CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

**Curt Palme**

It always amazes me what some people call 'home theater'

Smile

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/ele/899274490.html

ecrabb · Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 3:46 pm Post subject:

Come on, Curt. To be fair, the seller did say, "Great entry level home theatre system."

Understatement alert!

Sweeeetttt.... 2.1 surr... I mean, 2.1 sound.

It amazes me the price that stuff like that can sell for. I know it's total crap, and probably only $10 worth of components, but just think of the all manufacturing, packaging, printing, shipping, taxes....

SC

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 3:50 pm Post subject:

I agree. I Coby actually seemed like decent stuff, but I bought some Coby 'as-is' MP3 players on eBay last year, a lot of 7 of them, only because I wanted to see the OLED screens work. Couldn't get any of them going. Construction internally was surprisingly good, but all of them are still dead, dead, dead.

**kal** · Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 4:26 pm Post subject:

It's funny, "home theater" used to be something that only the rich and famous had in their homes. Nowadays everyone has a "home theater".

This happens a lot to me:

We're in a group setting with people, some of which are friends I know well, some others I just met. We eventually get into talking about movies and eventually home theater ...

Everyone's buying flat screen TVs these days and they all know what HT is so someone always mentions that they had just set up a "home theater" in their place and named off some HT-in-a-box setup and 40-50" flat screen that he had bought at <insert discount store here> for a good price.

I always smile and say "That's great! Sounds nice!".

But inadvertently some of the guys that are always over at my place watching movies chime in: "Ahh, no, that's not a home theater. That's a TV with some speakers. You want a REAL home theater you have to see Kal's setup ..."

At which point I downplay it and try and change the subject as they start asking what I have, how big the "TV" is, etc. Wink

Kal

ecrabb · Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 4:40 pm Post subject:

I've been there many times, Kal. Once people find out what you have, then you inevitably get pressed into admitting what you think the term "home theater" truly means. Then, you have to whip out the following lines so as not appear a snob... "I'm not a snob. Everybody is free to watch movies however they like. Dedicated home theater is certainly not for everybody. I just love watching movies and wanted an experience as good or better than the movie theater. To ME, that's home theater."

I bet a lot of us here have had the very same conversation with friends, acquaintances and coworkers.

I like how Sam Runco started using the term "home cinema" a few years ago, once "home theater" had become so watered down as to be meaninglessly ambiguous.

SC

jask · Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 10187 Location: kamloops BC

I have found that this term is a minefield nowdays and I just avoid it or ask what the person does for light control.
SC I also noticed the Runco "home cinema" shift, right around the same time a friend was showing me his "home theater"... a 42" plasma at standing eye level with a pair of basic in wall speakers L/R and a inwall and ceiling mount for rears...all this in the corner of a HUGE basement greatroom with a 10" HTIB sub and a wall full of windows and patio doors.

bah.....

**kal** · Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 6:38 pm Post subject: