Home Theaters

That may seem like a strange question. Think about it momentarily, however. We all know that everyone doesn’t have the same taste and needs, and that all who desire don’t have the same amount of dollars at their disposal.

The thing is,,,it can clearly be shown that many who wish to own home theater or stereo equipment, and have the means to purchase the ne plus ultra, simply don’t. So it can be inferred that these people are happy with a certain level of quality - and no more quality is necessary to satisfy their desires.

If you are reading this, and come here often, your desires probably exceed your capabilities of purchase by several fold. I know mine do. But there are many who think about things in a very analytical sense. Purchase decisions are weighted as much on bang for the buck as total performance. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I have always thought that one must know the very limits to be able to judge where they can draw that line on the graph of performance vs. dollars spent.

For many the performance can be scaled back if the performance is best for the size of the scale. To clarify, not everyone will have room for a 73 inch display in the viewing area, many will convince themselves that is so because the money just isn’t there to purchase. Either way, if a careful choice is made, happiness can be found at a respectable 50 inch display size.

73" is nice, but not all rooms are equal, and not all wallets either!

The same occurs with audio choices. Most audiophiles know that the very best performance is had with tube amplification. The problem with tubes is three-fold. First, buying tube amplifiers is expensive. Second, tubes wear out fairly quickly, and due to tubes decline in usage elsewhere, cost for replacement has skyrocketed. Third, lots of power is required, which goes to heating your house, not necessarily making gorgeous sound. Because of this, many who have the budget for tubes, choose instead, the very best transistor amplification. Amplifiers from Electron Kinetics, Krell, and Threshold will give sound that, while distinguishable from that of tube sound, is very, very close. At a fraction of the cost over the unit’s lifetime, solid-state amplification is a great choice.

beauty of form, beauty of sound, and a beast that will drive the most demanding speakers! Threshold is one of the very best.

Although a late start for this year, I am going to endeavor to have 3 levels of system defined.  Entry level, a modest system for those of modest income or needs. Mid level, which will be an incremental step towards audio-video nirvana. At the top will be the no-holds-barred  system of the very best of everything. This will be very hard to achieve for 999 of us out of a test-case 1000, but will give us a baseline for comparison - the very best performance. With the modest and mid levels, I will try to give ways to make the most difference toward lifting the home theater to the next level.

These choices will not be mine alone, as I don’t claim to have opinions of the majority - so, I will be referring to the reviews of the major publications I respect for input and confirmation. Stereophile, The Absolute Sound, and The Perfect Vision will all be regularly consulted, as well as online reviews, and most importantly, auditions of the equipment chosen.

Once again, I will be moving back to DVD releases, reviews, and of course, ways to save - looking for stuff on sale. I will also take note of the fact that we all have less to spend, with the weakening dollar, and impending recession.

Questions? Comments?

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