Home Theaters

With the pending death of HD DVD, and the obsolescence of so many Blu-ray disc players, at this point in time there is only one smart choice for any level of home theater system. Sony’s Play Station 3 is the only Blu-ray player at the moment that will be able to be updated to meet all the standards of Blu-ray.

 PS3 is the one to have to avoid obsolescence…

So there it is. Either you buy a standard definition DVD player, and use the upconvert feature, you purchase an HD DVD player (at a deep discount) and use its upconverting features for SD DVDs, or or you purchase a PS3 and threaten your children with dismemberment if the unit gets touched by them. I will be choosing the first, as I think that too much change is happening right now, and those standard definition DVDs we’ve been buying for years have a lot of life left in them.

The uncertain economy (which is a fact, despite what the President wishes for us to think) not only impedes our abilities to purchase things, it also sends a signal to those developing new standards and formats that a lot of attention must be placed on longevity for the next format chosen. If it is Blu-ray, then all major manufacturers better get on the stick quickly, as the time to unceremonious death for a format these days is measured in weeks, not years. I have been reading in several trade magazines that development of players has slowed to a crawl due to the HD DVD debacle. The lead time and cost for these things is not trivial, and while we may think that companies like Toshiba are made of nothing but unbounded sums of money, it is just not true. companies, have to perform for their shareholders, no matter how large.

On a happier note, the uncertainty about formats is a signal to start concentrating on other parts of the home theater. The television screen is not going to change anytime soon, so perhaps a new LCD or plasma is in your future.

Maybe you have 2 or 3 discs where your amplifier gets taxed a bit much, and you’d like a better sound quality, with less distortion, or more headroom for peaks. Here it can be a larger amplifier, or … more efficient speakers could do the trick.

. Wouldn’t one of these babies provide both better sound, and something to spark conversation - about your great taste in sound reproduction!

Sometimes, things are slow after the expenses of the holidays, and cash is tighter than normal. Small things can make easily perceived differences, so look at things like better speaker cables, better interconnects, and possibly changes to the room itself! I know of one person who changed the room around, got better sound for his theater, and some credit from his wife for his good taste! Remember, it only takes some small changes to make things sound considerably different. Look for some large throw pillows to put in hard areas of the room to reduce echo effects or high end harshness. Have the significant other help choose the look of them and you’ll both be happy!

this might make a great deal of difference in convenience for you - adding lots to your enjoyment!

Thinking about small changes, and spring cleanings works for home theaters too. Be creative. Put efforts into what will not cost huge amounts, yet reap large rewards.