You make some very useful and important points. I’m on my second dedicated theater build and have been in this hobby since the 80’s. One big disappointment for me was in my last build I spent somewhere between $20-40k and had very little interest from friends and family to watch movies. I put a lot of time, labor and cash into it, and the response was very muted. I’d advise anyone doing this to only do it if it’s a passion of yours and you’re ok if people you know aren’t really into it.
Well, you did it for others?? I dont care if there is no one else interested in what i build or what i achieve, im doing things for me. If i buy the car i dreamt of is not because i want others to aplaud me and to enjoy my car, it's me who should be happy. If the people near me are enjoying my stuff too is good, if not, thats ok too!
I don’t think any of us do this stuff or want to do it just to impress other people. Never do that. It’s just fun when our friends and family engage in it and enjoy it too sometimes. 😄
Totally agree you have to do it for yourself. My family and friends have shown little interest. Most just want to sit at their own home vs coming over to your's even it its far superior, people just don't care about the cool gear. Big screens, cool yes, but they still pass it up cause its a hassle to go over to someone else home.
That thought never entered my mind. My HT has evolved over the years to what it is now, and I smile every time I watch a movie, listen to music! For me, when we bought the house, one of the requirements for me was to have a finished basement. One side is for my HT, and the other side has my DJ gear, and workout gear. Our kids are grown and living their own life, so, I’m enjoying everything that I’ve done in that space. I have enough space to do whatever I want to do. My wife uses that space as well, especially for her workouts. I research everything I do before I do it! For those of you who have a HT, ENJOY!!!
Great subject and I really appreciate your commentary. I think your thoughts are more geared towards someone who is casually interested in a home theater. For those that are in the hobby I think their outlook is different. I personally love my HT and I've never questioned the value of it even if a month passes and I haven't used it. The moment I start playing one of those A+++ blockbusters and the Atmos mix is active and subs are shaking the room etc I get a thrill that I think I will always enjoy.
Most certainly, even if I might doubt the value of my room at times if I haven't used it in a few weeks, then we do go use it and I instantly recall all the things I like about it. :) I'm with you there. For me as well, the room I built the theater in wasn't being used for anything. It was blank space in the house. So I didn't have to displace anything and thus there wasn't other opportunity cost other spending the money and time. I was hoping my experience and perspective would just give folks some extra things to think about before going all in or too far in on a project like this, whether casual or not. Thanks for the compliments!
Simply answer for me is, hell yes! 😂 I love watching movies and I could spend an entire weekend just watching movies after hard week of work. I don’t know about some people but I love staying home especially with all the madness out there right now. The only thing I’ll need is just an integrator to do my C4 programming. You make some valid points though. Mainly about cost. I had built a dual purpose room in my apartment and now I’m a home owner I’m definitely building my first dedicated home theater in my basement. It’s been a dream of mine and I’m definitely gonna make it happen.
I’d love to do videos in the future where people give me some details and constraints and then do like a “what would I do” explanation. I think that would be fun content and useful to folks.
the best thing about your channel is you don't just recite specs and how well they preform. You go in-depth into what it's like to live with these things. This is so valuable. Much appreciated!
One of the best discussions on this topic. We've used our modest dedicated room a lot. Now that things have changed we don't use it anymore. Rather than maintain 2 areas I'm moving what acoustic treatments and such that I can to the family room and converting the basement room to a gym. I'm also looking into some modest on wall speakers for simple 5.1. A dedicated room is for projectors and optimizing audio. Projectors are amazing but I'm very content with a large flat screen and I think many others are as well so we will see less dedicated theater rooms. Another thing rarely mentioned. At least for me there isn't enough great content coming out to justify a dedicated room. I lean more towards audio performance now or concert videos.
I have a home theater setup in our multipurpose living room now, but have dreams of building onto our house to have a dedicated room or moving into a bigger house to achieve the same goal. Already owning a projector, amps, speakers, etc. puts me ahead of the curve money-wise, but building out the room is still a very large investment. Thanks for being honest about the experience of having a dedicated room, and going into the cons of it without being overly negative. All people ever talk about is how much they love their setup but this perspective seems much more grounded and real. I still want my own dedicated room, but this definitely puts some food for thought into my head about making realistic expectations. Thanks!
Everything in life is a choice and comes with opportunity cost for money or time. I do try to keep it real. Quite honestly, I can't even recall the last time we used the room for a movie lately. It hasn't been in October, I know that. Might have been early September. So many things going on in life and time is limited, so have to make choices.
Life is all about compromises. We ended up with an open concept media room at the last house and ended up liking it more than a dedicated space at the house prior. We could still batten down the hatches and watch a movie in the dark but it was much more of a social space for sports and entertainment which we liked a lot more. I think the equipment can get out of hand, and I’m no exception, but as long as you aren’t going into debt or sacrificing important things in your life it’s totally worth it.
Very transparent thoughts True information!!! I am building a theatre room. I totally agree, it’s a hobby that never really ends. Nice to have only when actually used !!
this is very insightful and brutally honest! , this was something very valuable that i have learned in my journey as an videophile and audiophile in the 20 years plus, and here it's for free.
Wow, that's such a nice compliment! Thanks! I tend to ebb and flow with getting over zealous with things and then being realistic so I was hoping that experience might be helpful to folks.
Agree with you on many points. We've had our room for about 12 years now and are currently in the first series of updates. Life has changed over the years. We've had times it was wonderful to own and times we didn't use it as much. Our room impresses visitors, who probably think of it as high end. However, we are very proud of the value we've put into it by building everything ourselves and shopping equipment very carefully. I'd venture that our experience is in the top 20% of home theaters. I would also bet that guests overestimate what we spent by 4-5 times. We are committed. The theater ties into our game room and other spaces and will always be a part of our home. Thanks for the video. I enjoyed listening to your thoughts. It helped me process and analyze my own.
Why a home theater? For me, it goes back to my childhood and young adulthood when the local theater was a sort of weekly pilgrimage. We would also hit the drive in in the summer, and this became a much anticipated event. It is now possible to have an experience far superior to those cherished moments in my own own home, and movies are both plentiful and inexpensive. It’s a great time to be alive.
Two thumbs up! Great points and food for thought.... Usually the love for the home theater is not shared to the same extent by the other family members. They enjoy going there occasionally, but it is a space that has been carved out of the common living space and it serves a singular purpose with limited time to use with work and other responsibilities. Plus working on that project has taken time from spending time together with family, money from collecting experiences and memories together, and I am yet to find a wife that embraces a pitch black room that she cannot turn into a family multi-use room. I really wanted a dedicated theater, but a) the space we have doesn't allow to carve an extra room, cause Covid happened and having a home office is way more needed than a home theater; b) I can't even bring myself to setup the projector and the screen. It was much easier and more practical to go up on the quality and size of the TV and a higher-end soundbar/woofer with dolby atmos in the living room than set everything for a two hour movie night and then pack everything up. Most days we don't even have anything to watch that would justify a dedicated space with the treatments, equipment, maintenance and the inevitable upgraditis.
Well said, I have a “dedicated room” (11x20) which I used for my HT but I didn’t want to transform to a HT with doble row seating and all that cost that comes with it. I like the I have a confortable couch so all the family can be together. Beside all the steps your mention one other reason I didn’t do it all in is because the niche for HT is really small and if you want to sell the house most of the families don’t want a HT room and make harder to sell the house.
Great video! We converted one of our basement rooms into our dedicated home theater. Outside of some of the cutouts for in-wall speakers and custom riser with new carpet, I have been careful to modify the room structure much more beyond this. While our kiddos are young, this makes sense, but there may come a day where we need that extra room as they grow, so our plans may change in the future. At that time, I might go with that family space idea with higher end features. Also, FULLY agree that the wife comes first! It’s hard for me to justify most nights going down to the theater room, while she is upstairs alone. Awesome work as usual sir!
