What movie started your HT craze?

[Andrew Pratt]

For me Jurassic Park and Twister in glorious Pro Logic surround of VHS were what really kick started my desire to have a "real" home theater...what was it for you?

[Patt]

Cartoon's I recorded onto the VHS tapes from the television.

SantaBugito, insect character's from the far South.

Man, that's been I do'nt know how many year's ago! That was when I figured out how to integrate my stereo reciever with the TV.

[Kevin P]

Well, the first two VHS tapes I owned were The Empire Strikes Back and Top Gun, so those could be the real start down my path to destruction this obsession hobby. And yes, I had a HiFi VCR connected to my stereo, this was before ProLogic.

If we tweak the original question to be "what movie sparked a round of HT upgrades?" the answer would be Titanic for me. In particular, after Titanic was released on laserdisc but not yet on DVD, I went to the trouble of modifying my LD player to add a AC-3 RF (Dolby Digital) output, so I could experience the DD 5.1 soundtrack on the LD.

[hidefdvd]

Actually it was the first time I got myself a new ghetto blaster that had RCA inputs, that allowed my to run the audio from the vcr. Even though it was only stereo sound, it was alot better than the tv speakers. :T Now several thousand $$$ later, I still have the urge to upgrade. Could be why I just picked up a Denon 2900 to replace my LG7832. PQ is outstanding :T

[Nick M]

The Matrix during my senior year of high school. h:

[rdram]

Hmmm....can't say it was a particular movie. It was a Sony SL-HF300 Beta-Hifi hooked into my old stereo system. Video finally sounded good. Beta was better.

[DLA]

If I go back to the beginnig

I have run all my TV sounds through my stereo since TV's had RCA outputs...but since then it has not always been the best TV or I should say largest...but my son bought a ne 50" panasonic HD and when I watch AVP on it I knew I needed bigger ...so the Mitz was bought, and a new receiver, and cables...now I feel that my DVD collection is brand new again.

[Cracking Oboe]

I saw this threads heading and thought, that's easy... Jurassic Park on VHS! It's good to see that I keep good company (Andrew) :T .
OT, It was Gladiator that turned me on to DTS. (I wish I had the DTS ver. of J.P. on DVD :cry: )

Cracking!

[aud19]

Well I grew up in a house with my dad's powerhouse 70's era Pioneer reciever that still sounds good today and there were VHS tapes in the house since I was very young so I couldn't tell you what early VHS tape(s) encouraged me but getting a job at the age of 15 at a Rogers Video store certainly didn't help My first Laserdisc was Jurrassic Park and after that it all went downhill fast :lol:

[Bent]

Back in '81 or '82, I convinced my Mom and Dad we needed a VCR - and it had to be the superior Beta format.

We bought a Sanyo VCR 7300, a vertical HiFi Beta (looked a bit like a ghetto blaster without speakers, it was the only portable hi-fi Beta deck available at the time)

I remember renting "legend" with Tom Cruise, and listening/watching it with the console stereo hooked up :T

I was hooked on home theater then, but didn't realize it untill 4 years ago.

[Chris D]

Great thread, I had to think about this one, and I think what I came up with is interesting. I'd sum up my A/V growth like this:

- Growing up as a child, we lived in the Colorado foothills and couldn't get TV reception. I read a lot of books. We had a record player with a bunch of my dad's music, so I grew up listening to Neil Diamond. :T We also had the Star Wars soundtrack on record, which one day, I decided I wanted to listen to it on cassette in my room, and I set up to tape it. The only way I knew how to do it was to play the record on my system, and then place a wired microphone in front of the speaker that recorded on my cassette deck. I had a lot to learn, and that started my trend.

- The first A/V components I bought was in late Junior High School with money I had saved from a summer job. It was a Kenwood audio component stack, with a 2-channel receiver, tuner, tape deck, CD changer, and two tower speakers. I LOVED it. Interestingly enough, I still have ALL these components in my home theater setup, playing their part. The receiver is now powering my 2nd zone all-home audio system. The speakers are elsewhere in the house.

- Like I said, we didn't get TV reception. One day, family friends came to visit and brought "Top Gun" on VHS. I ended up dubbing it, and for the next few years, it was one of 3 videotapes we had in our house. I would watch that movie OVER, and OVER, and OVER. I can quote it all by memory now.

