Is it really worthwhile?

[stratman]

In other words, it's a HOBBY?

It's for FUN and ENJOYMENT?

Oh yeah! Tell that to the wife!

 

[KevInCinci]

I convinced my otherwise previously intractable wife to free up the cash for a home theater with that magical phrase: we're having a baby!

The math in the original post is great if you've got the option of going out to see 700 movies or whatever, but in our case, we've been able to see very few movies out of the house in the 17 months we've had our son. We knew it would be tough to get out for entertainment, so we decided our sanity was well worth a modest home theater system.

Cost of home theater: about $6000 (don't tell my wife that it was over the $5000 budget!)

Being able to put the baby to bed, open a bottle of wine, and watch a movie in our leather home theater seats: priceless.

Cheers,

Kevin

 

[itschris]

Last movie I saw in the theater was the final Lord of the Rings. I took a day off from the office mid week and went to the 1st show that cost regular price... I think about 1:30 or so figuring it wouldn't be crowded. I was alone in the theater until about 5 minutes into the movie when I hear a bunch of ruckus coming up the walkway. Out pours a woman wearing a bright red t-shirt that had the words "SEXY GRANDMA" on it along with what looked to be her 17 year old daughter towing her 4 kids. Of course they sat 2 rows behind me talked and talked and talked and let the kids run all over the place. After about 30 minutes, I got up, thanked them for ruining my afternoon and left. That was the last time.

A few thousand dollars to watch a movie in peace is worth it... now.. if I could only get my wife to use the bathroom before the movie starts and get my duaghter to stop dancing in front of the tv.

 

[Johnd]

In other words, it's a HOBBY?

It's for FUN and ENJOYMENT?

Bingo. Thanks AcuDefTechGuy!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Bingo. Thanks AcuDefTechGuy!

You bet!

My Toshiba HD-XA1 cost $700 and Panasonic DMP-BD10A cost $600. When the new DMP-BD50 comes out for probably $600, I will buy it too. Why? I enjoy every bit of it.

What's that saying --- Life is too short?

 

[Johnd]

You bet!

My Toshiba HD-XA1 cost $700 and Panasonic DMP-BD10A cost $600. When the new DMP-BD50 comes out for probably $600, I will buy it too. Why? I enjoy every bit of it.

What's that saying --- Life is too short?

I hear ya!

I'm coming at it from the opposite direction. I'll be getting the A35 soon (already have the A3). With 500 HD titles and more coming, what's the beef? I can easily find 50 or 100 titles to pick from in the next year..hopefully all in the sub $15.00 range. I am truly impressed with HD on my 8 year old pj with component cable. Truly.

 

[Soundman]

Well, first of all, I'd like to point out something about the analogy of 1 movie per week for seven years. Most of us, who would go through the steps of putting together a system in our home, are going to probably use it more then once a week. And even if I did only use it once a week, it would be well worth the money paid. The only theatre I have ever gone to that actually sounded good, was the Imax. The sound I can produce in my home is 10 times better then my local movie theatre. Besides, if you take good care of your equipment, it will last longer then 7 years anyway. Over time it would be a much better deal then paying for each movie. Alot of movie buffs out there probably watch 5 movies or more a week. At 5 movies per week, the price of going to the movie theatre goes up to $9,100 over a 7 year period. Also, remember that over the next 7 years, movie tickets are sure to go up in price, and using $5 a ticket is an extremely conservative number. It's rare to get in at that price about anywhere. Also, lets remember that many people who put together nice systems are really into music. It's much harder to reproduce good recorded music then movies. This experience certainly can't be done at any movie theatre.

 

[stratman]

Well, first of all, I'd like to point out something about the analogy of 1 movie per week for seven years. Most of us, who would go through the steps of putting together a system in our home, are going to probably use it more then once a week. And even if I did only use it once a week, it would be well worth the money paid. The only theatre I have ever gone to that actually sounded good, was the Imax. The sound I can produce in my home is 10 times better then my local movie theatre. Besides, if you take good care of your equipment, it will last longer then 7 years anyway. Over time it would be a much better deal then paying for each movie. Alot of movie buffs out there probably watch 5 movies or more a week. At 5 movies per week, the price of going to the movie theatre goes up to $9,100 over a 7 year period. Also, remember that over the next 7 years, movie tickets are sure to go up in price, and using $5 a ticket is an extremely conservative number. It's rare to get in at that price about anywhere. Also, lets remember that many people who put together nice systems are really into music. It's much harder to reproduce good recorded music then movies. This experience certainly can't be done at any movie theatre.

Great analogy, plus if you factor that you have to take at least the missus (as in my case) the figures got out the window. Plus you can't get wine at the theater, their bathrooms stink, and you have to put up with the noise. One typical outing for me and the wife $30.00 without my kid, add the little caveman and it goes to $40-45.00, my HT is priceless.

