Is a home theater even worth it or doable?

I have a tannoy home theater kit, 5 satellites and a sub, run by a nice sony amp. Sounds great! I play DVD, bluray, and 4k through the oppo 103.

@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.

@waytoomuchstuff

Interesting comments, can you please post your system in your profile? You are spot on when you talk about power being key. In my my system I have one 500 watt multichannel amp that powers 4 satellite speakers in my height channels which are easy loads. Every other speaker is either active, being fed power by a 150 watt (woofer) and a also a 50 watt (tweeter) internal monoblock, or a dedicated two channel 100 watt amp (back surrounds). My Sunfire subs are being driven by a 1400 watt amp. When you add it all up that is about 6000 watts +- driving my 9.2.8 system. It isn't designed to sound loud, its designed to sound effortless.

@kota1

Yes, I’ve been too lazy to get my system profile(s) up (5 total). Sorry. My HT set up is essentially at Kaleidescape-based system with big Marantz receiver, B&W’s all around (ATMOs) and Sunfire sub. This is what I settled for after retirement. We chose a motorhome over the ultimate HT. It was the right call for us. In my "part time" 75-hour work week, I was heavily involved with Marantz, Mac and Arcam electronics (and some Sony ES, Pioneer Elite and Denon). Along with B&W, we used Golden Ear, Klipsch, and JL Audio subs. REL subs were on my "wish list" but I hit the eject button on my career before this happened. Separates are far more definitive in my experience. Even at low volume levels.

My post was centered around the dedication to those who write and produce movies. I’ve discovered that there is a lot that goes into the most mediocre of scenes that is under appreciated (or, lost entirely) without the right setup. Hearing things at home the way the sound engineer intended certainly adds a level of enjoyment and appreciation for the work.

Sounds like you’re still at it. Good luck with that.

I will tell my (2 channel guy) story:

Dont watch much TV. Just had a tele on the wall and couple crappy B&W wall mount speakers. Then I added a Velodyne Micro Vee sub. wow much improvement.

New GF likes streaming movies and with all the new HD concerts on the YouTubes i figured I would build up a modest AV platform. Gots new Tele, got a Denon AV receiver on close out, those are alway available for considerable discount. Added a couple of nice used bookshelf speakers and then got another deal on a used nice center channel from LD. Then got lucky and a friend gave me a nice DAC. Kept the Velodyne sub. All in proly got ~$3k totally invested in I suppose what would be called a 3.1 system. Don’t really need the surround stuff for my requirements. Just added a cheap blue ray player the other day to primarily watch music performances.

It took some time and frustration to get the AV dialed in to make the system balanced and sounding good. Lots a knobs to turn and new things to learn about the set up.

To anwser you question: I think its totally worth doing as you can go as small or as big as you want and make the system sound a bunch better than a fancy sound bar. And totally worth doing if you like watching concerts. I just checked out a blue ray from the library of Sonny Rollins 1965 performance in Denmark with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on standup bass. Alan Dawson in drums, Dawson taught some of the most famous jazz drummers in the world. After watching this I am soooo glad I invested.

https://www.jazzicons.com/ji3_rollins.html