- A few years after "college", I made an investment and bought a whole new system--TV, Klipsch speakers, Yamaha receiver, DVD player. The first movie I played was The Matrix, which will always hold a special place in my heart.

- There really hasn't been one particular movie that has pushed me in my latest project to the high-end A/V level that I pursue now. (Kev had it right, it's become some sort of sickness) I just enjoy music and movies so much, that it's become a natural progression for me.

[Clive]

Hmmmm............... I'd say it was Titanic and Jurassic Park that got me going!
Later I Jumped on U-751 and beleive it or not AIR FORCE ONE!!!


Cheers

[Eddie Horton]

It would have to be Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park on VHS. Man, that had to be ten years ago with my JVC HiFi VCR, Kenwood ProLogic receiver, and cheap JBL surrounds, center, and sub with the Cerwin Vega mains. That brings back the memories.

[jimmyp58]

Great thread Andrew!

No one movie kicked it into gear but I guess I began getting hooked around the mid-80's when the first surround sound processor came out, the Yamaha DSP-1. I was one of the first gents to hop aboard with this and I was instantly hooked at how incredible it sounded. That being said, I had picked up some Star Wars on Beta as well as some Indiana Jones flicks and I was stunned as to how incredible this surround sound phenomenon was.

It's been all downhill from there........

[David Meek]

"The" movie? Jeez, I really don't remember. One of the first I purchased for home viewing on VHS was Dirty Harry. You think laserdisc was expensive? Those first few pre-recorded VHS tapes were in the $69-$89 range!

Equipment-wise, like Jason, my start was with an excellent old Pioneer stereo receiver (SX-880) around 1979. I ran the audio out from any TV handy to the beast which output to two Pioneer HPM-100 4-way speakers and had what I thought was home theater. Once VHS made the scene I was lost. :T

Okay, now you've done it. I've been looking for images of my old equipment and found some of them. Talk about some fond memories and maybe a little sense of loss. . . .







To give you a sense of the size of the HPM-100's, that's a 12" woofer.

source of speaker image is StereoManuals.com

[Gordon Moore]

Jurassic Park (VHS) for me. I hooked up a second set of stereo speakers for "4-speaker stereo quadraphonic sound" (TM) or as it's now known as "Enhanced stereo" :W

This was while living at home mucking with my Dad's stereo. I knew one day I'd take it further....and continue to do so today. It's a fun evolution....a little slow....but it's coming :yesnod:

[jmc_htguide]

The FORCE made me do it!

It's all about Star Wars (the original episode 4).
I have had different stereos hooked up to VCR's and cable (HBO) for years, including some very nice stereo systems, but I refused to go true home theater (ie. front projection) until Star Wars came out on DVD. (Didn't even have a DVD player until I started making digital family movies)

Now I am choosing the components to create my first real theater (another thread).

[George Bellefontaine]

As soon as vcrs and vhs tape hit the scene I was into home theater, even though it was all only on a 19" color tv hooked up to my Sansui receiver. I honestly can't remember the first movie I watched on tape, but the first one I bought was SHANE. Man, that was a looooonnnnggg time ago.

[chrispy35]

Great thread Andrew!

No one movie kicked it into gear but I guess I began getting hooked around the mid-80's when the first surround sound processor came out, the Yamaha DSP-1. I was one of the first gents to hop aboard with this and I was instantly hooked at how incredible it sounded. That being said, I had picked up some Star Wars on Beta as well as some Indiana Jones flicks and I was stunned as to how incredible this surround sound phenomenon was.

It's been all downhill from there........

My dad had a DSP-1 when it first came out. The processing modes were fun even if just for show...why can't we still have pitch change algorithms? The DSP-1 was definitely the component that started it all for me. As for the first movies watched on the DSP-1...one of the ones I remember is The Abyss. I'm sure there were others too.

Sadly, DSP-1 was stolen (along with everything else) and was replaced by the follow on DSP-3000. The 3000 was thoroughly less enjoyable although arguably a better component from a specs point of view. The suckers didn't grab the DSP-1 remote though which rendered it useless to them.

[joesteam]

Earthquake on TV

I was a kid and they were simulcasting on some FM station with Earthquake on TV. I dragged the whole stereo into the TV Room to hear the rumble.

