Anyone else just not bothered by home theatre?

[Ron Texas]

I have a 65" TV in my main system which is 2 channel with 2 subs. I don't feel the need for surround.

 

[Midwest Blade]

Sound quality is highly important in both my 2.0 set ups, one being for more critical listening while the other serving as both somewhat serious and casual listening. Condo living is not condusive to home theater and it has really faded from our routine. We are generally not big on all the latest action movies so it was without regret we disassembled the 5.1 system several years ago. I can see a benefit to adding a center channel for TV/Movie watching as to me it does seem to clear up certain dialogue. As with music I do prefer movie audio tracks that are well produced where you can hear the actors and action.

As usual, different strokes for everyone, the best multi channel music/video content I have heard was from AIX records.

 

[JeffS7444]

Besides tech wonders like "Kung Fu Panda" (marvelous sound effects), even with some older movies, much of the meaning is delivered via the soundtrack: Jacques Tati's movies for instance: Even from earlier movies like "Jour de Fete", you have visual/audible gags galore such as the protagonist being pursued by an unseen bee. This use of sound to deliver gags continues with his later movies "Mr. Hulot's Holiday" and "Mon Oncle" and is finely honed in "Playtime" with it's nutty waiting room scene.

 

[MattHooper]

My partner, a photographer, feels exactly the same way as you, and has been making noises about getting a bigger screen in the living room.

FWIW, I feel exactly the same way about people who can be perfectly happy listening to music on any old crappy system.

Yes it's interesting to ruminate on possible differences between movies and music in this context.
It doesn't seem to me that producers of popular music are losing sleep over the many ways people listen to music (including laptops, ear buds, etc).
Though I am aware of many film-makers who worked their butts off on multi-million dollar efforts, designed with the aim of being seen on The Big Screen, cringing at the idea of people watching them on an iphone (or ipad/laptop).

Though one can also make the argument that things are *better* now even at their worst. For much of the past, once a movie was finished it's theatrical run, it was only seen on TV - for years black and white and then even in colour, the size of the image was still small and the resolution very low. Now, though one can bemoan the size of a smartphone screen, it is still far higher image quality than old TV sets.

Over a half century old, but only just.

Ok, cool. I was simply curious if some of it was an age thing (as in you were older and set in your ways). I'm 56 myself.

I have found it very interesting to expose people to movie and music experiences they think they normally "don't care about."
I'm a bit of a fanatic about detail and presentation. My projection-based home theater has a blacked out wall around the screen, and black velvet curtains are pulled along all the walls for viewing, with the effect being, with lights out, the room truly disappears from view and it's just you and this huge, immersive image. It really does change the experience.

Plenty of people who "don't care about home theater stuff" have ended up thrilled watching movies in this set-up. They say things later like "I had to tell people about watching a movie at your place" or "Lately when I've been watching movies on TV I find myself wondering what it would be like on your big screen." They aren't necessarily motivated to change anything in their own home viewing, but they certainly "get it" when they experience it.

The same goes for two channel music demos. Numerous people have sat down to listen to my various 2 channel high end systems saying things like "this will be probably lost on me, I don't have ear for this kind of things, I just listen on my radio/phone" or whatever. But then they find themselves taken aback and utterly sucked in to the experience "never knew music could actually sound like THAT!"

I know that I'm far from alone in seeing these reactions. I bet many in this forum have had similar experiences.

 

[MattHooper]

I think it's perfectly rational to not really care about the spectacle, if the writing and acting can't back it up. An engaging script and convincing performance will always be more important than eye/ear candy.

A spectacle is fun in the moment, it's like a rollercoaster ride. One hell of a thrill and good straight-forward fun, but it doesn't really stay with you afterwards. Some movies simply need the big screen and huge sound setup to wow you, and that's fine. They just lose all appeal on a small screen with a lesser sound system.

Agreed.

Like many, CGI-fests can bore the crap out of me at this point.

