@cody012
Some advice from a guy who’s been designing and installing home theater systems before the term "home theater" existed. Think "Kloss Novabeam".
Audiophiles have some reverence for the artists and composers who created the work. When we’re fully resonating with the performance we make the connection between ourselves and the creative genius behind what we are experiencing. To classfy this is "special" is an understatement. That’s why we throw real money and time into assembling these purveyors of art.
"Movie buffs" have a similar admiration for the work and those who created it. Someone wrote a story. Someone thought story was interesting enough to develop it into a movie. What follows is a screenplay and an accumulation of talent that in some cases produces a piece that will live on thru the millennia. Wardrobe, casting, lighting, sound, and actors and actresses who don’t just play the part, but become the part. Just like an epic recording where all the stars line up and everyone involved reaches deep inside and produces the best performances of their lifetime, we are "gifted" with something truly unique that may happen on once in a lifetime.
I view "home theater" as something a couple of ’pay grades" above the "A-ticket amusement park ride" that is often attributed to "home theater". Don’t get me wrong, being pinned back into your seat as sounds whirl around you can be pretty amazing. But, that’s a small, narrow view of watching movies at home.
The target objective for "home theater" is in the form of a question: "Did the writer’s story get told?" Were all of the creative elements portrayed in my home to a degree where I "got it" and felt like "I was there?"
Some of my favorite (and, most effective) demos were of simple restaurant scenes where "nothing is going on" except dialog between the two main characters. Enter the high-performance surround sound system. You hear other conversations. The clanking of glasses and silverware, and the sense of the space the characters are in. Not to mention that the dialong between the charactiers is highly intelligible, and the emotion of the charactiers is presented more accurately. Extend this level of performance to more complex (and, engergetic) scenes and you get the sense of what "home theater" is all about. Low performing system don’t even come close.
Some of the impactful music ever written just happens to be on movie soundtracks. The movie Stardust is a fun ride, with an excellent cliassical music soundtrack, for example.
As for equipment, I’ll start with subwoofers:
Activity on the screen is happening at the speed of light. Sloppy cones just can’t keep up with it. The flash of an explosion happens on the screen and is gone before the sound get to us, then lingers far after the moment of visual impact departs. You’re supposed to be startled, yet what you are experiencing is a slow motion, time-delayed portrayal of the event. It takes real power and precision for a subwoofer to do its job -- correctly. It takes quality AND quantity. Not easy to do on a tight budget. But, do the best you can. Just don’t overlook this aspect of system performance.
Receivers can do a decent job of putting you there. I’d recommend experiencing "better stuff" to see if the investment is worth the money for you. Higher resolution results in more information in the space. Your ears (and brain) may appreciate the difference.
So, in my view, the heros of the "home theater system" are those who create the content. Movie lovers may want to be just as committed to "getting it right" as we are with our music systems. That is IF we want the storyteller’s story to be accurately "told" in our homes.
