Home Theater

Introduction

For years, I've hated going to movies.  The picture is generally terrible.  The audio is hideous.  The movies are insults to a person's intelligence.  The seating is old.  The floors are sticky.  The tickets are overpriced.  The audience is an insult to humanity.  And that one fat lady with big hair and a cell phone always sits in front of me and sucks her teeth.  Bitch.

No more.

In mid 2001, we invested in a home theater.  This started with a simple home theater projector, and has been growing steadily since.  The idea was to bring the good aspects of the commercial theaters home, allowing us to loose ourselves in the film, but still pause it to take a piss.  Now we can watch La Femme Nakita whenever we like, and round it off with poor humor from The Kentucky Fried Movie.

Equipment

Equipment is an ever changing list of components.  At this point, the best piece of equipment we own is our HTPC and standalone scaler.  The audio is quite passable, although not anywhere close to high end at this point.  The idea was to invest in the items which will make the most initial impact - namely picture quality and comfort - in producing an immersive environment.

Projector

The projector is an NEC vt540 (specs).  This is a 1000 lumen, LCD based XGA (1024x768) 4:3 projector with component, VGA, s-video and composite inputs.  The 4:3 aspect ratio is transformed to a 16:9 by the use of an external anamorphic lens called an ISCO II.  A DLP based projector was out of the question, as I am apparently extremely sensitive to the rainbow effect.  Right now, the projector is using a matt white wall.

Source

Video sources include a Denon 1600 (excellent analog video levels, chroma bug free) DVD player, and a Scientific Atlanta 3100HD cable box (high definition via Time Warner Cable of NYC).

Interconnects

All video interconnects are Better Cables SilverSerpent.  All audio connections are digital.

Scaler/Deinterlacer

Currently, we are using a Faroudja NRS to scale the component inputs to XGA resolutions.  This scaler is a rather decent unit.

We also have a DVDO IScan Pro v3.  It does a wonderful job for its cost and size.  I've found very little to complain about with this unit, as it handles most anything thrown at it.  Right now, this is relegated to other duties, as the NRS has taken its place.

Sound

Amplification and digital decoding is via two Kenwood receivers (a 504, which is DTS and DD5.1 capable, and an AV-404).  The first unit decodes and drives the 6 channels, while the second unit drives the Aura shakers connected to the seats of our Regal Rocker chairs (purchased new via HT Market). Loudspeakers are all Definitive Tech Pro Monitor series.

HTPC

This is a homebrew unit, as are most of my Intel based machines:

Loaded software:

Seating

We bought 2 Regal Rockers for our seating needs, replete with cup holders and reclining backs.  You can see the shakers on the bottoms of the seats.

Movies

If you come over for a movie, you can bring your own, rent, or watch a movie we own.