Sucky Home Theaters in Multimillion Dollar Houses

[Chris D]

Well guys, my wife and I went and looked through the Seattle Parade of Dreams today. 5 very nice homes, with some great designs. Some of it was so-so, but there were definitely houses and aspects that we loved. Not too bad.

But here's the kicker--most of these homes that you go to in these kinds of things ($1-$3 million or so) have what is supposed to be a decent "media room". The trendy thing seems to be to shy away from calling these things a theater. I think I've just gotten too in-depth in the theater world, though, because I picked these things apart. Almost every one was a horrible design! Yes, they may have had things in them that were aesthetically very pretty or trendy in design, but the function was downright laughable. My own theater, and E's, since I've seen his, puts those to shame. The speakers were completely placed wrong, or even lacked basic surround speakers. Some pictures were all washed out from too much ambient light and an LCD projector. Walls were covered with flat wood, giving the room an overly live, resonating sound. Bass was booming, not rich and full.

What's worst is that invariably, as I stood there picking out design flaws, every person that walked in said, "hey, this is the neatest thing." or "What great sound". They were overwhelmed by the sheer sound volume and screen size, not picture and sound quality and overall experience.

I'm too picky now. My wife laughs at my emphasis of function over form. And the common man is doomed to theater mediocrity. :cry:




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[PMazz]

I never have the heart to tell folks the truth. I always wind up saying something vaguely true, like "It's very impressive". But, if they spent all that money and don't care to get it right......

What really kills me is the money that is spent on some mediocre set ups. So, the eternal question, do we really consider it a home theater if all the gear is there, but none of it is set up properly?

Pete

[RedStep]

LMAO...Ik know exactly what you mean. I recently went to the home of a "friend of a friend" and they had (in this small mansion) a media room. I was drooling all over myself as I was walking up to check out all the equiptment, and then it must have looked as I had seen a ghost when I got there. Average at best equiptment, wires all over and the owner not even knowing how to work the remote 8O And to think, they paid for this!

And the best part the thing sounded horrific...not to mention the speaker placement. I spent the majority of the evening quiet and dreaming of what I would have done with the space they called a media room.

Are we FREAKS or what??? :LOL:




RedStep
We are truly a product of the decisions we make

[Aeromos]

You guys have to remember that most of us here are a little more serious and more critical about HT and music listening than most. Also they just don't know better. They probably spend most of their time doing something else, where this is part of our enjoyment. Besides, most people that aren't as knowledgeable as us goes for aesthetics first. I'm sure some of you would argue that any setup is beautiful as long as it gives you the proper set up (functionality over form) .

The important thing is that they get enjoyment out of their system. Who knows, maybe one of their friends with knowledge will enlighten them. I know I always tell my friends what they should go for. In the end it all comes down to what's important to them. I know I've done my part to share what I know.




Aeromos
Enjoy life, it's too short to waste!!
My Collection

[I'mListening]

You know them irriatating people in the theater? The ones who have the beepers and cell phones that keep them tied to the outside world...the ones that just can't seem to figure out that talking on a cell phone during showtime is a disruption to others----Well, Now you know where they live!




Thanks for reading!

Enter The Cyberdyne Cinema

Darren

[David Meek]

We attended an open-house here in Houston for a new high-dollar sub-division and found the same thing. In houses starting at a million, the amount of money spent on the equipment in the theater rooms was ludicrous. I'm talking close to HTIB levels with cheesy RPTVs and bottom-end projectors. I admit Houston isn't at the forefront of higher-end music and home-theater but this was embarrasing. What was even more embarrassing was the reaction of people to the rooms - similar to what you saw Chris. . . . Builders!
:evil:




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

[George Bellefontaine]

I have yet to see a so-called media room in my neck of the woods that impressed me. Now there is a CEO of a dairy company here who has a really true home theater that looks something like a Theo Theater. After seeing his, I felt like I was slumming when I sat down in mine.




My Homepage!

[LEVESQUE]

I'm in the process of building a new section for my house, for a 16x30 dedicated HT. Wow! Those architects and contractors are all trying to sell me Bose system and the like. Crazy. I have to keep track of everything, or else I would end up with a crappy sounding room.

It's a long process. Will probably take a good 3 months to complete. It's not an easy thing to do. Supervising everything, to be sure they do exactly what I was asking for. Tere are alot of "pros" out there that don't know anything about doing a decent dedicated HT and 2ch room. The minute you say the word "HT" the bill will be boost 2 to 3 times.

I could have paid someone to do everything w/o supervising them, but would have ended-up with a crappy room. But I think all this extra implication from myself will be worth-while.

I think mega-million houses are victim of those contractors that are calling themselve "pros", but don't know anything about HT or room treatment. They give them the dough, but don''t supervise the job, so they have a mediocre result. But when you take the time and check them, you can get alot more for your money.

[George Bellefontaine]

Hi, Levesque,
It really is great if you can build your own home theater. I know I get a lot of satisfaction knowing that everything I look at I did myself, with some help from wifey, of course.




My Homepage!

[Andrew Pratt]

You should be proud George you have a great theater:T

[LEVESQUE]

You have an incredible HT George!

But I can't draw a straight line, and even less use a hammer or a saw! ops: ops:

So I don't have any other choice then paying someone to do it. And you have to be careful and double check everything, because they don't always do it the way you want it to be done...

[George Bellefontaine]

My HT is pretty much plain vanilla, but thanks for the nice comments Andrew and Levesque. The main thing is it is separate from the rest of the living area in the house and has no windows for total light control.

Levesque, I had the hard carpentry work done by a carpenter and did the finish stuff myself. Otherwise i wouldn't have known where to start.




My Homepage!