Are we moving away from Home theater...??

[prakashsubbanna]

Hi Guys,

Being on the forum and reading various threads, i felt that generation young/old moving away from Video/Home theater extensive set-up.

Saw many getting rid of their HTR setup for just pure music. Keeping in mind that preference changes as time goes by, I feel the wheel is about to come full circle.

For example: My 14 yr old YAMAHA/ Energy Sub-sat HTR set-up is hardly being used for last couple of years. Even tho the setup is still present and working fine, I hardly enjoy HTR now-a-days compared to earlier...all those channel separations and bass coming out of the Sub & those rumbling of the floor. Matter of fact the DVD " Hell freezes Over" is almost frozen.. and many more.

With TV channels dishing out good quality(both audio & video) movies..we hardly go & fetch a DVD....I wonder if its just me or many on the same path. Or is it the age factor which tends to mellow you down...??

Matter of fact last year i purposely separated Audio & Video in different rooms. I have been spending 99% on the audio and 1 % on Video ( News/ Natgeo..etc). The only ones to use it is my wify & Daughter for all their Soaps.

Lastly for all you HTR fans...no offence meant...It was all about knowing the growing trend..

Finally its either way to relax and spend quality time.

 

[Audio_Freek]

Hello Prakash,

In general, i heard that (generally )people have a mind set that technology grown in below manner.

Mono-->Stereo--> Home theater

So they have thought that HT would enhance to Stereo they jump in to purchase it, so that they could enjoy.

I do know people get much lesser time to listen Music for Half an hour on weekdays and some extensive listening during weekend in case no outing planned.So when we get time to enjoy extended time to watch movies, take for an average a film runs for 90 Mins or 150 Mins?

But HT is mostly used for watching the channels rather than Movies. But when you want to listen Music then if you play it in HT,You could feel the Soul of Stereo is missing in HT.

In double mind, Move the set-up to Stereo and for movies get into a simple set-up\basic since less time we get to enjoy movies and its not frequenty.But note ,Having dedicated Hometheater room is different anyways.

What ever things some in STEREO Is ever lasting for Music and if you love movies you cant move out of it. Just my opinion.

 

[hemantwaghe]

Hi Guys,

Being on the forum and reading various threads, i felt that generation young/old moving away from Video/Home theater extensive set-up.

Saw many getting rid of their HTR setup for just pure music. Keeping in mind that preference changes as time goes by, I feel the wheel is about to come full circle.

For example: My 14 yr old YAMAHA/ Energy Sub-sat HTR set-up is hardly being used for last couple of years. Even tho the setup is still present and working fine, I hardly enjoy HTR now-a-days compared to earlier...all those channel separations and bass coming out of the Sub & those rumbling of the floor. Matter of fact the DVD " Hell freezes Over" is almost frozen.. and many more.

With TV channels dishing out good quality(both audio & video) movies..we hardly go & fetch a DVD....I wonder if its just me or many on the same path. Or is it the age factor which tends to mellow you down...??

Matter of fact last year i purposely separated Audio & Video in different rooms. I have been spending 99% on the audio and 1 % on Video ( News/ Natgeo..etc). The only ones to use it is my wify & Daughter for all their Soaps.

Lastly for all you HTR fans...no offence meant...It was all about knowing the growing trend..

Finally its either way to relax and spend quality time.

That is you


Do you have sales figures to prove ??? Any data ..


Never extrapolate your situation as market reality hyeah:hyeah:

 

[mpw]

to each their own..

One swallow doesnt a summer make..

ir-respective of market data.... and whose market ??

many people still find enjoyment in HT and rightfully so... whatever relaxes the soul and creates positive energy is welcome.

same goes for Stereo.... same goes for other forms of relaxation and exercise.

mpw

 

[sidvee]

I don't know about other markets, but few of my dealer friends in Hyd, bangalore and Chennai, tell me that they would be out of business if not for HT. From what I understand serious stereo music listening in these markets is represented by a miniscule portion of the equipment buyers. So as far as I know, I do not think we are moving away from HT, if anything that is what is moving the market both high and mid to lower end.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[koushik]

Hi Guys,

Being on the forum and reading various threads, i felt that generation young/old moving away from Video/Home theater extensive set-up.

For me, what I see, the things are quite opposite. More and more projectors are being procured instead of large screen TVs, dedicated HT rooms projects are coming up. Every mall, electronics shop are full of HT and there is always few people taking demo/audition.

So to me, dedicated stereo audio is rather loosing the charm (hate to say this though) and HT is the happening thing in the market.

As far as I am concern, both movie & music are equally important to me. They are completely different thing and I like both of them on their dedicated setup.

 

[manzb]

After deliberating for more than a year, finally decided that I will go ahead with a basic Soundbar

1. Wires are unmanageable for 5.1 system
2. Bulky receiver
3. Sounds are too loud for a small flat, neighbours are likely to raise objection even if it is at lowest volume
4. My minimum need for a bit better volume can be managed using a Soundbar, specially considering that I am not an audiophile, need only enhancements of TV/ Movie viewing
5. Good quality 5.1 system are upwards of 40K, too costly for me.

Going for a basic Philips soundbar (2163B) with HDMI(ARC).

