Buying AVR home theater vs watching movie in theater

[sentinel]

I currently have a 42 inch 3D TV at home, a Norge 1000 amp and Mordaunt short carnival 8 floorstander at home.

I was thinking of a 5.1 or a 7.1 system at home and considering buying an AVR and speaker system.

Buying a decent AVR will set me back by around 35K and a home theater speaker package will cost around 30K at least. Also blue ray player around 10K. So around 70K is the amount which I will need to spend. Plus additional work of getting the wiring done from AVR to back surround speakers and all that. Also a bluray movie disk costs above INR 1000

Now considering the movie ticket on an average of around 200 per person even if I watch 5 movies per month the money spent will be around 1000 per month. So the total cost will be around 12 K per year. Also the experience in theater cannot be replicated at home.
Also when I run a movie at home and there is a scene with explicit content or bloody action, I need to be constantly on an alert if there is any kid or elderly person in the room, so that there is no embarrassing experience to anyone, which decreases the experience further.

Also at home, with remote in my hand, engineer inside me takes over me and I get itching to improve the sound quality further by doing something or the other. So instead of enjoying content, my attention goes into other things unnecessarily. In theater you dont encounter these problems

So I was thinking whether buying a home theater AVR and speaker system is a wise decision.

 

[sanloyn]

The whole idea of setting up an HT at home is to match the commercial theatre setup.
I am damm sure the personal HT is no match for an theatre setup. Having said that, its actually the passion towards music and movie inside you that drives one to take that decision.
Good things cost money for sure and in this case they cost an bomb for sure.
By setting up an HT at home, you are just one touch away when you are in a damm good mood to catch up on a movie. You cant run to the Theatre anytime you want to watch an movie.
If say, ask your soul, what you want. I am sure it wont do the math, it will always want something that is always yours.
In my case, I have made it an mandate to catch up on a movie, TV series or music for an hour or hour an half every night once I am back from work, which gives me so much of content feel when I go to my bed.
Though there is bus, train and flight service..... but still one want to buy a car, why???? coz it gives the joy to travel all by your own and independent of time.
And lastly, am sure you wont go for a movie all alone, you would have a companion in the form of wife and later kid(s). And what about the popcorn, cool drinks charges that cost you a bomb more than your actual ticket charges. The cost of parking too
Think over, I say go ahead and set up an HT that will touch your soul.
All the best

 

[sud98]

For a family of say 4, the average multiplex ticket costs around Rs. 250 so a total of Rs. 1000. Add to this the cost of popcorn, snacks etc. would be around 500. Add to this the cost of parking and driving to the theater would be 200.

So effectively, you have spent Rs. 1750 for a movie, or Rs. 7,000 for a month or Rs. 84000 per year.

To compare, you should look at a projector costing around 40-45k plus a screen of 120inches of 15k plus avr plus speakers plus source. I am mentioning source as it could be dvd/bd/tv/soft copies.

To me a theater (unless its an IMAX) never matches a good HT as the sound is cheap and too loud. There is always disturbances like someone walking in late, talking loudly, phone ringing, idiotic ads.

But each one his own. One can never justify a washing machine over someone washing it by hand, but we still do it as we like the control of the situation. The same is with movies. Watching in a theater is great when you have company, but to me very boring if there is a movie I have to watch alone.

 

[drkrack]

Also there's no guarantee that you'd always like to see the movies that are currently playing in the town. You're grossly restricted by content available, which affects across the age groups in the family. There are many reasons, especially kids below 5yrs, who can ruin your movie experience at theaters and home theater gives lots of flexibility.

Most of the American TV series for ex GOT or Narcos come with 5.1 audio and special effects ; which you won't get to see in theaters.
Also the big screen sports action is equally important, which is an experience in itself. Watching IPL or EPL at the comfort of your home room in a huge screen is worth while investment, not forgetting the flaunt value.

In my opinion, Dedicated, well set home theater is much better than watching movies in theaters.

 

[sash]

1. My HT is much better than multiplexes in my town. Not saying it because i own it, i have compared it for the same movies. Commercial movie theaters are no match - picture or (more importantly) sound wise.
2. In commercial theaters, you can only watch what they screen. Not what you want.
3. Blu ray is expensive today (though there are ways around it) but eventually content will become cheap as internet bandwidth improves.
4. All of the above is mostly true if you have a dedicated room. If your HT is in a common area like a living room - the experience will be nowhere close.

 

[ItsMe]

Movie theater and HT are two different entertainment systems, and one never supercedes the other.
The advantages of a movie theater is ofcourse the joy of watching it with the mass, especially a superstar movie FDFS. Also, modern movie theaters show them in 2K/4K which you cannot replicate at home due to lack of content. Also, the content will be available first at movie theaters
On the other hand, HT is a personal stuff and you are free to watch what you want at your own pace. You can pause, rewind or fast forward in an HT. Also you get contents like TV series, live sports etc which are not available in movie theaters. And last but not the least, the proud sense of owning an HT is much more than what can be explained in words.

To sum up, people tend to go for higher end car audio with USB/ipod connectivity even though you have option to listen to unlimited FM stations. Its the sense of making it personal which differentiates HT from movie theaters. I own a decent HT and I enjoy it thoroughly, but will never miss a decent hit in theater which is according to me is my contribution so that movie industry will sustain.