I agree you can spend a ton of $$ on a dedicated home theater room, however as you said you need to get value out of it and on my end i think people can build a pretty decent entertainment room with a tight budget. On my end when i bought my house 5 years ago i wanted to build an entertainment room and managed to get great quality with not spending a ton of money. I bought a full set of mid range surround speakers from Fluance, i paid $400 CAD, bought a Klipsh 12 inch subwoofer (R12SW) for $450, got a Yamaha VSX 831 4k receiver for about $550 at the time, 4k player $200 and budget 65 inch 4k Haier TV for about $850 CAD, so in total i spent less than $2500 CAD. I am using the room all the time for watching movies, playing games etc. I love it! Its my man cave. Is it perfect, no but for me like you said i got amazing value without breaking the bank. Next thing i want to do after the past 5 years is upgrade my TV.
I’m somewhat happy with my Living room/Media room setup. I want to upgrade my speakers next. In any hobby you’re never finished. It’s always what’s next to be upgraded or improved. Being Retired and by myself affords me the luxury of being able to watch Movies,play Games whenever I want and as loud as I want. A dedicated Theater room adds value to the resale of your house but recouping all the investment will be tough. Especially if you spend a lot of money! I’m surprised you may go weeks not using your Theater! I would live in there daily!! What happened with the STR? I tell a lot of people to Cherish the average days with your Wife/family. Take plenty of videos/pictures because one day,the unthinkable,Will happen and those videos/pictures will become Golden!! I can’t stress it enough! I watch videos of my late Wife weekly. It’s therapeutic for Me! You don’t know how lucky and blessed you are! Getting Old is 0 fun!!👴🏽
Julius, unfortunately, knows that this first-hand. In a few more decades, I probably wouldn't remember all those movies and games I could do by myself in the basement, but I'll certainly remember enjoying the last hour or whatnot of the day sitting next to my wife and being with her. The STR sounds amazing, but I'm still trying to figure out the reason I get these lock-ups on start-up. Anthem suspects it's something with my Control4 system, but I don't believe it is.
I’ve had a HT for over 20 years. I’ve gone through two TVs, now on the 3rd lamp of a JVC 1080p projector. I am on my 3rd AVR, second speaker set, second set of theater seating (growth). Second NAS and second popcorn machine. All of my gear I either repurposed or sold. We used to have extended family and friends over for movies et al, but everyone is busier now. If I ever do it again, it will be a multipurpose room like a rec center. Kids and grandkids would enjoy a space to run and play rather than sitting and watching movies. Setting up the family room as a quasi HT would be better based on where we tend to gather.
I didn't shoot for a multi row theater, and I'm glad I didn't. Like you say, people are busy. When we have friends and family over, we spend our time talking, barely ever watching a movie together. At the least the adults. Sometimes the kids will do a movie.
Solid advice, these days I push for a 1 room solution for the whole home it’s currently where the market is going in conjunction with a smart home system. This room being the only room in the house with a video/audio source for tv, movies, gaming and music. A smaller room is better for this as you can go with a panel rather than projection. Speakers don’t need to be as big and you don’t need as many channels to experience atmos like immersion. Then you can focus your money on the front end of the system like getting a processor with a hi end dac (krell foundation) and better quality speakers even smaller subs. With near field watching and especially listening you don’t get near as much room interaction making it easier to get the optimal sound performance with minimum treatments. This type of setup being closer to the main living areas will get used daily, won’t feel as cumbersome, and gives value to your investment. When you add additional rooms with video and a quality audio source(living room near kitchen, bedroom) you devalue your dedicated room and as default will spend more time in the setup that is least cumbersome and closer to the main area of the house.
All true. I use my living room space many times more than the theater room. Having the living room stacked with great gear and a high end panel makes it easy to just choose to use it.
I agree with everything you said. I have often wondered how many people with dedicated theatre rooms actually use them very much, if at all, once they have shown them to their family/friends. Probably not many but that is the dubious pleasure of social media, I suppose. Well done.
Very insightful - I have recently forgone my desire to have a dedicated space. With a premium flagship setup in my family room, and a secondary system in the basement, I suddenly don’t feel the need to have a dedicated space. Instead, that space can be converted to a kids playroom, dance studio, or something other than a third “listening area”. I’m more likely to use the family room with the whole family, to indulge in premium sound and QT with the fam. I have heard too many times that the dedicated space doesn’t get used enough to warrant the investment and upfront time…
We are moving into a new home soon and this exact decision has been weighing on my mind with a large loft (18x22) in the new home. I think you are spot on with costs of a dedicated HT. I had priced out $20-30k for the build. I think the cost along with your great video has been enough for me to step it back quite a bit. Instead of a nice 4K projector and theatre seating, we will probably go with a 77” OLED due to the price point being much cheaper than the available 83” models. We will probably upgrade to a Denon AVR-X3700H and set up a 5.1.4 audio system with SVS or like speakers. Might finish off the room with a large comfy sectional couch. All in all looking at $10-13k for a still amazing setup. Thanks for this video!
Awesome! Glad the video helped. I’m not trying to talk about out of their projects, but just trying to give some food for thought based on my experiences in this hobby.
Audio is my first love, HT my second. My 7.2.4 is based on an emphasis on audiophile quality sound. A 2.2 parasound preamp with home theater bypass, a Emotiva 13. 2 for Ht, a parasound a23 for the audiophile left-,right audio and left right for ht. Emotiva basx four and five channel amps for the atmos-bed channels. And a 77" oled for video. Around 27 grand over four years. More like a media room with Bowers speakers, 704's for left right, seven series for surround, 706s2 and seven series center. And I LOVE my Frankenstein monster! The 2.2 channel music. The 7.2.4 movies. Some bleed over the Emotiva prepro plays some music. But I love it.
Good video and talking points. I am somewhat the opposite- I had a VERY low budget theater for about 10 years and never used it, but after some budget upgrades my theater, i now make a point to use it once a week, sort of as a self reward and tradition, but in moderation. Its almost a continuation of my tradition of going to theaters on a weekly basis. BUT, i am a single guy who will probably not get married/kids. So i totally get your point. Those with families have more priorities than a home theater man cave, and it also probably depends a lot on how old your kids are/what type of memories you want to build. In addition, some folks spend a ton of money on a theater, whereas some folks feel their money could be put to better use or actual investments (since technically theater equipment is not really asset that appreciates or generates value beyond personal enjoyment). All depends on your priorities. Again, great video, great discussion.
I dont have a dedicated home theater but where i have my OLED TV i built a 5.1.2 audio system. I have an entry level receiver, the Denon X2600H that costed me 480 euros brand new, my subwoofer is a SVS SB2000 that costed 520 euros, the rest of the Speakers costed me 600 euros, the front stage are KEF Q series. You can find soundbars at the price i paid for my equipment and there is no soundbar to match the quality i get from the receiver and the 5.1.2 speaker layout. If i had a house and a lot of money probably i would do a hobby room where i would set a more serious system but in my apartment is a nice setup. What i would like is to upgrade the receiver to a X4700H so i can add two additional height channels and to have Auro3D too, i heard that their Automatic upmixer is very good! With this receiver i could add even an additional top surround (the voice of god) channel for the Auro 3D. Small and good investments, everyday i watch at least a movie or an episode from a TV show that i like. Oh and i prefer OLED TVs over projectors, pure blacks, contrast, Dolby Vision and HDR 10 are a thing for me and in the room where i watch TV almost always have some ambient light so that not very suitable for projectors, yeah the size of a projector screen is unbeatable but you need total dark rooms for projectors.
I don’t need a dedicated home theater per say but I have a Theater/Basement combo setup and I’m currently running a 5.2.4 setup, now in the near future I’m going to go with a 9.2.4 setup and will switch all my speakers over to Arendal including the 2 subs as Arendal just blows everything else away IMO, powered by a Denon X6700H and Outlaw external amplification or something to that effect. I’ve also ruled out going the projector route as to me it’s not practical enough for everyday general use but will instead most likely go with a 97” LG G2 that way I can have the best home theater movie experience along with one of the best gaming experiences out there(who doesn’t want to game on a 97” OLED) and be practical enough to just chill and watch DirecTV if I want. I also prefer a nice comfortable couch vs theater chairs/seating
That setup will be sweet. 97" is pretty big, especially if you're sitting closer like under 10' or so. Plus the big flat panel skips a lot of the pain and hassle of projectors and makes a better HDR picture.