On the other hand, there ARE some cinema experiences that seem to me justified "as a cinema experience." I remember when Jurassic Park came out and I'd meet the occasional person saying "Meh, didn't like it...script had problems, some of the acting was cheezy..."

And I'm like "What? Dude, you got to see DINOSAURS! This was far and away the most realistic depiction of dinosaurs ever brought to the screen.
Almost like seeing them revived to life in front of you. Finding a way to be disappointed by pointing to script problems is like going to the zoo seeing
elephants, lions etc...or for that matter living DINOSAURS!...and saying "meh...no story..."

I have similar feelings about the movie Gravity. I've seen some people diss it as a stupid movie and, similar to JP, I'm like "but it PUT YOU IN SPACE for god's sake! You don't think a simulation of being in space is worth a movie ticket?"

That movie was astounding on the big screen in good 3D (and it's similarly astounding on my big screen in 3D). I can understand why some didn't care for it if they saw it under crappy conditions (my brotherinlaw didn't think much...but then again I think he watched it on the back of an airplane seat!), but if someone saw it in a quality presentation on the big screen it baffles me if they didn't get anything out of it.

 

[Count Arthur]

Ok, cool. I was simply curious if some of it was an age thing (as in you were older and set in your ways). I'm 56 myself.

I am totally down with da yoof! (instantly proves he isn't).

I work in IT and consider myseld pretty tech-savvy, but, I am also be somewhat sceptical with regards to the merit of some of the latest gadgets and tech products, for example, I have no interest in being able to control my heating with an app on my phone or order groceries by pressing buttons affixed around my house. Whereas, an app that allows me to plan and navigate cycle routes around the local countryside is great.

With regards to the big TV thing, I do watch movies, but I wouldn't say I'm passionate about them and I don't much like the cinema.

 

[MattHooper]

I am totally down with da yoof! (instantly proves he isn't).

I work in IT and consider myseld pretty tech-savvy, but, I am also be somewhat sceptical with regards to the merit of some of the latest gadgets and tech products, for example, I have no interest in being able to control my heating with an app on my phone or order groceries by pressing buttons affixed around my house. Whereas, an app that allows me to plan and navigate cycle routes around the local countryside is great.

Funny, though I'm not a "future home tech" dude myself, I was quite happy yesterday with the performance of our new google NEST smoke/Carbon Monoxide alarms. I have really sensitive hearing so smoke alarms are particularly brutal on me, hence the old "fire alarm goes off when something cooking starts to smoke" is awful. I recently put up the wi-fi enabled NEST smoke alarms and yesterday something started to burn. Instead of the smoke alarm near the kitchen just blasting on, I first got a voice alert "warning, smoke detected coming from the kitchen. The alarm may go off. It is loud so you may want to move away." JUST what I needed. I turned on my stove vent, opened a window and moved away, the alarm also sent a message to my phone and from my phone I chose the option to MUTE the alarm (since I knew the source of the smoke). I got updated messages saying "smoke dissipating" until "everything is now fine."

That's just what I want out of an advanced smoke alarm.

I'd actually love to have the lights in my house on a similar smart system because I have old light timers for when we go on vacation and it's a royal pain in the ass programming all of them every time we leave.

With regards to the big TV thing, I do watch movies, but I wouldn't say I'm passionate about them and I don't much like the cinema.

I get it. Your view makes perfect sense to me, given your interests.

Cheers!

 

[KozmoNaut]

You did miss lack of interest.
Not everyone's interested.

Exactly.

I could certainly afford the money, time and effort to set up a good multi-channel setup in my living room, but I simply cannot see the value of doing so. I have a perfectly fine stereo setup with two well-integrated subwoofers, going multi-channel over that holds absolutely no value nor interest for me, because I have no particular interest in hollow flashy junkfood movies.

The picture is in front of me, I'm perfectly fine with the sound also coming from in front of me. Sound quality matters, not the number of speakers.

Multi-channel is a gimmick, just like 3D. It adds flash and no substance.

 

[Ron Party]

I see it the other way. Stereo is a gimmick and a woefully inadequate one at that. I wish it was not that way for me. Life would be much simpler and my bank account balance would be higher. My living room would have more space. If only.