 

[tuff]

? What he said. and all the points above him.
you shouldn't compare them. they are different beasts.

 

[kaptan]

Commercial Movie theaters are no match with the HTs. I would say Home theaters are better than the commercial theaters in terms of sound quality.

Commercial Theaters: Its all about loudness which is high db range. Bigger Screen.
Home theaters : Precise sound quality, better surround experience then any leading theaters. Big screen with good projector would be fun to watch.

The most important is the ease and convenience in having them. It can be achieved by choosing the right components and setting them up right.

Considering the cost of watching a movie in multiplex along with snacks and parking its lot better to spend the money and own a great home home theater. All the best.

 

[hydrovac]

Some people prefer to watch movie at the theater and some people prefer to watch a movie at home. It all depends on many factors.

While economic hardships still face many today, it does not mean that the
enjoyment of watching movies needs to be sacrificed. There is something to be said for big screen viewing;
however, the home provides a comfortable, intimate, and common place for families of all social levels to enjoy classic or newly released movies.

 

[RajithKumar]

I may vote for personalised HT setup. Freedom , audio quality , comfort at home .

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

 

[tuff]

also on blurays you can get additional materials like commentary from the director, producer, DoP and what not if one is interested in the details.

 

[saikatbiswas82]

I prefer HT over IMAX just because of the sound. Its terrible in theater. I am not saying I have a top-of-the-line setup, but its decent and gives me immense pleasure compared to any theater I've been into.
I don't have a PJ right now. Hoping to get it in a couple of months. Fingers crossed.
Looking at my preferences, I started collecting Blurays during this diwali sale. The count is 33 now.

My vote will always be on personal HT.

 

[quixand]

The Theaters in Kolkata are mediocre not to mention the absolute oafs that ruin the movie with flashing & ringing cells, Food littered all over, loud talking & bad seats. The lack of low end movies in INOX & PVRs in Kolkata is quite astonishing. The only IMAX screen got shut down years back so you can imagine the state. I do watch quite a few movies in theaters (waiting for Atmos) and the prints are usually meh!

Comparing that to IMAX Bangalore or other theaters in Delhi etc much better experience for the money.

 

[elangoas]

So I was thinking whether buying a home theater AVR and speaker system is a wise decision.

Yes.. If you love to recreate a similar experience as a movie theater at your convenience and luxury..

Also a bluray movie disk costs above INR 1000

BD are absurdly priced in India..BD aren't as cheap as other countries where you can stack 100's discs in your room.. You can skip the physical discs if you learn where to source digital files from.. Heard of Blue Ray Rips (BR Rip)?

For the rest of your comments.. Let me give you an example..

I love to watch atleast 2 movies per weekend, worst-case at-least one..I don't keep a count of movies, but should have watched roughly 400 movies in the last 6 years.. I don't have a Blu ray player nor a single Blu Ray Discs, but very good quality files that can fairly recreate the theater experience..

The cost of Blu Ray disk shouldn't stop you from enjoying what you like

 

[saikatbiswas82]

BD are absurdly priced in India..BD aren't as cheap as other countries where you can stack 100's discs in your room

I beg to differ on this point. I've purchased Blu ray discs from UK and US as well. I found in most of the cases, indian prices match them. During this Diwali sale, I picked up couple of blockbusters under ?400 each. Its very hard to find a good collection of movies under $5.5 in US.


Sent from a handheld device. Some typos might creep in.

 

[MaSh]

I have not been to the theater since 3 years or so now. I think the last one that I saw was Gravity, that too when I was forced to go. Horrible seats, people talking, phones ringing, food littered all over, etc. I prefer my setup any day any movie at my convenience.

MaSh

 

[shibashis]

As you can see a HT for you and family wins hands down. Of course you will not be able to match the performance at the beginning but if you persevere with it say in a couple of years time your HT room can outperform the very best.
A dedicated room or at least a living room turned HT room is necessary of course. Take care and invest time in choosing your components and you will not regret. Before buying speakers and AVR listen as much as you can to different options, different combinations matter.
If you can invest in a projector then that will change the game. There is a recurring cost of lamp replacement perhaps but seeing the current life of projector lamps, an expenditure of about 10000 every 3 years is not such a bad deal to have.

 

[elangoas]

I beg to differ on this point. I've purchased Blu ray discs from UK and US as well. I found in most of the cases, indian prices match them.

We don't have to match US & UK Price.. Economies are different and it should retail for less then what it is currently..

I picked up couple of blockbusters under ?400 each. Its very hard to find a good collection of movies under $5.5 in US.

Yeah.. Good that atleast we get 50 - 60% discount during festive season..Anyways a Pirated BD cost about 60 - 80 Rs.. The original version should retail for Rs 100 - 150 Max and not Rs 400

 

[Amarendra]

The issue with HT is the cost, effort and perceived need to upgrade. A good projector costs about a lakh, add a receiver for 50- 60 k, then you want good quality speakers for 50- 100k, then a Blu-ray player then cables then sub etc. I have enjoyed the process immensely but it is like a bottomless pit at times- you keep looking for the next best thing. Compared to this a commercial theater is an easier proposition but of course lacks flexibility.

 

[elangoas]

I have not been to the theater since 3 years or so now. I think the last one that I saw was Gravity, that too when I was forced to go.

Same here.. Avatar was the last Hollywood movie i watched in theater's.. Since then, it has been HT hyeah: