If you ask me, all the good movies were originally mono or stereo.
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Anyone else just not bothered by home theatre?
- Thread starter Count Arthur
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Working man’s Revels
@Count Arthur
Haha, I'm the same way. If I can hear it, I can watch it. Picture I'm picky about though.
Haha, I'm the same way. If I can hear it, I can watch it. Picture I'm picky about though.
Really? To each his or her own. But I've only seen The African Queen on a 19" color TV with a 3" speaker. And, it was great!
Asylum Seeker
Senior Member
Don't own a TV. Broke that habit years ago.
WQHD AMOLED tablet with Dolby Atmos and Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro BT earbuds is my ticket. The quad speakers on the tablet don't sound like a typical smartphone either. Very compact and inobtrusive, portable and mobile. You can watch anywhere in the house and outside the house. You should try the quality available these days on mobile.
Those look pretty snazzy.
For football season, I hooked up a pair of Vanatoo T0s to our TV. I have not been tempted to remove them. Admittedly they are not bass powerhouses, but the extra clarity and naturalness we get are quite delightful.
That's as close to Home Theater as we've gotten.
That's as close to Home Theater as we've gotten.
Asylum Seeker
Senior Member
They sound pretty snazzy too. They are generally considered among the best, if not the best sounding BT buds today.Those look pretty snazzy.
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It depends on what I'm watching.
A movie like "The Wind Rises" with it's mono soundtrack obviously won't benefit much from an elaborate sound system. But in other movies, the soundtrack can be a much bigger deal, and not just in obvious ways like producing louder explosions and gunfire, but in subtler ways too, like reverberation giving a sense of being in a large space, or losing track of whether the rain is just part of the movie soundtrack, or whether it's actually raining outside.
But for pretty much all movies, clarity of spoken word is of paramount importance and good reason not to skimp on the center channel speaker.
A movie like "The Wind Rises" with it's mono soundtrack obviously won't benefit much from an elaborate sound system. But in other movies, the soundtrack can be a much bigger deal, and not just in obvious ways like producing louder explosions and gunfire, but in subtler ways too, like reverberation giving a sense of being in a large space, or losing track of whether the rain is just part of the movie soundtrack, or whether it's actually raining outside.
But for pretty much all movies, clarity of spoken word is of paramount importance and good reason not to skimp on the center channel speaker.
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I'm enthusiastic about both 2 channel music and home theater. (Not surprising I care about movies and good sound for movies - sound design for TV/Films is my day job).
They've always for me been separate things, though, and I prefer it that way. So I have a separate 2 channel rig from my AV system. Yet...both share the same room! The room is our once-upon-a-time living room that went through an extensive remodel to accomodate a projector and giant projection screen. I got quite obsessive in the design - it includes an "expanding/flexible image size" system with 4 way remote controlled masking, so I can get truly IMAX-feeling immersion when I want it, or dial down the size when I want. And I chose our living room because, for one thing, I'm not a fan of "man caves" where I"d hole away from the rest of the world to listen to music or watch movies. I like an integrated-in-to-the-house approach.
It was the best choice I ever made in my home. The room gets daily use either in my listening to music, watching movies with family and friends, or just hanging out reading or whatever.
As a film fan it is a dream come true to have this in my home. Not simply for seeing new titles on a big screen, but just as much for watching older movies (I'm a huge Hitchcock fan/old horror movie/sci-fi fan, etc). All my life I've watched all the old classic movies on a tiny TV screen, usually a square CRT. It's a huge thrill to put on anything from the Wizard Of Oz, original King Kong, or a Hitchcock movie and experience it as a large, immersive projected image, more similar to how I'd have seen it as originally shown in the theaters. It revitalizes every old movie I watch.
As for the sound, I am not actually too picky about sound for movies outside my house. For instance watching at a friend's house I don't care much about the sound quality. But for my place, I was very picky about my choice of speakers so that I maximized the enjoyment of the sound as well as the picture.
I have tons of friends who love movies, some of them movie nerds who, themselves would never spend the money for a big screen and who have cared so little at their place they've barely moved on from using old CRT tvs. But I haven't met one who isn't thrilled to see movies on the Big Screen, so I have a lot of film fans joining me.
BTW, totally agree about annoying demos that make you want to reach for earplugs! I HATE that kind of home theater demo "listen to the bass, feel the IMPACT! Isn't it just like Arnold is kicking YOU in the chest??!!" I have sensitive ears so that stuff isn't for me.
