experience they can based on their real estate and funds. Over time we can continue to make it better and we do that with the help of others here who have gone on before.

Which was the entire point of this article. The few who sidelined it are trolls who are still on the forum, as far as I can tell.

 

[Old Dog]

Being a recent new addition to this (indeed any HT Forum), I thought this would be a good place to start. To be honest I got a bit of a surprise (shock) to see some of the early comments.
Mysto, you are quite right, those sort of comments (attitude) could certainly put some people off. It is certainly not what I expected to find. Fortunately, I continued reading and was pleased to see the tone changed during the course of the post, thanks predominantly to Sam, Mysto and Todd (to name a few). The real purpose of these forums, I thought, was to share experiences, offer advice and help others, quite possibly less fortunate than oneself, achieve something they can be proud of and really enjoy - no matter what shape or form it may take. Everything and everyone are not created equal in this world! Good to know some members with the same ethics. Looking forward to constructive time here.

 

[JohnRice]

Being a recent new addition to this (indeed any HT Forum), I thought this would be a good place to start. To be honest I got a bit of a surprise (shock) to see some of the early comments.
Mysto, you are quite right, those sort of comments (attitude) could certainly put some people off. It is certainly not what I expected to find. Fortunately, I continued reading and was pleased to see the tone changed during the course of the post, thanks predominantly to Sam, Mysto and Todd (to name a few). The real purpose of these forums, I thought, was to share experiences, offer advice and help others, quite possibly less fortunate than oneself, achieve something they can be proud of and really enjoy - no matter what shape or form it may take. Everything and everyone are not created equal in this world! Good to know some members with the same ethics. Looking forward to constructive time here.

It's unfortunate that particular individual tried to derail the thread, but it's going to happen from time to time.

There's a wide range of approaches and we just try to help people with questions and to understand how to improve their systems. I'm definitely more interested in sound reproduction, while being perfectly happy with the reasonably priced Vizio P Series TV I got in 2020. Sam, for example, is hoping to move to a laser projector, which is something I have no interest in.

 

[Old Dog]

The world can be a strange place these days! I am not sure how much it has to do with modern technology and the ability to remain "hidden" behind a screen. I wonder whether some conversations would be the same if held in person? But that's another topic.
I purchased my first HIFI system over 40 years ago (only into HT for the past 6), hence sound is a huge interest for me too. I am sure my taste may not be typical HT at this time (if there is such a thing?). You would probably understand better if I outlined my audio set up. Certainly not "real HT" as only around half of it is HT based, the other half is HiFi. But then, I don't actually strive to achieve the best in anything. That may sound rather defeatest, I just try to achieve something that works for me. Hence, I think Sams previous comment truly hits the mark:

The best home theatre is the one you have and are able to afford. Start there and upgrade over time! It’s not a contest!

 

[Edwin-S]

Merriam-Webster defines a Home Theater as:

Wow. When I defined a "home theatre" in the same terms as the Merriam-Webster dictionary, I got accused of being an "elitist" who was trying to impose his "made-up" definition as a standard.

Edit: Hell, my definition was even looser than M-W, because I said screen size didn't matter. It was the bare minimum of what is found in a modern theater which is the means to produce an image and surround sound, whether every film takes advantage of surround sound or not.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

But then, I don't actually strive to achieve the best in anything. That may sound rather defeatest, I just try to achieve something that works for me.

That’s absolutely my goal as well. There are areas of home theater that are more interesting to me than others, and then just everyday practical matters to take into consideration. I don’t have a room to dedicate so my setup is more of a multipurpose variety, and I have to be mindful of volume when watching late at night, so while I appreciate how loud a dedicated setup in a soundproofed room can be, that’s not my goal.

But what I have works for me. When the kids go to bed, my wife and I can sit on the couch, pull down the projection screen in front of where the the TV hangs, and watch a movie on a very big screen with some nice 5.1 surround, and that’s really quite a nice thing for us. It may not be as good as the most sophisticated system on this forum but it’s better than what most people have in their homes and brings us a lot of enjoyment.

 

[Old Dog]

Certainly feeling I am on the same page as the majority of posters on this thread, or is it you guys are on the same page as me?

 

[Sam Posten]

Since this got bumped for me today by new likes I’d like to suggest @Todd Erwin re-release his awesome article without this baggage. Since this rev is already weighed down I’m just gonna add this here:

What Is Gatekeeping in Gaming?

Gatekeeping is a toxic practice that excludes people from communities, here's what it is and how it ruins gaming.

www.makeuseof.com

 

[Edwin-S]

Posting that is offensive because it appears to accuse others, without evidence, that they are toxic and trying to exclude people based merely on having some minimum standard for what qualifies a "home theater".

If someone wants to say that a 20" B&W CRT with mono sound is a "home theater" because that is all some one can afford or cares to spend is entirely their right, but that doesn't make it true.

No one ever referred to a TV set with an internal TV speaker as a home theater. It only became "home theater" when a person could produce, in their home, the approximate conditions for sound and picture from an actual movie theater. It isn't "gatekeeping" or enforcing exclusivity.

 

[Sam Posten]

It is