Family Interest

[powerlord]

I was just kinda wondering if any of you here were alone in your hobby,do your family members enjoy the HT or two channel setup as much as you? My peeps could give a flip less and I know different strokes and all but why pay 8 bucks a ticket for a movie with bad sound as most here have in the theaters,not to mention the fuzzy screen.I'm all for the "experience" of the whole going to the movies deal,but most high end HT's seem to be miles ahead of the theaters in sound and picture.

[emorphien]

I don't think it takes a very high end home theater to beat a movie theater in terms of sound. The large screen just costs money, but putting that aside it doesn't take much for a better aural experience IMO.

[powerlord]

I'm with you there, I'm sitting there watching King Kong for the first time on my HT and the audio from my system draws me into the movie where I would never have been drawn in without it,but to others it seems no big deal.I guess us enthusiasts are kind of alone when it comes to fidelity in our viewing and listening pleasure.

[anamorphic96]

It's a shame. If people could only see how good film really looks and how good a well calibrated and designed theatre can sound. I live in LA and have the Arclight next door and a few other theatres that truly do things right. Going to the movies can still be great if the damn owners would pay for the service that the projection and sound systems need on a regular basis. Thats the problem. Not film. Film rules.

[Mr Peabody]

Yeah, I'm with you too. And it seems like what I think is a good volume, is always too loud. When I replaced my old Pioneer RPTV my wife did nudge me into the 60" DLP opposed to the same size I was looking for to just fit back into my entertainment center, that was a pleasant surprise, although I had to re-arrange the whole center along the wall.

My kids are getting into the DVR service as long as I'm willing to record their favorite cartoons.

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Heck no, everybody else related to me uses the TV's speakers. My parents like fullscreen.

[powerlord]

I just got back from texas picking up the RSF 400's (which I posted pics in gallery) and you should have seen my wifes face,I think the words were "Oh no you don't"!

[L.J.]

We sit as a family and enjoy the HT on a regular basis. We pop corn, pull out some candy, grab our favorite drinks, turn off all the lights and start the show. It's worth every dime we've invested in it.

I don't really go to the theater anymore. The last few times I've gone I wished that I just waited for the DVD.

[powerlord]

You have the whole package L.J. I like watching and listening alone sometimes but most of the time I wish my family enjoyed it as much as I did.Common sense tells you that most of the systems we put together sound incredible and reek of quality sound,but alas some ears fall deaf to the obvious.

[Dusty Chalk]

Heck no. Why would I need to come here if I actually had any friends in real life who shared this interest?

[emorphien]

Heck no. Why would I need to come here if I actually had any friends in real life who shared this interest?

+1, agreed on that. I can't even sell leftover/used gear to anyone I know, nevermind talk about much with anyone. Last time I had a semi-conversation with someone they barraged me with how great B&Ws were and that nothing else could come close

[Mr Peabody]

I knew there was some reason I kept gravitating back here. I have one friend who has a vvast music collection and after hearing my system ended up buying an Arcam integrated and CD player but I can't really talk audio with him because he don't understand. He just knows he has a decent system but no concept of what really goes into one. It's amazing how many people I meet day to day and if home theater comes up, they don't know how theirconnections are ran or anything. Lucky if they know the brand. There have been a couple people who actually cared and once they got me the info, I was able to tell them how to correct their hook ups. The most.common mstake seems to be people don't use their digital connections.

Where would we be without a forum to vent? It's cheap therapy.

[powerlord]

I came home one day and my 17 yr. old daughter had the system maxed out,bass all the way with total distortion,she thinks that sounds great.I blew a gasket,nobody touches my gear anymore,hey maybe that's the cause of the alienation?LOL!!!

[GMichael]

Wifey loves the big screen and good sound. At first she didn't care, but is slowing coming around. She still doen't understand the difference between 35 htz and 18 htz, but she knows that she likes it.
Only one or two of our friends are into HT like I am, but all of them are impressed when they experience it.

Wow, that's a lot of buts.

[bfalls]

It's just my wife and I at home after my son left the nest last Sept. She's a real trooper and has always supported my "hobby/obsession". She understands what it takes to have good sound and allows upgrades as needed. She doesn't understand all the technical details, but says she knows what she likes.
Several years ago she said I couldn't purchase more audio gear until after I bought a big screen TV (I really love that woman). We bought our first Pioneer Elite Pro-100. We've since purchased a Sony XBR and a Hitachi 57" HDTV. She handles the video, I do the audio. We're a match made in "AV Heaven".
A while back she requested I combine two of our three HT into our family room, so she could have her living room back. Sounded like a reasonable request and I have the family room dedicated for HT. Everyone in our family enjoys our system, but probably wouldn't buy their own, different priorities. We're currently in the market for a small LCD for the bedroom (another of my wife's requests). I'm open to recommendations for a 26" - 32" screen.

[Rock789]

I can't stand going to the movie theaters around here, the main reason... they all seem to crank the volume to compensate for inferior setups...
when I do happen to goto a movie theater, I end up leaving with ringing ears and a headache...
fyi, my girlfriend has said how much better my system sounds than any movie theater we have visited, but, for some reason, she just likes to goto a theater... I guess I will never understand... oh well... I guess I can take her once a year for her birthday... rofl ;o)

[blackraven]

I agree that HT sounds better than movie theaters but I have to say that I enjoy the Movie experience with the big screen. You just don't get that same visual experience in HT no matter how large your screen is. I won't however, ever go to see a movie on one of the smaller screens though. I also enjoy seeing the coming attractions of future movies.

[Rock789]

I also enjoy seeing the coming attractions of future movies.

Christine says this too...
hummm...
perhaps previews are a bigger deal than some think?

[basite]

I just got back from texas picking up the RSF 400's (which I posted pics in gallery) and you should have seen my wifes face,I think the words were "Oh no you don't"!

i do know that feeling from somewhere, we also tend to order things secretly now...

I came home one day and my 17 yr. old daughter ha4d the system maxed out,bass all the way with total distortion,she thinks that sounds great.I blew a gasket,nobody touches my gear anymore,hey maybe that's the cause of the alienation?LOL!!!

i do know that feeling from somewhere (it's named my brother, and he's 2 years younger than me, he doesn't do those things on dad's system, but he does on his pc system,
it is somekind of a disese i think, but what the heck, no one (exept my dad) touches my system, and even he only does when i am around too...


keep them spinning,
Bert.

[thekid]

In my house their interest comes and goes depending on the movie. Their general attitude is that this is "dad's hobby" and don't understand my interest. My wife in often makes comments when money is the issue that she has "allowed" me to spend all this money on a HT system (2 in fact counting the bedroom) when in fact between the two I have spent no more than $2500 combined including the TV's! When I show her some of the threads and equipment on this forum she looks at me like I am crazy.

My son likes to see his action movies on the HT at least once and after that he seems content to watch them in his room on what used to be a an awful 19 inch Phillips. Since I upgraded him to a 32" he is now more interested in the HT angle. My wife likes the downstairs HT for mostly music and my daughter has been content to listen to her CD's on her I-pod or believe it or not an old karaoke machine since she broke her mini-system. At this point I prefer their luke warm acceptance because it allows me to play what I want most of the time without any competing interests.

[recoveryone]

I have to agree with most of the post above, I have setup HT system for friends trying to bring them into the HT world, but it never reaches the level we in here enjoy. The only thing that still gets under my skin is how people still go out and buy Plasma's DLP's and other large 50+" screen and think they will get this great picture and sound from this one item. My own family is so so, for the wife all she cares is if she can watch the lifetime channel and the kids want to watch cartoons and music video's. HD to them is no biggie and I watch most of my DVD's alone unless it something they wanted to see (Pirates of the Caribbean). My oldest (who just moved out) was starting to get the picture, but his brother is just happy with 20" and his stereo in the room.

Its the girls(the 9 and 6 year olds) that kill me, they always want to watch T.V. on the big screen (nothing worse than see sponge bob wiggling across the screen) and there T.V works fine 20" along with a DVD player to boot. Its so bad if they want to watch a movie and I say watch it upstiars on their T.V. they will not want to watch it.