Jaremy, Great video! I typical tend to be long-winded in my responses so I will try to be succinct. I wholeheartedly agree with every point you made. I would tell someone Interested in a dedicated theater space to look at as a second car that is a luxury sports car. It’s going to cost you a ton of money to buy and maintain and you can only drive it during the summer but when you drive it you will remember why you got it. If you pocketbook can afford that then go for it. If one decides to go down the path of a dedicated room I would suggest that they look at refurbished or demo gear if money is an issue. I hate paying retail and there are very few things in my theater or in my house in general that I paid retail prices for. Sometimes you don’t have a choice but eBay or the forums can be your best friend. Besides my dedicated theater I have a media room, living room, guest bedroom and master bedroom that all have at a minimum a 5.1 system. The media room has a 7.1.5 Auro3D system. Maybe instead of having a dedicated theater one may find better value in a larger Tv or an ultra short throw projector with a 100 to 120 screen that can have dual use purposes. Because one you start down the dedicated home theater road you are NEVER done. Whether you DIY or are rich enough to have it installed. And that is not even touching home automation stuff or quality networking equipment. I just asked my integrator about Josh.ai pricing and whether or not I need to upgrade my Pakedge switches to newer ones that support OvrC. Here I go again. Sorry about that. Love the videos and keep up the great content!
Great honest video. I have no space and lacking the funds to have a dedicated theatre room, but to be honest, unless I had a huge house and mega money I would not want one. I am more into having a great visual and sound system in my living area for movies and casual viewing. I can imagine the novelty of a dedicated room for movies would soon wear off and as you say, might soon become a room you rarely use.
It depends on the individual and their family and so on. Some theaters get a ton of use I would thing. Per the video, I find I use my room less overall than I thought I might. Every time I do use it though, I really enjoy it for family movies or movies with my wife.
That’s awesome! Do you remember how wide your couch is, where you found it and what that item was called? That couch is exactly what I’m looking for! Thanks
This is an interesting video. It certainly does cost a decent amount to get into a HT but I feel like the cost of entry can be much lower than what you described. We started it in our last house due to covid and the room was 10x12, a standard bedroom. We started building it out slowly and eventually got to where we are today. My wife and I spend around 20+ hours a week in our dedicated HT, we have a slightly larger room now 14x12 and use high end 85" Sony with a 5.1.4 setup. All the lighting is controlled via smart home tech and dedicated HT seating. Over a few year we have upgraded a few things here an there and honestly have an all in of around 10k. We will eventually have to upgrade it further, but for now it is pretty great.
Awesome! Yeah, $10k is a reasonable more modest entry point, I agree. Sounds like you use the room as much as a living room/hang out type of space as well as being a dedicated theater room. Congrats!
I don’t think we have to accept the premise that a dedicated HT needs to cost anywhere near the levels being discussed. You can get in on a budget no problem. Yes, new name brand equipment is nice and I personally spent more than I care to admit. However, we shouldn’t fool ourselves that this route yields exponentially better results than going in on a budget. And we definitely shouldn’t fool ourselves into thinking that dollars to performance is a fixed ratio.
For sure! I was trying to talk about such concepts in the video too. Looking at the idea of a dedicated space though being set up from scratch, you're in for some dollars. A big TV or modest projector/screen, a receiver, say a 5.1.2 system minimum, sources, some way to control it, seating, finishes and decor, maybe a modest acoustic treatment or two, and so on though all adds up even in a modest space. And then it really takes off fast as you move up.
It might turn in to addiction , nights reading forums and watch similar videos, and yes room is everything it’s very important to understand your room especially in HT when you have so many speakers working together. Good luck , don’t paint grills in case you want to sell
I hope You’re actually Enjoying your incredible theater my friend. I’m sure you’re busy with content here & the busy family life, but the amount of money & time you spent deserves to be utilized as often as possible.
You really don't have to drop that kind of money to have a solid home theater. Maybe it won't be perfect, but with some investment in acoustic treatments or DIY treatments and don't paint the room gloss white, you can still end with something pretty darn good. You just have to spend wisely and not get the cheapest A/V gear, but not the penultimate of gear where you hit the law of diminishing returns hard. I started with three Triad Gold LCR's and a Monolith THX 15 sub, but my budget had to get slashed because of the world we're now living in, so I ended up with much cheaper surrounds and overheads. Luckily, I ran into some Snell Acoustic clones that matched really well with the Triads for surround usage and went with RSL in-ceilings for the overheads. I also bought a factory refurbed JVC 4k reference projector at a significant savings. It still works wonderfully. My acoustic screen is just a basic Silver Ticket, but it really isn't a bad screen at all and does the job. The other thing to do is to save up, save up, save up. Don't buy a bunch of cheap stuff if your budget is tight just to scratch the home theater itch and impatiently grab everything at once. You will be disappointed in the outcome. Buy smart and put the bulk of your money into quality speakers and subs as they will last many times over, and buy a little at a time when you can. Just like Techthusiasm said, it's not worth going into debt for entertainment. Buy when you actually have the fun money to spend.
Yes I do. My living room is my home theater room. Was 7.2.2, now It’s 5.2.4 since I just got 2 SVS Prime Elevation speakers to go over my the edges of my couch (ceiling mounted, that was fun 🙄🤦♂️). My couch is against the wall so I really wasn’t getting the optimum use out of the rears. This way is a 1000% better. First movie was READY PLAYER ONE. Good Lord, incredibly immersive this way.
I could probably do a video on this coming, but there's a few things. We put a big glass block window in the room, as we had no reason to black it all out. So I've been trying to nullify that light, but most often we use our room in the evening so it's not a problem. We also put expensive doors with glass panels in them on the room so I had to black that glass out. The doors themselves aren't exactly braced or anything, just normal double push doors. There's no double drywall or any significant room construction to help contain sound. The HVAC runs through the ceiling of the room and the soffit in the back. If I had designed from scratch to be a home theater, I could have had that stuff routed differently. Lots of things like that. As it is though, I still got pretty lucky how good the room worked out in the conversion.
Yeah that’s the thing about doing home theatre I own a 7.2 and a 5.1.2 setup and you spend lots and lots of money. The amplifiers out there are not cheap the next amplifier I plan to get is the Yamaha a6a and that’s about 3 grand will I’m going to save 10 grand so I have left over money for the atmos speaker I want. For a 7.2.2 but for a normal person I would definitely do research about what your gonna get yourself into. Cause this hobby isn’t cheap.
Wait, I thought the whole point of a dedicated HT was to avoid the wife and kids?! lol. Seriously though, great video. I don't think most enthusiasts are really honest with themselves. I see purchase validation comments all the time. They stuff either too big or too many speakers in a small space, there are tons of placement compromises, they get FOMO, upgrade often, and probably put themselves in debt. Sleazy salesmen used to be the only threat., but FOMO via social media is a strong factor, and all the flossing has influenced many to spend way too much than they expected, and the performance than fails to meet system expectations.
LOL, too funny! Everyone need some alone time, for sure, but I happen to like my family and so you'll never hear me utter the term "man cave" or stuff like that. I actually correct other people when they call it that. Our theater is a family space, not a place my kid's see Dad retreat to by himself. Awesome comments!
Thanks! I've gotten over zealous on things at time in my life and dumped money into them only to get boarded of them or pull out and sell/dump it later. It's easy to get caught up in stuff.
I love having a dedicated home theater. It's an expensive hobby, but it's a very fun hobby. I think if you have a solid budget to begin with you won't disappoint yourself. I truly think you can make a very solid dedicated home theater for around $15k. That's utilizing used speakers and equipment and reaching out to dealers. I think majority of people can create a very solid 5.2.4 setup. Spend at most $1k more for a 7.2.4. Just some examples I've been seeing on the used market- You can get a JVC NX5/NX7 for around $4500-$5k used. If you're fine with an Epson 5050/6050 you're looking at $2500ish used. Spend the most on the front 3. Whether that's in-walls or towers, I would spend at least $1k per speaker for LCR, sides/surround around $500ish and Atmos around $400 or less. For two solid subwoofers it will cost around $1500-$2500 depending on brand. But let's just use SVS subs, for dual PB-3000 is $3k. For dual PB-2000 pro is $2100. And you get 45 day return window. That's very nice. For AVR/Processor market I've been seeing some mega steals on AVS forums of people selling their AVR or AVP's. I saw a new Anthem going for around $2500. Work with some dealers for Denon, Marant or Yamaha. I got a Yamaha CX-5200 processor for around $2000 through a dealer. Amps or no amps? I would suggest going separates. You have Outlaw audio, Emotiva and monolith amps available. If you're doing a 5.2.4 setup you can grab 3 Outlaw mono-amps and a 7 channel amp for just a tad over $2k when taxes and shipping is included. You can easily find amps for sale on AVS or Audiogon for a smidge cheaper. Emotiva has their amp lineup. You can grab 2-5 CH amps for just a tad over $1k. Screens-the used market has tons of screens available and grand majority are all sub $1000 and even more sub $500. You can get all your cables for great pricing on Monoprice. So far HDMI's, speakers cable, etc.... you're looking at maybe $500 to do the entire room. Furniture is all over the place. Spend $500 or you can spend $5k or more. All depends on taste. If you can do all the work yourself or with family and friends that saves a bunch. So if you total things up 5.2.4- roughly $15k 7.2.4-roughly $16k If you were to go for the JVC projector and bigger subs or more expensive processor/amps, you're looking closer to $20k. Just my two cents.
I have a theatre media room that I enjoy. But let's be truthful. Both my daughters grew up watching movies on their iPhones and iPads. It's very rare that they will sit down to watch a movie in my cave. Thank God that it is not a dedicated theatre room. Multimedia all-purpose rooms are the future.
have a 7.1.2 system 135 inch acoustic transparent screen. modest budget. epson 3800. Was first purchase, then upgrade lcr, then subwoofer, then sides and surrounds. save and upgrade. It's elite no. Is it amazing to me yes. my favorite saying. you don't know what you don't know. I don't know how good a jvc is so I don't need one. ignorance is bliss and cheaper.
For my family of 4 to go to a commercial cinema, we are talking more like $125, but it still takes quite a few trips to even come close to making up for the theater. :)
The thing people don't understand about home theaters is that the cost isn't just about the projector or even the speakers. It's about devoting a whole room in your house to watching movies in the dark. If you do it properly, that means blacking out the windows, painting the walls and ceiling black, getting black flooring, getting a screen, getting pricey home theater seating, etc. It's about climate controlling that extra space. It's about getting a house with that extra space. The TVs today are getting so big and have such high quality that you don't need to do all that to have a cinematic experience. It might not be 100% of the movie theater experience and the screen might not be quite as big, but it's still damned impressive. And you don't have to black out a whole room for them. I picked up some old Sony speakers secondhand for free or very nearly free, and they are waaaaaaay more than adequate for my living room. I've been wanting a new, larger TV, but my 12-year-old 40" Sony is still going strong and looks more than fine. I just watched a Blu-ray on it today, and I have zero complaints.
Well, there are level to this hobby, for sure. And it is much easier nowadays to build awesome living room setups with 85" TVs and all that. I still very much enjoy and am thankful for my theater every we use it though. :)
@P T I'm all for watching movies at home. I do it all the time. I just use a TV in my living room instead of using a projector in a dedicated home theater room...largely because I don't have that kind of space.
Agree with this 100%, I have a 5.1.2 system in my living room that took me one year to complete. I purchase piece by piece and installed after I had everything I needed. Working on a dedicated room in my den/ playroom area. May take me 2 yrs to complete. I view Home Theater as a luxury, just stuff that nice to have don't necessarily need it.
"This is an honest video! do you really need that sort of space 🤔?? For just movie etc.. " We just invest in a common space + music too! ..Multi -channel -audio😇 d🤕🇪🇺🗺💟
I agree. Something around $10k, assuming you're starting from scratch and working on a dedicated room, can get you going. That should get you a big flat panel or maybe a modest projector and screen, maybe 5.1.2 audio, a decent receiver, some seating, some sources, and a bit of finishing.
@@Techthusiasm I think you can get a bit more with that. I've spend around 10K on my bedroom, which is almost a dedicated hometheater room haha. Got a 65" OLED, 7.1.4 SVS Prime setup and PB 2000 Pro, Pioneer AVR (with Dirac), Bass shaker, Panasonic UB820 player, Nvidia Shield Pro, Xbox Series X and a 2 channel Emotiva BasX Amp.
I enjoyed listening to your experiences and plus that was excellent advice 👍 If I could afford a big home, I don't think I would utilise one of its spare rooms for a dedicated theatre room but saying that, I have converted my small flat (apartment) into a 2-channel / theatre livingroom, that's mainly because my listening / viewing habits are huge (25 hr+ p.w) and in my personal opinion, if one is gonna do ones living room out... then it needs to be done out with quality otherwise overtime because of the close component environment, ones ears are going to be even susceptible to all the unwanted noise, hence the reason why all my cables are shielded! (Something one really doesn't need to think about, when it's a dedicated room!) In fact if interested here's a 3-minute video of my setup.... th-cam.com/video/xvdqI5qZa6g/w-d-xo.html
Ha, I’ve done a lot since the channel started. Probably be slowing down a bit. Hopefully I can get my hands on more stuff to review. But I have some really cool optimizations and smaller additions coming up to talk about. No shortage of content.
You make some very useful and important points. I’m on my second dedicated theater build and have been in this hobby since the 80’s. One big disappointment for me was in my last build I spent somewhere between $20-40k and had very little interest from friends and family to watch movies. I put a lot of time, labor and cash into it, and the response was very muted. I’d advise anyone doing this to only do it if it’s a passion of yours and you’re ok if people you know aren’t really into it.
Well, you did it for others?? I dont care if there is no one else interested in what i build or what i achieve, im doing things for me. If i buy the car i dreamt of is not because i want others to aplaud me and to enjoy my car, it's me who should be happy. If the people near me are enjoying my stuff too is good, if not, thats ok too!
I don’t think any of us do this stuff or want to do it just to impress other people. Never do that. It’s just fun when our friends and family engage in it and enjoy it too sometimes. 😄
Totally agree you have to do it for yourself. My family and friends have shown little interest. Most just want to sit at their own home vs coming over to your's even it its far superior, people just don't care about the cool gear. Big screens, cool yes, but they still pass it up cause its a hassle to go over to someone else home.
That thought never entered my mind. My HT has evolved over the years to what it is now, and I smile every time I watch a movie, listen to music! For me, when we bought the house, one of the requirements for me was to have a finished basement. One side is for my HT, and the other side has my DJ gear, and workout gear. Our kids are grown and living their own life, so, I’m enjoying everything that I’ve done in that space. I have enough space to do whatever I want to do. My wife uses that space as well, especially for her workouts. I research everything I do before I do it! For those of you who have a HT, ENJOY!!!
Awesome!
Thanks for being honest.
My pleasure! Thanks for watching.
I didn't notice the super thanks on the original comments, so let me give a super thanks right back! It's greatly appreciated!
Great subject and I really appreciate your commentary. I think your thoughts are more geared towards someone who is casually interested in a home theater. For those that are in the hobby I think their outlook is different. I personally love my HT and I've never questioned the value of it even if a month passes and I haven't used it. The moment I start playing one of those A+++ blockbusters and the Atmos mix is active and subs are shaking the room etc I get a thrill that I think I will always enjoy.
