Some of us were discussing our preferences of Movie Theatre vs. Home Theater in the Favorite Demos section in the LOTR-ROTK thread. In trying to allow that thread to be more about the movie, I’m putting my next comment here.

I’m not trying to put down movie theatre sound, I’m just saying that a theatre owner has different goals than I do when it comes to audio. The owner’s goal is not to suit my tastes or overcome what a small minority of people perceive as shortcomings of the audio in a typical theatre situation. If the owner can maintain a venue that will satisfy 80% of the population, the owner will have success and that may suffice. Certainly it is more difficult to achieve satisfying audio in a movie theatre than at home.

Of course people have preferences too. I may rate a movie theatre’s audio as a 7.5 out of 10 and my home theater as a 8.5 out of 10. Someone else may have the opposite opinion. Regardless, I wouldn’t say such a hypothetical 1-point difference means that the movie theatre is “lousy” while my home theater is “near perfect.” For me it comes down to a preference for home theater, that’s all.

There are family members of mine that think, “I’ll pay the movie theatre prices and let them be concerned with the venue.” As for me, I would rather be concerned about it myself and enjoy the process of research, purchase, setup, and tweak to my heart’s content. I enjoy the pursuit!

Most people have a "good enough" that's a bit lower than ours.

interesting that you spelled the word theater (or theatre) both ways in the topic...

i would say that generally speaking, i much prefer my theatre to their theatre. however, sometimes with dvds i find myself less impressed than i was at first. im sure this has a little to do with seeing the movie a second time, and i am paying more attention to other things the 2nd time.

my ht is pretty exclusively dedicated to movies (a little hdtv thrown in, and even less music) so it is always interesting to compare watching a movie at the theatre to at home...

I greatly prefer my home theater over the local showcase cinemas. I'll take the comfort of home, leather recliners, sound and picture as good as if not better than the theater and the ability to pause whenever I want. Those of us who sat through "The Return Of The King" in theaters waiting 3 hours and change to get to a bathroom know what I'm talking about. Not to mention no noisey teenagers or cell phones going off. Don't even get me started about the ticket prices or the $8.00 popcorns!!

The sound systems in a local cinema will never be as good as a very good home system. They may have more dynamic range because of their horn speakers, but the finesse is lacking. The speakers (usually made by JBL) and power amplifiers are made for maximum output, ruggedness and reliablilty, with sound quality a second consideration.

The "A-chain" electronics like the projector preamps and equalizers are pretty generic in quality compared to the better equipment you can buy for home use.

The biggest leverage movie theaters have? Release date.

I don’t know of anyone who can beat that with their HT.

Sometimes it’s better to take your date to the theater than to invite her over when you didn’t get around to cleaning up.

Considering some of the crap movies released now, the later the better.

[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited May 27, 2004).]

seem a little bitter sh. there have been very few though. last thing i saw was Troy, and while it was pretty good it was far from great. i like brad pitt's quirkyness though and there were several glimpses of greatness, it was just a little long and lacked focus.

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This post has been brought to you by curegeorg, thanks for reading.

I forget what movie I went to see with my wife, but they had the trailer for Terminator 3. When it was over, my wife, who merely tolerates my HT hobby, turned to me and said, "That would have been better at home."

For us it's release date and date night, the latter being far too infrequent

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