Best Home Theatre in the World

There is a universal concept of buying that when people decide to buy something, they want nothing but the very best, but to judge the term “best” is in itself a controversial subject, because judging the “best product” is largely based on individual customer’s preference. When it comes to buying a home theatre system, it is next to impossible to conclude on a single product as the “best.”

The best home theatre system in the world is not by any stretch of imagination the costliest home theatre system equipment, nor the best looking equipment, nor the loudest sounding, nor the most power generating equipments. It is also not the brand that spends the maximum on brand ambassadors and advertising, so the best home theatre system is not necessarily the most famous.

So one would be inclined to say that the best home theatre system is the best performing home theatre if budget was not be a constraint. A technically sound person would say the best specifications would translate into the best home theatre system in the world. A movie connoisseur would debate the above saying that the best specifications on equipment may mean nothing if it fails to provide the most realistic experience, similar to the concept that best video camera does not always ensure the world best video.

Home theatre experts readily agree that the so called “realistic experience” depends heavily on the layout of the home theatre environment, the acoustics, speaker placements, screen and projector positions, source content or media, listening positions, sound reflections, room nodes, etc.

The next realistic challenge is in judging the most realistic reproduction. Only the music director, cinematographer, sound engineer and the movie director could be the judges of the most realistic movie reproduction, for they know how they created it. In that case, cloning the studio and the equipments and also the equipment settings on which the movie was finalised by the creative team is the only way to reproduce what was created. A minute section of the home theatre systems market is currently being represented by studio equipment used to create the original content. One cannot have the movie creative team judge every high end home theatre that is being installed and certify the same as the most realistic reproduction of their creation.

The above information is not to create a pessimist out of a person who is yearning to build the best home theatre system in his or her budget but rather is an attempt to tell you that “the best home theatre system in the world” is a combination of various parameters, the evaluator yard sticks of which would significantly vary from person to person and thus would reduce the search from the “best home theatre in the world” to the “best home theatre for me.”

A home theatre system professional could easily help you buy the best home theatre to suit you. Choosing a home theatre professional to assist you in deciding a set up as well as installing the same for you should be done on the following parameters.

• Is he willing to share with you/help you understand the universally accepted yardsticks of measuring a product’s performance?
• Evaluation of audio/video is akin to evaluating a perfume. Audio’s impact on the ear, Video’s impact on the eye is no different from a perfume’s impact on the nose. All are abstract and impact sensory organs. The perception of quality is very subjective. Your home theatre pro should be able to make you understand the generic yardsticks of evaluation, but must not use his yardsticks to evaluate for you.
• He must be able to suggest not one product but a few product options that you are impressed using the evaluator yardsticks that are very unique to you (though he helped you understand the generic universally accepted yardsticks) in your budget range.
• He must know the characteristics of the product chosen by you, your expectations from the product and help you in providing an environment in which the product can deliver what you expect out of the product. In other words, an environment which can complement the products ability to meet your needs.
• He must be able to fine tune the system according to your preference using the latest calibration techniques.
• A word of mouth reference is usually a great parameter in selecting the home theatre pro that you will work with.
• Qualifications and certifications help but should not be the only reason for selecting them.Finally a bit of philosophy, it is very important to stay content with the home theatre system you have installed, because the rate of evolution in these gadgets are so crazy that it is impossible to have a cutting edge system all the time.What is the similarity between a wife and a computer: You always get a better version if you can wait a little longer. Not practical in reality to keep waiting. Relax and may the best home theatre system be yours.