Most certainly, even if I might doubt the value of my room at times if I haven't used it in a few weeks, then we do go use it and I instantly recall all the things I like about it. :) I'm with you there.
For me as well, the room I built the theater in wasn't being used for anything. It was blank space in the house. So I didn't have to displace anything and thus there wasn't other opportunity cost other spending the money and time.
I was hoping my experience and perspective would just give folks some extra things to think about before going all in or too far in on a project like this, whether casual or not. Thanks for the compliments!
Simply answer for me is, hell yes! 😂 I love watching movies and I could spend an entire weekend just watching movies after hard week of work. I don’t know about some people but I love staying home especially with all the madness out there right now. The only thing I’ll need is just an integrator to do my C4 programming. You make some valid points though. Mainly about cost. I had built a dual purpose room in my apartment and now I’m a home owner I’m definitely building my first dedicated home theater in my basement. It’s been a dream of mine and I’m definitely gonna make it happen.
Sweet! I’m happy to advise on the space. 😃👍🏻
@@Techthusiasm Thank you sir. I very much appreciate your offer. I’ll definitely need it.
I’d love to do videos in the future where people give me some details and constraints and then do like a “what would I do” explanation. I think that would be fun content and useful to folks.
the best thing about your channel is you don't just recite specs and how well they preform. You go in-depth into what it's like to live with these things. This is so valuable. Much appreciated!
Thanks! My goal with the channel is to be just that. To kind of live and breath and share the hobby.
One of the best discussions on this topic. We've used our modest dedicated room a lot. Now that things have changed we don't use it anymore. Rather than maintain 2 areas I'm moving what acoustic treatments and such that I can to the family room and converting the basement room to a gym. I'm also looking into some modest on wall speakers for simple 5.1. A dedicated room is for projectors and optimizing audio.
Projectors are amazing but I'm very content with a large flat screen and I think many others are as well so we will see less dedicated theater rooms. Another thing rarely mentioned. At least for me there isn't enough great content coming out to justify a dedicated room. I lean more towards audio performance now or concert videos.
I have a home theater setup in our multipurpose living room now, but have dreams of building onto our house to have a dedicated room or moving into a bigger house to achieve the same goal. Already owning a projector, amps, speakers, etc. puts me ahead of the curve money-wise, but building out the room is still a very large investment. Thanks for being honest about the experience of having a dedicated room, and going into the cons of it without being overly negative. All people ever talk about is how much they love their setup but this perspective seems much more grounded and real. I still want my own dedicated room, but this definitely puts some food for thought into my head about making realistic expectations. Thanks!
Everything in life is a choice and comes with opportunity cost for money or time. I do try to keep it real. Quite honestly, I can't even recall the last time we used the room for a movie lately. It hasn't been in October, I know that. Might have been early September. So many things going on in life and time is limited, so have to make choices.
Life is all about compromises. We ended up with an open concept media room at the last house and ended up liking it more than a dedicated space at the house prior. We could still batten down the hatches and watch a movie in the dark but it was much more of a social space for sports and entertainment which we liked a lot more. I think the equipment can get out of hand, and I’m no exception, but as long as you aren’t going into debt or sacrificing important things in your life it’s totally worth it.
Nice! Sounds like you figured out exactly what works for you, Ken.
Very transparent thoughts
True information!!! I am building a theatre room. I totally agree, it’s a hobby that never really ends. Nice to have only when actually used !!
Thanks! What’s going into your room?
this is very insightful and brutally honest! , this was something very valuable that i have learned in my journey as an videophile and audiophile in the 20 years plus, and here it's for free.
Wow, that's such a nice compliment! Thanks! I tend to ebb and flow with getting over zealous with things and then being realistic so I was hoping that experience might be helpful to folks.
Agree with you on many points. We've had our room for about 12 years now and are currently in the first series of updates. Life has changed over the years. We've had times it was wonderful to own and times we didn't use it as much. Our room impresses visitors, who probably think of it as high end. However, we are very proud of the value we've put into it by building everything ourselves and shopping equipment very carefully. I'd venture that our experience is in the top 20% of home theaters. I would also bet that guests overestimate what we spent by 4-5 times. We are committed. The theater ties into our game room and other spaces and will always be a part of our home. Thanks for the video. I enjoyed listening to your thoughts. It helped me process and analyze my own.
Awesome! That’s my entire goal. I’m sure your space is amazing.
Why a home theater?
For me, it goes back to my childhood and young adulthood when the local theater was a sort of weekly pilgrimage. We would also hit the drive in in the summer, and this became a much anticipated event.
It is now possible to have an experience far superior to those cherished moments in my own own home, and movies are both plentiful and inexpensive. It’s a great time to be alive.
Two thumbs up! Great points and food for thought....
Usually the love for the home theater is not shared to the same extent by the other family members. They enjoy going there occasionally, but it is a space that has been carved out of the common living space and it serves a singular purpose with limited time to use with work and other responsibilities.
Plus working on that project has taken time from spending time together with family, money from collecting experiences and memories together, and I am yet to find a wife that embraces a pitch black room that she cannot turn into a family multi-use room.
I really wanted a dedicated theater, but a) the space we have doesn't allow to carve an extra room, cause Covid happened and having a home office is way more needed than a home theater; b) I can't even bring myself to setup the projector and the screen. It was much easier and more practical to go up on the quality and size of the TV and a higher-end soundbar/woofer with dolby atmos in the living room than set everything for a two hour movie night and then pack everything up.
Most days we don't even have anything to watch that would justify a dedicated space with the treatments, equipment, maintenance and the inevitable upgraditis.
Thanks!
Well said, I have a “dedicated room” (11x20) which I used for my HT but I didn’t want to transform to a HT with doble row seating and all that cost that comes with it.
I like the I have a confortable couch so all the family can be together.
Beside all the steps your mention one other reason I didn’t do it all in is because the niche for HT is really small and if you want to sell the house most of the families don’t want a HT room and make harder to sell the house.
Thanks for sharing! Yeah, I’m not sure if or how much an HT adds to a home value. It’s gotta be very buyer dependent.
Great video! We converted one of our basement rooms into our dedicated home theater. Outside of some of the cutouts for in-wall speakers and custom riser with new carpet, I have been careful to modify the room structure much more beyond this. While our kiddos are young, this makes sense, but there may come a day where we need that extra room as they grow, so our plans may change in the future. At that time, I might go with that family space idea with higher end features. Also, FULLY agree that the wife comes first! It’s hard for me to justify most nights going down to the theater room, while she is upstairs alone. Awesome work as usual sir!
Thanks so much! Great comments and thanks for sharing.
I agree you can spend a ton of $$ on a dedicated home theater room, however as you said you need to get value out of it and on my end i think people can build a pretty decent entertainment room with a tight budget. On my end when i bought my house 5 years ago i wanted to build an entertainment room and managed to get great quality with not spending a ton of money. I bought a full set of mid range surround speakers from Fluance, i paid $400 CAD, bought a Klipsh 12 inch subwoofer (R12SW) for $450, got a Yamaha VSX 831 4k receiver for about $550 at the time, 4k player $200 and budget 65 inch 4k Haier TV for about $850 CAD, so in total i spent less than $2500 CAD. I am using the room all the time for watching movies, playing games etc. I love it! Its my man cave. Is it perfect, no but for me like you said i got amazing value without breaking the bank. Next thing i want to do after the past 5 years is upgrade my TV.
Nice!
Very good points, I've no space for a dedicated room, so I wonder how did you setup your living room.
I will be making an updated living room system tour soon. Look for it in a couple weeks or so.
I’m somewhat happy with my Living room/Media room setup. I want to upgrade my speakers next. In any hobby you’re never finished. It’s always what’s next to be upgraded or improved. Being Retired and by myself affords me the luxury of being able to watch Movies,play Games whenever I want and as loud as I want. A dedicated Theater room adds value to the resale of your house but recouping all the investment will be tough. Especially if you spend a lot of money! I’m surprised you may go weeks not using your Theater! I would live in there daily!! What happened with the STR?
