If you could...

[efarstad]

...would you build a dedicated theater or rather do you like to have a theater in a mix-use room, whether it be family room, den, etc? I've heard some say they like dedicated rooms and some say they like being able to use a room for other purposes as well.

Given the opportunity, would you build a dedicated room? Assuming you had the space and $$$ to do it?

E





The Norwegian A/V Nut!
E-Cinema

[David Meek]

Of course I would. . . I mean, of course I am. . . building a room that is.

Seriously though, you can't really have good control of the lighting, acoustics, equipment set-up and layout, etc. in a "general use" room. Unless you design it that way from the beginning, and then yes, you are building a room. Without that kind of control, you aren't getting the optimal movie/music experience either visually or sonically. For me that's the big thing - getting the most out of the experience.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Andrew Pratt]

I love our dedicated theater....but with fold away TV tables we practicaly live in there anyway

[Burke Strickland]

I used to have a "mixed use" living room with an "L"-shaped sectional sofa and white walls that reflected everything. I think it is cruel and unusual punsihment to have to crane your neck from the wrong leg of the "L" to see the screen, and that arrangement guarantees that noone will hear things correctly with either music or movies, so I ditched the sofa (although I saved the foam cushions to serve as sound treatment panels) :>) and got three comfortable but easy-to-move Ekornes chairs instead.

I recognized from years of observation, that with a sectional sofa which has a long leg and a short leg, the largest number of people who would sit on it voluntarily was three -- two on the long leg and one on the short leg, even though you;d think by the floor space the sofa took up, it could accomodate as many as seven. But people just won't sit that close to each other except in coach on an airplane-- not even couples, unless they are still on their honeymoon, and if they are, they wouldn't be watching movies in my HT. :>) So three chairs made an exact seating replacement for the sofa. They can be set up "theater-style" for watching movies or listening to music, or arranged "conversation-style" for other situations.

With six large floor standing speakers (plus a center and sub) and a fixed mount projection screen on the wall, there could no doubt what the primary purpose of the room is, even if the walls and ceiling were not painted 18 % neutral grey (actually the front wall with the screen is painted matte black) with blackout shades on the windows. :>)

Since the Ekornes chairs are far more comfortable than the so-called "ergonomic" desk chair I have in my home office, I've moved the main computer to the HT/living room, and that gives me the serendipitous opportunity to use my main HT speakers to listen to music while working on my computer instead of the little Bose-wannabee cubes that usually pass as "computer speakers". With a lap tray, the Ekornes chairs are a great place to eat meals, too. So my "dedicated" HT room is actually much more versatile and useful than just being a place to watch a movie every so often.

Burke

[George Bellefontaine]

I like the idea of a dedicated HT room. I removed the windows from mine some time ago, painted the walls a neutral grey, with a black matte (hole) where the screen is mounted. Originally, the room was a combo HT/Rec room, but since there are no children living at home, we found the room was only being used for tv/Ht use, so it was an easy decision to make the changes I indicated above. Besides, deditaced allows you to give it that cinema look and feel.

Of course, some will be limited due to family constraints and/or the number of rooms in their house.




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[Clive]

I know this is far fetched, but I fell in-love with a dedicated HT that was featured in A/V Interiors last year where a couple used the interior of a First Class Section from a Beoing 747 for their setup. I was just blown away by it and I hope to do that for mine one day.

I also heard that it's becoming very popular in Florida!




CLIVE




HEY!! Why buy movie tickets when you can own a Theater?

[George Bellefontaine]

I remember that article and pics, Clive. Chris D would have loved that one.




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