 

[sash]

In my opinion, a proper HT can be enjoyed really in a dedicated space. In the initial euphoria, we get huge subs, speakers and put them in the living room. Life catches on and kids/family come into picture. Where is the time or privacy for all the rumbling? I'm sure you'll get a mouthful if you try to unleash the full potential of a HT in a living room (at least after the initial euphoria fades). I have an acquaintance who is a big HT guy with all these wharfs, huge subs etc but they are all catching dust in his living room.
On the other hand, i love the privacy of my dedicated space. I get into the den when everyone goes to sleep and play as loud as i want. I shop for blu rays and dvds, admit i download some content and my HT sees quite a lot of usage. I have never got tired of it. I love the big screen and most importantly 80db+ sound pressure.
For me it is very hard to grow tired of movies and i can only really enjoy movies in all their glory - so my HT will see a lot of action, no doubt.

 

[koushik]

That is really a good point, Sash. If you don't have your private space that may be for anything - music, movies, reading - in most cases you can't continue with it. So that may be the reason, it at all.

 

[asliarun]

Even the boutique audio makers here would go out of business if it were not for HT. I d not think this is a 1-2-5-7 channel thing. I think this is more about movies and a cinema experience.

In the US, many houses have a basement, and the favorite "tashan" among the desi crowd is to setup a dedicated home theater.

And to be fair, in most households, TV and movie watching far outweighs dedicated stereo listening.

To me, the far more interesting question or challenge is - can we get a home theater setup (even a stereo one) to sound good for movies and for stereo music? And I challenge the notion that one needs 5 or 7 or 9 channels of audio to create this listening environment. To put it another way, I think a quality 2 or 2.1 or 2.2 (why does no one talk about 2.2??) Is enough.

By 2.2, I mean something like a tower or bookshelf speaker which has an active bass section but a passive tweeter section that can be easily driven by an amp. Or could be achieved by two subs with two small bookshelf speaker that roll off naturally where the sub picks up.

But honestly, if we have to think of our audio setup that will be meaningfully used by the entire family, we have to consider the real usage and types of media that will be played, including movies and music.

 

[GeorgeO]

Agree with Arun. We have different factors- limitations of space, budgets, tastes and priorities. I started with 2 channel and remained a 2 channel only guy for many years. Now I have both, but am lucky to have a dedicated room, otherwise a proper HT system would have been impossible. HT here in India is definitely a bigger ticket item for both buyer and seller, and in my opinion the TV experience is a no comparison to the big screen which is almost movie like. It is never driven by children who are mostly into the digital stuff using personal gear, we big boys are the buyers!

 

[kanna.sridharan]

When I was moving away from the HT setup to stereo, to all dealers I had visited everyone mentioned there are very few takers of stereo components. Almost everyone admitted if not for Projectors & AVR, they would be out of business. There were a few who would let go of their demo pieces as it was not generating interest and a few mentioned people who looked for stereo had a very healthy budget.(this was when my 2L budget looked small to them).
On the contrary AVR's are affordable and give you various options right from the entry level. If it's movies then a well setup HT can't be matched by any stereo system.(as to my limited knowledge).

 

[asliarun]

When I was moving away from the HT setup to stereo, to all dealers I had visited everyone mentioned there are very few takers of stereo components. Almost everyone admitted if not for Projectors & AVR, they would be out of business. There were a few who would let go of their demo pieces as it was not generating interest and a few mentioned people who looked for stereo had a very healthy budget.(this was when my 2L budget looked small to them).
On the contrary AVR's are affordable and give you various options right from the entry level. If it's movies then a well setup HT can't be matched by any stereo system.(as to my limited knowledge).

Kanna, one point I wanted to make. HT shows its true class only if one goes high end. My point was - if one's budget is under 200k, will you get better audio for movies and music from say,
1. a wharf 5.1 or 7.1 speaker package plus entry-mid level AVR?
2. Mid level floorstanders (Dali etc), an entry level Avr preamp, and a stereo power amp
3. Mid level bookshelf speakers and a decent mid level subwoofer

I don't know and in fact wanted to throw this out as a question. But my gut feel tells me that at this price range, we are making too many quality compromises by getting too many speakers in 5 or 7 speaker setup. And an amp that can't properly drive them.

 

[elangoas]

Someone who likes "stereo" (or) someone who is serious abt stereo listening but thought that AVR would do everything are the ones who move away from Hometheater... I have seen a quite a section of people in the forum doing this... I think you can term them "Serious listener" of stereo...

In the remaining group, there are few who want dedicated stereo, but can't afford a dedicated setup either due to budget reasons (or) luxury of space.....These are people who live with AVR for both HT/Stereo....

For the last 10 years, i have been actively involved in enjoying HT/Stereo on AVR.... I have enjoyed the best of both world's From a 5/7/9.1 to 2.0 an AVR and have had dedicated stereo-setup (Younger brother)...

What i have noticed is that the modern AVR are much more capable of handling stereo.... But the only one's that i came across which impressed me for stereo was Active speakers with a DAC which was much expensive....

 

[GeorgeO]

Yes, the AVRs have been able over the years to consistently raise the bar with better design and technology. Network players can access audio on a network and stream internet audio for example, and offer room correction, for example, both in a single box.

 

[mytest2k]

true, folks are moving towards HD music, so new setup is needed to listen it well...

 

[thampi]

one of these days ,people are going to revert back to two channel music