I tell a lot of people to Cherish the average days with your Wife/family. Take plenty of videos/pictures because one day,the unthinkable,Will happen and those videos/pictures will become Golden!! I can’t stress it enough! I watch videos of my late Wife weekly. It’s therapeutic for Me! You don’t know how lucky and blessed you are! Getting Old is 0 fun!!👴🏽
Julius, unfortunately, knows that this first-hand. In a few more decades, I probably wouldn't remember all those movies and games I could do by myself in the basement, but I'll certainly remember enjoying the last hour or whatnot of the day sitting next to my wife and being with her.
The STR sounds amazing, but I'm still trying to figure out the reason I get these lock-ups on start-up. Anthem suspects it's something with my Control4 system, but I don't believe it is.
@@Techthusiasm Can you take the STR totally out of the Control4 system and see if it still locks up on startup?
I need to try. I'm pretty sure it's locking sometime regardless.
what’s most important is investing in a room or setup that you will actually use and benefit most from
great insight here
Thanks!
I’ve had a HT for over 20 years. I’ve gone through two TVs, now on the 3rd lamp of a JVC 1080p projector. I am on my 3rd AVR, second speaker set, second set of theater seating (growth). Second NAS and second popcorn machine. All of my gear I either repurposed or sold. We used to have extended family and friends over for movies et al, but everyone is busier now.
If I ever do it again, it will be a multipurpose room like a rec center. Kids and grandkids would enjoy a space to run and play rather than sitting and watching movies. Setting up the family room as a quasi HT would be better based on where we tend to gather.
I didn't shoot for a multi row theater, and I'm glad I didn't. Like you say, people are busy. When we have friends and family over, we spend our time talking, barely ever watching a movie together. At the least the adults. Sometimes the kids will do a movie.
Solid advice, these days I push for a 1 room solution for the whole home it’s currently where the market is going in conjunction with a smart home system. This room being the only room in the house with a video/audio source for tv, movies, gaming and music. A smaller room is better for this as you can go with a panel rather than projection. Speakers don’t need to be as big and you don’t need as many channels to experience atmos like immersion. Then you can focus your money on the front end of the system like getting a processor with a hi end dac (krell foundation) and better quality speakers even smaller subs. With near field watching and especially listening you don’t get near as much room interaction making it easier to get the optimal sound performance with minimum treatments. This type of setup being closer to the main living areas will get used daily, won’t feel as cumbersome, and gives value to your investment. When you add additional rooms with video and a quality audio source(living room near kitchen, bedroom) you devalue your dedicated room and as default will spend more time in the setup that is least cumbersome and closer to the main area of the house.
All true. I use my living room space many times more than the theater room. Having the living room stacked with great gear and a high end panel makes it easy to just choose to use it.
I agree with everything you said. I have often wondered how many people with dedicated theatre rooms actually use them very much, if at all, once they have shown them to their family/friends. Probably not many but that is the dubious pleasure of social media, I suppose. Well done.
Thanks. I think it depends on the person and their situation. Some people have more time or whatnot.
@@Techthusiasm Gotta say, I think most of the home theatre stuff on TH-cam is complete nonsense.
LOL, hopefully not mine! 😁 I think people get super detailed into this stuff and for some people that’s the fun, but other folks kind of get swept in.
@@Techthusiasm I agree and I did not mean you.
Very insightful - I have recently forgone my desire to have a dedicated space. With a premium flagship setup in my family room, and a secondary system in the basement, I suddenly don’t feel the need to have a dedicated space. Instead, that space can be converted to a kids playroom, dance studio, or something other than a third “listening area”. I’m more likely to use the family room with the whole family, to indulge in premium sound and QT with the fam. I have heard too many times that the dedicated space doesn’t get used enough to warrant the investment and upfront time…
Thanks for watching and commenting. Sounds like you're well set with what you have!
We are moving into a new home soon and this exact decision has been weighing on my mind with a large loft (18x22) in the new home. I think you are spot on with costs of a dedicated HT. I had priced out $20-30k for the build.
I think the cost along with your great video has been enough for me to step it back quite a bit. Instead of a nice 4K projector and theatre seating, we will probably go with a 77” OLED due to the price point being much cheaper than the available 83” models. We will probably upgrade to a Denon AVR-X3700H and set up a 5.1.4 audio system with SVS or like speakers. Might finish off the room with a large comfy sectional couch. All in all looking at $10-13k for a still amazing setup.
Thanks for this video!
Awesome! Glad the video helped. I’m not trying to talk about out of their projects, but just trying to give some food for thought based on my experiences in this hobby.
Audio is my first love, HT my second. My 7.2.4 is based on an emphasis on audiophile quality sound. A 2.2 parasound preamp with home theater bypass, a Emotiva 13. 2 for Ht, a parasound a23 for the audiophile left-,right audio and left right for ht. Emotiva basx four and five channel amps for the atmos-bed channels. And a 77" oled for video. Around 27 grand over four years. More like a media room with Bowers speakers, 704's for left right, seven series for surround, 706s2 and seven series center.
And I LOVE my Frankenstein monster! The 2.2 channel music. The 7.2.4 movies. Some bleed over the Emotiva prepro plays some music. But I love it.
Awesome!
Good video and talking points. I am somewhat the opposite- I had a VERY low budget theater for about 10 years and never used it, but after some budget upgrades my theater, i now make a point to use it once a week, sort of as a self reward and tradition, but in moderation. Its almost a continuation of my tradition of going to theaters on a weekly basis. BUT, i am a single guy who will probably not get married/kids. So i totally get your point. Those with families have more priorities than a home theater man cave, and it also probably depends a lot on how old your kids are/what type of memories you want to build. In addition, some folks spend a ton of money on a theater, whereas some folks feel their money could be put to better use or actual investments (since technically theater equipment is not really asset that appreciates or generates value beyond personal enjoyment). All depends on your priorities. Again, great video, great discussion.
Thanks for the compliments and for sharing!
I dont have a dedicated home theater but where i have my OLED TV i built a 5.1.2 audio system. I have an entry level receiver, the Denon X2600H that costed me 480 euros brand new, my subwoofer is a SVS SB2000 that costed 520 euros, the rest of the Speakers costed me 600 euros, the front stage are KEF Q series. You can find soundbars at the price i paid for my equipment and there is no soundbar to match the quality i get from the receiver and the 5.1.2 speaker layout. If i had a house and a lot of money probably i would do a hobby room where i would set a more serious system but in my apartment is a nice setup. What i would like is to upgrade the receiver to a X4700H so i can add two additional height channels and to have Auro3D too, i heard that their Automatic upmixer is very good! With this receiver i could add even an additional top surround (the voice of god) channel for the Auro 3D. Small and good investments, everyday i watch at least a movie or an episode from a TV show that i like. Oh and i prefer OLED TVs over projectors, pure blacks, contrast, Dolby Vision and HDR 10 are a thing for me and in the room where i watch TV almost always have some ambient light so that not very suitable for projectors, yeah the size of a projector screen is unbeatable but you need total dark rooms for projectors.
Awesome setup! Thanks for sharing!
I don’t need a dedicated home theater per say but I have a Theater/Basement combo setup and I’m currently running a 5.2.4 setup, now in the near future I’m going to go with a 9.2.4 setup and will switch all my speakers over to Arendal including the 2 subs as Arendal just blows everything else away IMO, powered by a Denon X6700H and Outlaw external amplification or something to that effect. I’ve also ruled out going the projector route as to me it’s not practical enough for everyday general use but will instead most likely go with a 97” LG G2 that way I can have the best home theater movie experience along with one of the best gaming experiences out there(who doesn’t want to game on a 97” OLED) and be practical enough to just chill and watch DirecTV if I want. I also prefer a nice comfortable couch vs theater chairs/seating
That setup will be sweet. 97" is pretty big, especially if you're sitting closer like under 10' or so. Plus the big flat panel skips a lot of the pain and hassle of projectors and makes a better HDR picture.
