Architectural Barriers the Major Factor in Consumer Resistance to AV in the Home.

[TLS Guy]

I think members here and the industry are in denial about the architectural barriers to surround sound formats. The fact is that at least round here most rooms are only suitable for two or three channels and a sub and some not even that.

Home AV really started around early 2000s with the advent of affordable wide screen TV,s that were not back projection. I dabbled in it in the CRT TV era, but it was not really very satisfactory.

We bought our lake home in 1998. It really was in bad shape and not handy, so in 2005 we stated a radical remodel that was completed April 2006. So I took the opportunity to build our first AV room. It was successful but not optimal, mainly due to window placements and the room being on the short side. All the same it was a good room.

When it was time to leave the lake in 2019, we decided to do a new build. We elected a three bedroom home, and instead of a five bedroom and built the current AV room. This allowed for optimal dimensions and construction.

Now, apart from this decision and build out, there would be no other space in this house that would support more than 3 channels and subs.

This is the great room.

No space on the back wall as the windows go right across.

On the front it is all kitchen.

Then you have the main entrance and the stairs going up on the left of the picture.

The dining area is no good and you have the door going out to the patio.

So absolutely a surround system is impossible. However my wife insisted on an AV system in that space, absolutely insisted. So I designed this 3.1 system, and she loves it.

So the only other room would have been the family room, but again totally unsuitable for any surround system.

Front of room, 2.1 system.

Right side, windows again.

Back of room fireplace.

Left side of room opens to kitchenette.

So another living space only suitable for 2.1 or 3.1.

So, the AV room was built custom, and when the house sells may well be converted to two bedrooms.

So the only space suitable for an Atmos system is the custom space I built.

Now take our best friends who have a nice Art Deco, 1930s home. It has absolutely no space for even a 2.1 system only a soundbar and a small sub is possible. They would like something better, but there is just no way.

Both my sons houses are only suitable for a good 2.1 system and have them.

The reason is that open plan living is the rule and leaves no satisfactory space to put surround speakers. You are lucky to be able to put in a good two or three channel system, but that is usually possible. However there is resistance to speakers and subs in living spaces these days, and I can see why soundbar sales are booming.

However, in wall is much more feasible, or would be if there were more good custom installers. The 14" stud spacing is really limiting, so some remodelling of one wall is likely required for optimal results. But then there are not a lot of good options.

Now you may think this strange, but that greatroom in wall system gets the most use, and is the one most envied by visitors.

So, a rethink is required. Multichannel surround AV will be the provenance of a very select few, as I think it is seldom practical.

This is an issue the industry stubbornly ignore and wonder why sales are poor.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

Fortunately, my world has been totally different, I expect because we’ve had smaller spaces that were more amenable to surround sound than the huge spaces your pictures show. We’ve had three houses, one 1950 sq ft, one 2500 sq ft, and our current one just shy of 1500 sq ft, all with open plans. As well as a couple of 1930s rent houses in between the median and latter, with closed floor plans. We’ve had 5.1 systems in all of them, all with floor-standing front speakers and bookshelf rear speakers. All in the main living room or den.

I do have the advantage of a wife who loves HT, and we don’t care about having a place that looks like the Better Homes and Gardens photographer is on the way. Anytime we were house shopping, the #1 priority was to have a living room that was HT friendly – meaning, a corner for a subwoofer, a place for rear speakers, attic access to run cabling, and no ceramic-tile floors.

Personally, I think one of the main reasons for “the state of the hobby” is the insane complication and 100-page manuals. I can understand how people would like the “plug and play” simplicity of a sound bar. A lot of people just don’t like dealing with wiring rear speakers. WiSA has really missed the boat by not offering a simple system to get the signal to the back of the room.

In addition, ever-changing technology making perfectly good equipment obsolete every 5-6 years has not done us any favors. It’s been a personal and constant aggravation of mine, to the point that I’ve resolved that I’m perfectly happy with what I have. I don’t care about any 8, 16, 32, 64k or whatever TVs coming down the pike or infrastructure to support them.

Another issue is the basic fact that times change, and fads with it. Car stereo was a big deal 20-30 years ago but now, not so much. It was buried by music on phones and ear buds. People, especially younger people, spend more time with their computers and devices these days and less time watching TV and movies. And that’s where they spend their money.

Stereo hi-fi systems and the surround systems they evolved into had their day. It’s going to be a niche market for the foreseeable future, if not forever.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[TLS Guy]

Fortunately, my world has been totally different, I expect because we’ve had smaller spaces that were more amenable to surround sound than the huge spaces your pictures show. We’ve had three houses, one 1950 sq ft, one 2500 sq ft, and our current one just shy of 1500 sq ft, all with open plans. As well as a couple of 1930s rent houses in between the median and latter, with closed floor plans. We’ve had 5.1 systems in all of them, all with floor-standing front speakers and bookshelf rear speakers. All in the main living room or den.

I do have the advantage of a wife who loves HT, and we don’t care about having a place that looks like the Better Homes and Gardens photographer is on the way. Anytime we were house shopping, the #1 priority was to have a living room that was HT friendly – meaning, a corner for a subwoofer, a place for rear speakers, attic access to run cabling, and no ceramic-tile floors.

Personally, I think one of the main reasons for “the state of the hobby” is the insane complication and 100-page manuals. I can understand how people would like the “plug and play” simplicity of a sound bar. A lot of people just don’t like dealing with wiring rear speakers. WiSA has really missed the boat by not offering a simple system to get the signal to the back of the room.

In addition, ever-changing technology making perfectly good equipment obsolete every 5-6 years has not done us any favors. It’s been a personal and constant aggravation of mine, to the point that I’ve resolved that I’m perfectly happy with what I have. I don’t care about any 8, 16, 32, 64k or whatever TVs coming down the pike or infrastructure to support them.

Another issue is the basic fact that times change, and fads with it. Car stereo was a big deal 20-30 years ago but now, not so much. It was buried by music on phones and ear buds. People, especially younger people, spend more time with their computers and devices these days and less time watching TV and movies. And that’s where they spend their money.

Stereo hi-fi systems and the surround systems they evolved into had their day. It’s going to be a niche market for the foreseeable future, if not forever.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

The AV 10 manual runs over 350 pages!