I simply cannot suspend disbelief with a phantom center channel. As such, three speakers across the front is the minimum requirement. If I had the real estate and financial wherewithal, I'd put five speakers across the front, to state nothing of surrounds and ceiling speakers. This holds true for both music and home theater. Immersion is an absolute requirement, as is sound quality, and these requirements exist for all media. Also, remember, movies are more than dialogue and things like car crashes; there is music as well, sometimes just background and sometimes more, much more, than that, to state nothing of watching concerts which I do regularly.

The great Bill Withers just passed today. I think it was HBO not too long ago that aired a wonderful one hour documentary on his life and music. Give me that documentary in a quality home theater, front projector, 100" screen minimum, over a stereo with a 65" flat panel TV. It's just apples and oranges.

So... count me in the minority, perhaps, at least in this thread.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

The picture is in front of me, I'm perfectly fine with the sound also coming from in front of me. Sound quality matters, not the number of speakers.

You would stand in the doorway to experience the great outdoors.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

So... count me in the minority, perhaps, at least in this thread.

Our non-silent minority!

 

[renaudrenaud]

Dont'have any TV.
Life is simple in stereo. For music.

 

[RayDunzl]

Our non-silent minority!

You get sound with our posts?

 

[direstraitsfan98]

I watch movies less then I used to. Music is just more enjoyable to me. I would very much like to get a full on 5.1 setup at some point, if only to listen to 5 channel surround sound music.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

You get sound with our posts?

No but I often respond with some.

I would very much like to get a full on 5.1 setup at some point, if only to listen to 5 channel surround sound music.

I highly recommend it.

 

[Xulonn]

You get sound with our posts?

Perahps not - but most of Kal's responses are pretty sound.

 

[KozmoNaut]

You would stand in the doorway to experience the great outdoors.

I guess that shows the limits of your imagination.

I don't need to artificially jazz up a movie to enjoy it, just like I don't need thousands of dollars of fancy shiny gear to enjoy the world outdoors.

 

[Putter]

"I guess that shows the limits of your imagination.

I don't need to artificially jazz up a movie to enjoy it, just like I don't need thousands of dollars of fancy shiny gear to enjoy the world outdoors. I don't need expensive gear to enjoy myself. "

Since the movie actually was created with multichannel sound, it's not artificial by definition. Incidentally (that was) a fairly mean spirited comment.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I guess that shows the limits of your imagination.

I am simply interpreting how your approach to sound reproduction would be applied to the real world. Sounds in real life exist in a three-dimensional space and truncating that space is analogous to standing in the doorway and not stepping outside or, conversely, into the concert hall.

I don't need to artificially jazz up a movie to enjoy it, just like I don't need thousands of dollars of fancy shiny gear to enjoy the world outdoors.

The phrase "artificially jazz up a movie" has nothing to do with realizing the accuracy and resolution of the recorded sound and image.

 

[KozmoNaut]

I am simply interpreting how your approach to sound reproduction would be applied to the real world. Sounds in real life exist in a three-dimensional space and truncating that space is analogous to standing in the doorway and not stepping outside or, conversely, into the concert hall
.

You apply a prejudice, based on your own need for envelopment in sound and effects in order to enjoy art. I don't desire the same things as you, which you seem to not understand. You come off quite rude as a consequence.

I don't need that and I don't care for it. I care about the story, the characters and the world building/backstory, not that I hear some sound effects behind me, or whatever 3D effect flying at me. I've seen plenty of movies in both 2D and 3D, and in stereo and surround sound, to judge that neither 3D nor surroubd soubd hold any particular appeal to me.

In most movie mixes, probably 95% of the sound (and 100% of the sound that actually matters) comes from the front.

Things change if you talk about proper VR with directional sound designed for headphones, but there are no or very few movies in that format. A proper Omnimax setup is also pretty good. In both cases you don't have the silly disconnect between a flat image plane and surround sound.