@@Techthusiasm I plan to have the couch 14 feet away and most people tell me that that’s to far away but for me it should be fine
I sit about that far in both my rooms. It's pretty far, but 97" will still be great.
Great realistic discussion
Thanks!
Jaremy, Great video! I typical tend to be long-winded in my responses so I will try to be succinct. I wholeheartedly agree with every point you made. I would tell someone Interested in a dedicated theater space to look at as a second car that is a luxury sports car. It’s going to cost you a ton of money to buy and maintain and you can only drive it during the summer but when you drive it you will remember why you got it. If you pocketbook can afford that then go for it. If one decides to go down the path of a dedicated room I would suggest that they look at refurbished or demo gear if money is an issue. I hate paying retail and there are very few things in my theater or in my house in general that I paid retail prices for. Sometimes you don’t have a choice but eBay or the forums can be your best friend. Besides my dedicated theater I have a media room, living room, guest bedroom and master bedroom that all have at a minimum a 5.1 system. The media room has a 7.1.5 Auro3D system.
Maybe instead of having a dedicated theater one may find better value in a larger Tv or an ultra short throw projector with a 100 to 120 screen that can have dual use purposes. Because one you start down the dedicated home theater road you are NEVER done. Whether you DIY or are rich enough to have it installed. And that is not even touching home automation stuff or quality networking equipment. I just asked my integrator about Josh.ai pricing and whether or not I need to upgrade my Pakedge switches to newer ones that support OvrC.
Here I go again. Sorry about that. Love the videos and keep up the great content!
Ha, keep the comments coming! I read it all. Great insights!
Great honest video. I have no space and lacking the funds to have a dedicated theatre room, but to be honest, unless I had a huge house and mega money I would not want one. I am more into having a great visual and sound system in my living area for movies and casual viewing. I can imagine the novelty of a dedicated room for movies would soon wear off and as you say, might soon become a room you rarely use.
It depends on the individual and their family and so on. Some theaters get a ton of use I would thing. Per the video, I find I use my room less overall than I thought I might. Every time I do use it though, I really enjoy it for family movies or movies with my wife.
That’s awesome! Do you remember how wide your couch is, where you found it and what that item was called? That couch is exactly what I’m looking for! Thanks
Thanks! Our seating is an Ikea Kivik section with three pieces. www.ikea.com/us/en/cat/kivik-series-18329/
This is an interesting video. It certainly does cost a decent amount to get into a HT but I feel like the cost of entry can be much lower than what you described.
We started it in our last house due to covid and the room was 10x12, a standard bedroom. We started building it out slowly and eventually got to where we are today.
My wife and I spend around 20+ hours a week in our dedicated HT, we have a slightly larger room now 14x12 and use high end 85" Sony with a 5.1.4 setup. All the lighting is controlled via smart home tech and dedicated HT seating. Over a few year we have upgraded a few things here an there and honestly have an all in of around 10k.
We will eventually have to upgrade it further, but for now it is pretty great.
Awesome! Yeah, $10k is a reasonable more modest entry point, I agree. Sounds like you use the room as much as a living room/hang out type of space as well as being a dedicated theater room. Congrats!
@@Techthusiasm Thanks, we do use it a lot. No kids, so it is sort of our hang out spot.
I don’t think we have to accept the premise that a dedicated HT needs to cost anywhere near the levels being discussed. You can get in on a budget no problem. Yes, new name brand equipment is nice and I personally spent more than I care to admit. However, we shouldn’t fool ourselves that this route yields exponentially better results than going in on a budget. And we definitely shouldn’t fool ourselves into thinking that dollars to performance is a fixed ratio.
For sure! I was trying to talk about such concepts in the video too. Looking at the idea of a dedicated space though being set up from scratch, you're in for some dollars. A big TV or modest projector/screen, a receiver, say a 5.1.2 system minimum, sources, some way to control it, seating, finishes and decor, maybe a modest acoustic treatment or two, and so on though all adds up even in a modest space. And then it really takes off fast as you move up.
Eventually we will get the open are of the basement set up for game and hang out space like that. Once our kids get a bit older.
It might turn in to addiction , nights reading forums and watch similar videos, and yes room is everything it’s very important to understand your room especially in HT when you have so many speakers working together.
Good luck , don’t paint grills in case you want to sell
Thanks for sharing!
I hope You’re actually Enjoying your incredible theater my friend. I’m sure you’re busy with content here & the busy family life, but the amount of money & time you spent deserves to be utilized as often as possible.
Oh I do enjoy it. The video maybe made it sound like I was second guessing my own project, and I'm not. But there are realities to it.
You really don't have to drop that kind of money to have a solid home theater. Maybe it won't be perfect, but with some investment in acoustic treatments or DIY treatments and don't paint the room gloss white, you can still end with something pretty darn good. You just have to spend wisely and not get the cheapest A/V gear, but not the penultimate of gear where you hit the law of diminishing returns hard. I started with three Triad Gold LCR's and a Monolith THX 15 sub, but my budget had to get slashed because of the world we're now living in, so I ended up with much cheaper surrounds and overheads. Luckily, I ran into some Snell Acoustic clones that matched really well with the Triads for surround usage and went with RSL in-ceilings for the overheads. I also bought a factory refurbed JVC 4k reference projector at a significant savings. It still works wonderfully. My acoustic screen is just a basic Silver Ticket, but it really isn't a bad screen at all and does the job.
The other thing to do is to save up, save up, save up. Don't buy a bunch of cheap stuff if your budget is tight just to scratch the home theater itch and impatiently grab everything at once. You will be disappointed in the outcome. Buy smart and put the bulk of your money into quality speakers and subs as they will last many times over, and buy a little at a time when you can. Just like Techthusiasm said, it's not worth going into debt for entertainment. Buy when you actually have the fun money to spend.
Nice job putting that system together! 👍🏻 Thanks for sharing and great tips.
Yes I do. My living room is my home theater room. Was 7.2.2, now It’s 5.2.4 since I just got 2 SVS Prime Elevation speakers to go over my the edges of my couch (ceiling mounted, that was fun 🙄🤦♂️). My couch is against the wall so I really wasn’t getting the optimum use out of the rears. This way is a 1000% better. First movie was READY PLAYER ONE. Good Lord, incredibly immersive this way.
Nice!
@P T they are the same (L/C/R & 2 surrounds)
Around 4:40 mark you discuss your room limitations. What are some limitation acoustically or visually for your specific room?
I could probably do a video on this coming, but there's a few things. We put a big glass block window in the room, as we had no reason to black it all out. So I've been trying to nullify that light, but most often we use our room in the evening so it's not a problem. We also put expensive doors with glass panels in them on the room so I had to black that glass out. The doors themselves aren't exactly braced or anything, just normal double push doors. There's no double drywall or any significant room construction to help contain sound. The HVAC runs through the ceiling of the room and the soffit in the back. If I had designed from scratch to be a home theater, I could have had that stuff routed differently. Lots of things like that. As it is though, I still got pretty lucky how good the room worked out in the conversion.
Yeah that’s the thing about doing home theatre I own a 7.2 and a 5.1.2 setup and you spend lots and lots of money. The amplifiers out there are not cheap the next amplifier I plan to get is the Yamaha a6a and that’s about 3 grand will I’m going to save 10 grand so I have left over money for the atmos speaker I want. For a 7.2.2 but for a normal person I would definitely do research about what your gonna get yourself into. Cause this hobby isn’t cheap.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
It’s all on preference when your doing. Theater
Wait, I thought the whole point of a dedicated HT was to avoid the wife and kids?! lol. Seriously though, great video. I don't think most enthusiasts are really honest with themselves. I see purchase validation comments all the time. They stuff either too big or too many speakers in a small space, there are tons of placement compromises, they get FOMO, upgrade often, and probably put themselves in debt. Sleazy salesmen used to be the only threat., but FOMO via social media is a strong factor, and all the flossing has influenced many to spend way too much than they expected, and the performance than fails to meet system expectations.