They've always for me been separate things, though, and I prefer it that way. So I have a separate 2 channel rig from my AV system. Yet...both share the same room! The room is our once-upon-a-time living room that went through an extensive remodel to accomodate a projector and giant projection screen. I got quite obsessive in the design - it includes an "expanding/flexible image size" system with 4 way remote controlled masking, so I can get truly IMAX-feeling immersion when I want it, or dial down the size when I want. And I chose our living room because, for one thing, I'm not a fan of "man caves" where I"d hole away from the rest of the world to listen to music or watch movies. I like an integrated-in-to-the-house approach.
It was the best choice I ever made in my home. The room gets daily use either in my listening to music, watching movies with family and friends, or just hanging out reading or whatever.
As a film fan it is a dream come true to have this in my home. Not simply for seeing new titles on a big screen, but just as much for watching older movies (I'm a huge Hitchcock fan/old horror movie/sci-fi fan, etc). All my life I've watched all the old classic movies on a tiny TV screen, usually a square CRT. It's a huge thrill to put on anything from the Wizard Of Oz, original King Kong, or a Hitchcock movie and experience it as a large, immersive projected image, more similar to how I'd have seen it as originally shown in the theaters. It revitalizes every old movie I watch.
As for the sound, I am not actually too picky about sound for movies outside my house. For instance watching at a friend's house I don't care much about the sound quality. But for my place, I was very picky about my choice of speakers so that I maximized the enjoyment of the sound as well as the picture.
I have tons of friends who love movies, some of them movie nerds who, themselves would never spend the money for a big screen and who have cared so little at their place they've barely moved on from using old CRT tvs. But I haven't met one who isn't thrilled to see movies on the Big Screen, so I have a lot of film fans joining me.
BTW, totally agree about annoying demos that make you want to reach for earplugs! I HATE that kind of home theater demo "listen to the bass, feel the IMPACT! Isn't it just like Arnold is kicking YOU in the chest??!!" I have sensitive ears so that stuff isn't for me.
I used to do the HT thing 5.1 . I had a Denon receiver, Pioneer 55 inch rear projection TV, Kef mains, NHT center channel, subwoofer and super zero surrounds. To top it off Pioneer laser disc player the one where the laser rotated didn't have to flip the disc. First movies I bought were Stargate and Dune. Now I listen to whatever the TV has one of those sound bars might be nice especially when they mumble.
Rolling eyes!!! Those beasts are very difficult to work on... Amazing machine!
OP
Count Arthur
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Definitely not just me then.
Alice of Old Vincennes
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A good 3 way center channel will open your eyes. I don't play loud. However, I want to hear voices clearly and realistically. Watching a non-action movie at moderate volume will change your min. I used to follow your preference. I use a sub but set it's volume real low for a subtle effect.
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Definitely not just me then.
Do you mind my asking: How old are you?
Old enough to know better and old enough not to care!
I have a separate system for music so my home theater system is just for TV/movies. In that context I believe a center channel is definitely worth it, although it depends on content. I also think a couple small + inexpensive subs can be useful depending on how much bass you can or can't get out of your mains. I picked up two ELAC S8's during this past Black Friday for $80/each. I don't pretend they're all that great but they can reach down a bit further than my mains / center.
That said, I don't have (standard) surrounds and I tried some height speakers for Dolby Atmos content and didn't really notice a difference.
That said, I don't have (standard) surrounds and I tried some height speakers for Dolby Atmos content and didn't really notice a difference.
Same here. A lot of it depends on which movies you watch, and we're drama movie people, seldom action movies. I do know a bunch of folks with ambitious multi-channel systems with multiple subs who watch a lot of bad movies just to take advantage of their system.
Although I enjoy some action movies, I like a story that makes at least a bit of sense, characters with depth and quirks, unexpected but rational twists and turns, rising and falling tension, at least a bit of gritty reality, a world that isn't perfect, etc, etc. I watch a lot of foreign-language films, and enjoy seeing the environments in which other peoples live. I do not like action films based on action only with no good story and hammy acting. And that included Chinese action films which can be as bad as some of the terrible U.S. action films. However, I do occasionally watch some pretty bad films that are campy and don't take themselves seriously. I plan to watch a couple of the "Tremors" films tomorrow evening.
I have not traveled much, and enjoy settings around the globe and the occasional documentary. I remember the first episode of Nature on PBS - The Flight of the Condor, and enjoy nature, science and some outdoor sports films, especially skiing and big-wave surfing.
I am happy with my 40" Samsung LED TV and my 2-channel music system for the sound. But I am considering replacing my current smallish "bookshelf" loudspeakers with bigger ones - and adding a center channel to add clarity to dialog, because I am old and my hearing is not what it used to be. I just started thread here at ASR (LINK) about the difficulty of simply adding a proper center channel to a very good simple stereo music system. Ultimately, I think with my plan, I will be able to simply flip an input switch for the two main channels and turn on the new center channel amplifier. I do not intend to use the center channel for music listening.
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