[ajpoe]

My story is a funny one... I was trying to be responsible and not spend a bunch of money. I had never had a big screen TV, not even at my parents house. I have always wanted one, but had never taken the plunge. I had a 27" television... one day is just blew. The tube or something flashed and it started smoking... this was about a year and a half ago. Well, I decided that rather than get another 27" tv with HD getting going and all, I would go ahead and get that big screen. So, I went out and bought a Hitachi 57" and loved it... so much I decided to get a full blown kick ass setup to go with it. Many thousands of dollars later, I am completely satisfied with my setup. So much so, I haven't even had the upgrade bug for months and don't see that happening unless I can get into a house with a dedicated room... Then its a PJ and 7.1 baby!

AJ

[sikoniko]

Mine was the days of thunder demo at Sams Warehouse running on bose acoustimas speakers! I bought them a couple years later because of that and traded them in 2 months later with sound advices trade in policy!

[Glen B]

For me it was Aliens. When Ripley did battle against the Alien queen with that Caterpillar equipment in the movie, the sound was so awesome, I decided then and there that I had to have that experience when watching movies at home.

[Bent]

simulcasting on some FM station with Earthquake on TV.

Hey, it was sooner than the Beta - I remember when The Who had their fairwell tour and it waas simulcast on a local FM station

[markusp]

For me - its was the classics. I didn't really get into home theater proper until 1993. Until then it was just a tv and vcr and a ton of video tapes.

In 1993, we setup our first dedicated theater area with a 50" big screen tv, a dolby prologic receiver (technics I think - at the time it played louder and more dynamic than the Denon's we tried for the money) and a full Paradigm setup with massive sub.

The first films we watched on that system were North by Northwest, to Catch a Thief, An Affair to Remember and some westerns. In 1995, things really took shape when I bought a laser disc player and bought the original Star Wars trilogy on laserdisc. I was in heaven. The picture quality rocked (at the time) as did the soundtrack. I dumped most of my cash at the time into more laserdics including North by Northwest, to Catch a Thief, Goldfinger, Dr. No, the Forbidden Planet etc. until I bought my first dvd player in 1997 and started buying up all the dvds Futureshop had at the time (I think they carried a grand total of 15 to 20 at the time). Been a whirlwind of upgrades ever since and I have roughly 400 dvds now but I always return to watching North by Northwest whenever I get the chance.

[Jack Keck]

Zardoz

[Jurgen]

A demonstration of a pro logic setup in a store (under siege; the fly by of the jet). Later, I could buy a quadral pro logic 1 decoder from a buddy who thought that the sound was really bad (that´s because he hooked up the main speakers to the 45 w rear channels; somehow the sound was a bit undefined and seemed to mis out on bass :rofl: ) And then on to my first second hand stereo vhs (after fiddling with the superior but obsolete video 2000) and a very tiny t.v. (but hey, if the sound was great why bother with a big image, sigh... how things have changed) And since laserdisc was very rare and very expensive over here (especially for a 16 year old) I waited till I could buy my first pioneer dvd player back in 1999.

My video classics were, of course, JP ("they´re flocking this way!") but also Hard Target (which nobody seemed to understand) and Clear and present Danger.
Great thread! I think I´me gonna watch a video just for old times sake! (then again...maybe not)
Jurgen

[rdram]

Forbidden Planet....isn't that where all that Krell gear comes from?

R

[Dmantis]

For me it wasw Star Wars on VHS tape. I wanted nothing more then to watch my loves in surround sound. A friend of mine bought a Pioneer receiver with surround sound and man was it exciting.

My first surround sound system was in my bedroom when I still lived at home. I was 17 in 1987 which is when I bought my Pioneer vsx3900s surround receiver. I went and bought a passive sub sat system by Pinnacle. It rocked and I played Nintendo in surround and that was the bomb.

I have owned many different systems since then.

Dan

[Lex]

ok, a heavyweight weighs in.

It actually wasn't a movie that started my HT craze. It was really hardware related. Buying a new VCR. Turned into buying a new RPTV, turned into Rotel RSP-980, and RB-985, turned into Lexicon, the Proceed amps, then speakers blah blah. Now, I already had a pro-logic receiver and some other stuff before all this started. This all was soon to be upgraded. Then when DVD hit, the rest as they say is history!

Lex

[m_bathke]

For me it was when I watched the matrix when it first came out on DVD, at my friends house. They had a Dolby Digital surround sound set-up. From then on I was hooked.