LOL, too funny! Everyone need some alone time, for sure, but I happen to like my family and so you'll never hear me utter the term "man cave" or stuff like that. I actually correct other people when they call it that. Our theater is a family space, not a place my kid's see Dad retreat to by himself. Awesome comments!
Great video, and ur right it’s def not for everyone having a dedicated space and yeah it can get outta control with $$ lol no regrets tho
Thanks! I've gotten over zealous on things at time in my life and dumped money into them only to get boarded of them or pull out and sell/dump it later. It's easy to get caught up in stuff.
I love having a dedicated home theater. It's an expensive hobby, but it's a very fun hobby. I think if you have a solid budget to begin with you won't disappoint yourself. I truly think you can make a very solid dedicated home theater for around $15k. That's utilizing used speakers and equipment and reaching out to dealers. I think majority of people can create a very solid 5.2.4 setup. Spend at most $1k more for a 7.2.4.
Just some examples I've been seeing on the used market-
You can get a JVC NX5/NX7 for around $4500-$5k used. If you're fine with an Epson 5050/6050 you're looking at $2500ish used.
Spend the most on the front 3. Whether that's in-walls or towers, I would spend at least $1k per speaker for LCR, sides/surround around $500ish and Atmos around $400 or less.
For two solid subwoofers it will cost around $1500-$2500 depending on brand. But let's just use SVS subs, for dual PB-3000 is $3k. For dual PB-2000 pro is $2100. And you get 45 day return window. That's very nice.
For AVR/Processor market I've been seeing some mega steals on AVS forums of people selling their AVR or AVP's. I saw a new Anthem going for around $2500. Work with some dealers for Denon, Marant or Yamaha. I got a Yamaha CX-5200 processor for around $2000 through a dealer.
Amps or no amps? I would suggest going separates. You have Outlaw audio, Emotiva and monolith amps available. If you're doing a 5.2.4 setup you can grab 3 Outlaw mono-amps and a 7 channel amp for just a tad over $2k when taxes and shipping is included. You can easily find amps for sale on AVS or Audiogon for a smidge cheaper. Emotiva has their amp lineup. You can grab 2-5 CH amps for just a tad over $1k.
Screens-the used market has tons of screens available and grand majority are all sub $1000 and even more sub $500.
You can get all your cables for great pricing on Monoprice. So far HDMI's, speakers cable, etc.... you're looking at maybe $500 to do the entire room.
Furniture is all over the place. Spend $500 or you can spend $5k or more. All depends on taste.
If you can do all the work yourself or with family and friends that saves a bunch.
So if you total things up
5.2.4- roughly $15k
7.2.4-roughly $16k
If you were to go for the JVC projector and bigger subs or more expensive processor/amps, you're looking closer to $20k.
Just my two cents.
Nice breakdown!
I have a theatre media room that I enjoy. But let's be truthful. Both my daughters grew up watching movies
on their iPhones and iPads. It's very rare that they will sit down to watch a movie in my cave. Thank God
that it is not a dedicated theatre room. Multimedia all-purpose rooms are the future.
My daughter is a bit of a videophile, thankfully. 😄
have a 7.1.2 system 135 inch acoustic transparent screen. modest budget. epson 3800. Was first purchase, then upgrade lcr, then subwoofer, then sides and surrounds. save and upgrade. It's elite no. Is it amazing to me yes.
my favorite saying. you don't know what you don't know. I don't know how good a jvc is so I don't need one. ignorance is bliss and cheaper.
LOL, Triple, for sure! Sounds like you're set and having fun with what you have. Enjoy!
Why spend $15 on a movie ticket when you can spend $15,000 (or more) on a home theater?
For my family of 4 to go to a commercial cinema, we are talking more like $125, but it still takes quite a few trips to even come close to making up for the theater. :)
The thing people don't understand about home theaters is that the cost isn't just about the projector or even the speakers. It's about devoting a whole room in your house to watching movies in the dark. If you do it properly, that means blacking out the windows, painting the walls and ceiling black, getting black flooring, getting a screen, getting pricey home theater seating, etc. It's about climate controlling that extra space. It's about getting a house with that extra space.
The TVs today are getting so big and have such high quality that you don't need to do all that to have a cinematic experience. It might not be 100% of the movie theater experience and the screen might not be quite as big, but it's still damned impressive. And you don't have to black out a whole room for them.
I picked up some old Sony speakers secondhand for free or very nearly free, and they are waaaaaaay more than adequate for my living room. I've been wanting a new, larger TV, but my 12-year-old 40" Sony is still going strong and looks more than fine. I just watched a Blu-ray on it today, and I have zero complaints.
Well, there are level to this hobby, for sure. And it is much easier nowadays to build awesome living room setups with 85" TVs and all that. I still very much enjoy and am thankful for my theater every we use it though. :)
I'm with P T. :)
@P T I'm all for watching movies at home. I do it all the time. I just use a TV in my living room instead of using a projector in a dedicated home theater room...largely because I don't have that kind of space.
Also, you. Any call yourself a HT enthusiast is you spend two weeks without using your Home Theater.
I’m such a poser. 😉
Agree with this 100%, I have a 5.1.2 system in my living room that took me one year to complete. I purchase piece by piece and installed after I had everything I needed.
Working on a dedicated room in my den/ playroom area. May take me 2 yrs to complete.
I view Home Theater as a luxury, just stuff that nice to have don't necessarily need it.
Thanks for sharing!
"This is an honest video!
do you really need that sort of space 🤔??
For just movie etc..
" We just invest in a common space + music too! ..Multi -channel -audio😇
d🤕🇪🇺🗺💟
You don’t have to shell out thousands to turn a room into a home theater
Depends on the room. :)
You do not need to spend 20K for a great hometheater lol. 10K will give you a great hometheater
I agree. Something around $10k, assuming you're starting from scratch and working on a dedicated room, can get you going. That should get you a big flat panel or maybe a modest projector and screen, maybe 5.1.2 audio, a decent receiver, some seating, some sources, and a bit of finishing.
@@Techthusiasm I think you can get a bit more with that. I've spend around 10K on my bedroom, which is almost a dedicated hometheater room haha. Got a 65" OLED, 7.1.4 SVS Prime setup and PB 2000 Pro, Pioneer AVR (with Dirac), Bass shaker, Panasonic UB820 player, Nvidia Shield Pro, Xbox Series X and a 2 channel Emotiva BasX Amp.
I'm coming for a sleep over!
I love my home theater, you definitely need to get rid of yours.
Nah.
I enjoyed listening to your experiences and plus that was excellent advice 👍
If I could afford a big home, I don't think I would utilise one of its spare rooms for a dedicated theatre room but saying that, I have converted my small flat (apartment) into a 2-channel / theatre livingroom, that's mainly because my listening / viewing habits are huge (25 hr+ p.w) and in my personal opinion, if one is gonna do ones living room out... then it needs to be done out with quality otherwise overtime because of the close component environment, ones ears are going to be even susceptible to all the unwanted noise, hence the reason why all my cables are shielded! (Something one really doesn't need to think about, when it's a dedicated room!) In fact if interested here's a 3-minute video of my setup....
th-cam.com/video/xvdqI5qZa6g/w-d-xo.html
Thanks so much! Nice Arcam and other gear there!
It is very EXPENSIVE. It seems like you always are upgrading somthing.
Ha, I’ve done a lot since the channel started. Probably be slowing down a bit. Hopefully I can get my hands on more stuff to review. But I have some really cool optimizations and smaller additions coming up to talk about. No shortage of content.
Opinions, Opinions 🙄
Yeah, that's kind of the point of the video. Share some perspective and create some food for thought.