What kind of equipment to buy depends on your budget, how much time you have on your hands, your technical prowess and -- of course -- how much you tend to drool over the latest high-tech gizmos. Those inclined toward do-it-yourself projects can buy a high-definition set or projector, hook it up to a DVD player and a surround sound system for US$3,000 or less.
But if money is no object, you can get your home cinema professionally designed, acoustically engineered, installed and tricked out to look like a real movie theatre... for US$25,000 and up. Like luxury cars or motorboats, there's practically no upper limit for those with money to spend.
Sal Alfano, a retired Wall Street executive, had a US$9,000 home theatre system built in his Pennsylvania home last fall as part of a basement renovation project.
It features theatre-style seats, a 103-inch screen (measured diagonally) with a high definition projector, a popcorn machine and soundproofing to preserve neighbourly harmony.
Having the system professionally installed made sense for Alfano. "I'm not a technician. Let them do it," he said.
Since then, he has enjoyed having his three grandchildren over to the basement to watch DVDs, and friends to watch sports games. "Even my doctor came over one night," he said.
Like Alfano, most people don't have the time or inclination to wire their own components and configure them for the optimal sound and picture, said Scott Oglum, founder of Newark, Del.-based TheaterXtreme, a chain of retail stores that specializes in outfitting home theatre rooms at prices starting around US$7,000.
A dramatic drop in prices for digital projectors in recent years has made it possible for ordinary Americans and Canadians to afford an impressive home theatre system. Until a few years ago, Oglum said, "it was strictly something that you saw in the Hollywood homes."
For those who are more technically inclined, designing and installing a system yourself is well within reach.
Greg Scavezze, a 37-year-old software engineer who lives near Salt Lake City is outfitting his basement this summer with a US$3,000 theatre system as part of a bigger basement-finishing project. An audio-video buff since high school, Scavezze already had several flat-screen TVs around the house, but wanted something more theatre-like.
"Each time I've done it, it's kind of gotten a little more grandiose," he said.
Before ordering his equipment, Scavezze did intensive research on the Internet, perusing sites such as CNet and www.avsforum.com -- a discussion site for audio and video enthusiasts. "This stuff is really not that hard to figure out," Scavezze said.
Home theatre aficionados say a digital projector, which can display a high-definition image on a screen mounted on your wall is the best way to get a movie-theatre experience. But flat-screen televisions remain far more popular among U.S. households than the projectors favoured by home theatre purists.
Shipments of flat-panel TVs of 40 inches or larger are projected to rise to more than 11 million this year in the United States, from 9.3 million last year, according to market research firm Pacific Media Associates. By comparison, shipments of projectors are far lower: about 150,000 units last year.
Possible reasons include the immense marketing behind flat-screen TVs and the fact that projection systems don't carry quite the same bling factor for most consumers. While projection systems are able to deliver a larger picture at a lower price, "the projector itself is not showy," said William Coggshall, president of Pacific Media Associates.
To be sure, the economic downturn and housing crisis have put a damper on some of the home theatre and consumer electronics market. Clients have been more hesitant lately about big-ticket projects, installers say.
"It's a harder sell," said Dean Callis of Paragon Technology Group, an Aspen, Colo.-based company that specializes in custom-built systems for the vacation home market.
Among those who are able to afford new home theatres despite the tough economic times, some are trying to make their theatres a more active space for their families.
They are installing small stages where kids can set up their musical instruments, or play virtual tennis on a Nintendo Wii. "They don't want to have it be a space... where their kids are just brain-dead, watching TV," said John Baumeister, president of Illinois-based Baumeister Electronic Architects, which specializes in custom-designed high-end systems ranging from US$50,000 to US$1 million.
Clients can get such features as a curved screen that gives you that wide-screen Lawrence of Arabia look, or a remote control that scrolls through a list of movies stored on a computer server.
Another plus: moving curtains that replicate a movie theatre's look. "You want the lights to dim, you want the curtains to open up," Baumeister says, just like in the movies.
-- The Associated Press