[pvs]

It wasn't a movie for me. For me it was MTV.

This was around the same time our family first got a stereo VCR.

[Stoney]

I have to add a ditto to the MTV as a starter. Drill a hole in the TV cabinet, install a headphone jack, who cared if it wasn't stereo- as long as it was loud. Later it was a Carver receiver with BA-60 speakers. Then picked up an Emerson Stereo VCR, JC Penney Stereo monitor, Radio Shack Dolby surround processor and a pair of Kenwood KL888 (15") speakers. My favorite hobby was scouting pawn shops. Found a Yamaha DSP and picked up enough amps and speakers to run the full 6 speaker set up. By this time, my house looked like a pawn shop. Finally decided to "spend enough money so I wouldn't have any excuse to upgrade again". Got a Dennon 7.1 receiver, Dennon DVD player, B&W 605, 602, 601, cc6 S2, Hitachi HD widescreen. Lucky I got all that when I could. A layoff from my gravy job has taken away any temptation from upgradeitis for a long time.

[Aussie Geoff]

Hi,

For me it was a Home Theatre show (you know the ones that take over a hotel!) and a demo room with all Meridian equipment playing a laser disk with Tina Turner live in concert singing "Golden Eye". Just (for me then) jaw dropping sound - like being there. I turned to my wife and said "we have to have this". The I found the "jaw dropping price" of the all Meridian set-up! So, (for me) I have been on a chase since then for the same sound but at a more affordable price. And (happily) 10 years later - I have done pretty well!

Geoff

[Kingdaddy]

With the exception of a few, you guys must be really young or something, I was expecting to read a lot of posts of older movies, early eighties or something.

Well, for me it was Dragonslayer on a Laserdisc played through a pair of custom speakers, the bass just floored me and from then on I was hooked, I think it was around 1983.

[Bostonears]

Forbidden Planet....isn't that where all that Krell gear comes from?R

That's the best laugh I've had all week.

By the way, I've got Forbidden Planet on DVD, and the eerie Theremin on the sound track set the stage for outer space music in every sci-fi movie since.

[rdram]

Bostonears,

I've been wondering if anybody would get that! Definitely one of the classic 50's sci-fi films.

Rich

[audioqueso]

Jurassic Park for me... the second time I bought it. I remember I had just bought it on DVD, and I wanted to watch it with big sound, so I went out and bought a cheap JVC HT kit just to watch it. Ahhh... good memories.

[George Bellefontaine]

Rich, Forbidden Planet has been available on dvd for quite awhile.

[Bing Fung]

I suppose I have been involved with Home Theater as far back as I can remember because of my father.

We had the first Color TV that I could remember of all my friends (circa 1966-67).

My Father owned many 8mm Projectors and screens as long as I could remember, our family would always watch Chinese opera films from the old country on them.

Then the VCR came out and my Father was one of the first to get not one, but two of these Zenith Beta-Max machines.

When the Beta Hifi's came out my Father bought me a Sony Beta Hifi for my birthday (I still own it), and we watched Bruce Lee "Enter the Dragon" (Chinese Sub titled) on it so I would have to say that was the one that passed the torch to me.

[GregoriusM]

Terminator 2

[Lex]

Actually, although I already had pro-logic and 5 speakers at the time,it AS i SAID ON THE LAST PAGE, AND FORGOT, LOL. was actually buying a VCR that started my real madness. But if I had to say which movie(s) influenced me,it was that was showing on laserdisc at the local stores:

Jurassic Park, Terminator II, then later Twister I believe.

[i_amadeo]

the movie that had me hooked to home cinima was keanu reeves in
Point break back in 91 i remember my causin and i were about 15 we connected our vcr to a two channel tecninks system and opened the 21 inch tv and sat right in front of the 3 way speakers with the 10 inch sub in our faces

man when those ocean waves ripped through the room there was such an adrenalin rush which made me on the verge of tears (i cant remember if i actualy did) and so i cranked the volume .my causin was like what the @#$% amadeo your going to get us killed by my parents i remember giving him a cold stare that if he touches the volume he will die ....and he got it and left the room ...i closed the drapes and locked the door

fast forward 2005 i have a rmb 1095 :T and a 46 rear projector and dvd

with dolby and dts and oh yeah THX

i love you guys :wink:

[David Meek]

Point Break is a lot of fun, isn't it? :T