Letters - October 2009
One reader’s solution to the dedicated-room dilemma
October 31, 2009
To Randall Smith,
I've had both situations [you describe in "I’m
Dedicated to a Dedicated Room . . . or Maybe Not"] and I am currently with
a dedicated room. Your concern that your audio system would not get as much "shared
use" in a dedicated room is a valid one, as I find myself using the main home theater
by myself quite a bit. My wife is usually content to watch a movie in the living room on
our SDTV rather than in the "man cave" (as she has dubbed it) with my HD front
projector, 5.1 audio setup, and so on. In our case, though, two practical factors came
into play in our current house. One, our living room is too small for my home-theater
gear. It could fit into the room, but its functionality as a living room would be almost
nil. At the very least, I would have to downsize my speakers (they are not gigantic, but
they would need to be traded for on-wall/in-wall speakers). Two, my young (now
four-year-old) son: The gear would simply not be safe (speakers toppling from stands being
the principal concern, with general havoc a close second). The man cave, under controlled
conditions, is a safer place.
In the end, my plan is to slowly upgrade the living-room
gear so that it can provide a good home-theater experience (when I upgrade my receiver in
the cave, I'll move it upstairs, for example, and mate it with smaller speakers) that will
make it enjoyable in the living room and preserve the man cave for big-event movies and
the all-important hockey in HD (for which my wife has no interest anyway), as well as my
high-resolution-audio listening sessions (too few in number, but welcome escapes
nonetheless).
I do understand your desire to keep the experience shared.
I've made some slow but increasingly successful bids to have my wife join me in the cave
(most often with the kids, so our film watching has skewed to Pixar more than anything
else so far). A trading of couches from the playroom to the cave, I suspect, will be the
clincher -- but I need to find new speaker stands to clear the height of the replacement
couch.
Good luck with whatever you do.
Paul D'Amboise
5.1 or 7.2?
October 20, 2009
Editor,
It seemed like a few years ago there was a huge push for
more and more audio channels. But now from what I can tell, 5.1 seems like the standard
and rarely do I hear much about 7.2. Do you know why this would be the case? Was 5.1 all
that was really needed all along?
Rodney
I think that for the majority of home-theater
enthusiasts a 5.1-channel theater is all that is needed, and in many cases all that can be
accommodated conveniently. First, for a normal-sized room the need for more than five
channels of full-range information is questionable at best. Most rooms can be made
suitable for five speakers, but when you move to seven, the proposition can become
unmanageable from both space and décor standpoints. Second is the issue of budget. For
most people buying seven good loudspeakers would be cost prohibitive. As an advocate of
quality over quantity, I’d much rather have five good speakers than seven that aren't
as good. For the majority of rooms, budgets, and décors, I think 5.1 is the best bet. . .
. Jeff Fritz
More on Netflix
October 9, 2009
Editor,
I saw your response to the guy that wrote in regarding the
quality of Netflix’s streaming content. I am hooked on the ability to stream shows
and movies as well, and I suspect that it will drive more and more people to want to
download and stream movies. I’m just wondering what you think Netflix will do to
attract more people now that there are more competitors than ever.
Frank
First, Netflix is a known entity and they are
consistent with their content and delivery quality and their customer service. Second,
Netflix will offer more instant content, I think. Right now I’m watching the fourth
season of Heroes. The awesome thing about it is that the episodes are available
shortly after they air on television. Not having to wait for a show’s season to end
to access it via Netflix is a trend I see growing. In fact, just watching a couple of
shows -- a season’s worth -- every couple of months is enough reason for me to pay
for the service. Add three or four Blu-rays per month and it is easily worth the 15 bucks
a month I spend on Netflix. . . . Jeff Fritz |