 

[Soundman]

Great analogy, plus if you factor that you have to take at least the missus (as in my case) the figures got out the window. Plus you can't get wine at the theater, their bathrooms stink, and you have to put up with the noise. One typical outing for me and the wife $30.00 without my kid, add the little caveman and it goes to $40-45.00, my HT is priceless.

Wow! Very good point. Based on your expenses, that would set you back $54,600- $81,900 over that 7 year period (depending on who you take)!!!

 

[Halon451]

I convinced my otherwise previously intractable wife to free up the cash for a home theater with that magical phrase: we're having a baby!

That would never work for me - by my wife's logic I would probably have to sell the gear I have now in order to free up funds for the baby, not the other way around.

 

[Exit]

Spread HT costs over years of usage

Is HT worth the cost? I think the HT cost is worth it but I still like to go to the movie theaters on occasion when something I really want to see is on.

The last time I went was for the 300 which my son and his friend wanted to see. I thought it was good on the big screen at theater volume. My home volume level is never as loud as a theater, though I think it has the capabilities to get that loud. My son’s friend was really getting into the movie, the excitement and all, and it made for a fun time. There were only a dozen people there (1st show of the day) and everything was quiet and clean.

My worst experience at a theater was for the original Star Wars. We got the last two seats in the front row. Someone had spilled a soda in my chair, so I sat in a wet seat with a wet butt with my head crooked up getting motion sickness for 2 plus hours. You don’t get that experience with HT.

So going to a theater is hit or miss, but HT is always good.

As far as cost goes, I buy best value gear and keep most of my equipment for years (some such as speakers up to 20 years or until they go bad). Therefore I do not have a really high cost per year for HT. I get free movie coupons with Diet Coke cartons and caps and I pick up one or two movies per week free from Blockbuster. We mostly watch Dish satellite for $53 per month for enough channels to keep us satisfied. We get about six high definition channels. My son has a PS3 which we can use for blu-ray discs, but I don’t rent them because he usually has his PS3 in his bedroom and he doesn’t let me touch it. My TV is 720p and there is a big difference between regular and high definition satellite. There is not such a big difference between upscaled DVDs and high definition satellite or blue-ray DVDs. Maybe you need 1080i or 1080p to really get into high definition.

I also use the HT for music. There is no commercial venue substitute for this function.

 

[Johnd]

Someone had spilled a soda in my chair, so I sat in a wet seat with a wet butt with my head crooked up getting motion sickness for 2 plus hours.

That's why I went HD with a 100" screen and 7.1 channels of audio nirvana..buttmunches just like that!

Really, it's so I can jam or watch a movie at anytime. Soda pop? Head break? Pause.

 

[Nimrod]

I'm the new guy here; started buying my stuff in July

Sharp 42" Aquious $1500
SVS middle of the road setup $1500
Onkyo 705 $650
PS 3 $600

Yea thats alot of movie tickets...

A couple of weeks ago I took my son to the movies to see Cloverfield. Now I'm now a freaking AV snob;

The movie theather is fairly new, but the SVS setup blew the movie theather sound system away. The Sharp TV with the Sony Blu-Ray picture is much better then the movie theather, easy.

When the Super Bowl came around, yea my friends invited themselfs over.
"Wow, look at that picture, the sound is great" is the typical comments.

Yea its worth it.

 

[Nimrod]

Update, Doot, Doot, Doot

We watched “The Guardian” last night (in Blu-Ray)

Oh my…. My whole family was sitting on the couch wearing life preservers.

Yea it was that good. Disclaimer = Not a Kevin Costner fan

 

[Davemcc]

See if you can get them to sit through Waterworld. That should have given Kevin Costner a deathly fear of water.

 

[cbraver]

I went to HD to buy some screws to hang my projector screen. After getting home and looking at the screws and the mounting holes on the screen, I realized I had the wrong screws. I went back and got smaller screws. On the way back I thought about the cost of my system and countless the trips to HD and Lowes to buy parts to put it together. The real cost is more if you add electricity.

Then I remember that my local theater chain charges $5 admission for shows before nooon. I did a little math and at $2,000 -- the cost of my meager system -- I can buy 400 movie tickets at $5 each. If I go once a week, that comes to about 7 years of movie watching -- all without any of the headache, problems and regrets of putting together my little home theater system.

No matter what I think, my system is not as good as those at movie theaters. With that out of the way, I have to find other ways to rationalize this never-ending hobby. Is it really worthwhile for you?

You get arrested if you take bong hits in a movie theater.

 

[Hwypirt]

Great my leg's asleep, now it'll be up all night..........