Home Cinema is
ALL ABOUT SOUND QUALITY

Actually Home cinema is probably the most confusing aspect of our business. At best it can provide you with the true cinema experience in the comfort of your own home. Or it can be like someone standing behind you beating two metal trays together. Which would you prefer?

Many people simply put the TV in between the speakers and play it through their audio system. This is a fantastic experience and good enough to enhance your viewing experience because sounds that were indistinct become crystal clear. The advantage of taking a "stereo" approach is that you avoid all the confusion that surrounds Home Cinemas and its ever changing specification.

Sure it isn't surround sound but it is better sounding than most of the equipment on the market. Most cats (out of one hundred questioned) would rather listen to two superb speakers than 5.1 average ones!

Lots of people who visit our website wonder why Home Cinema isn't a bigger part of our business. The reason is that most of the equipment out there isn't particularly good and sound quality is very low down the feature list. Most (by percentage) home cinema equipment has been "dumbed down" and is of lower than average quality compared to hifi equipment. Many of the speakers used are too small to reproduce dynamics in anything other than a car. We don't sell mediocre equipment because we know our customers value sound quality.

Home Cinema is also forever changing and the new technologies and features often have nothing to do with sound quality and even don't offer many people much in the way of advantage.

Done properly however, Home Cinema is little different to hi-fi in that it produces clarity and detail and makes the film more enjoyable because you can hear what is going on without effort. Just like listening to music. It will do this at normal listening volumes as well as earth shattering levels.

Since the cinema experience is 70% about sound, your choice of electronics and speakers is often far more important than your choice of screen or TV. Yet most people spend 90% of their budget on the biggest telly and then end up with a poor sounding system, featuring car speakers or worse. Many companies claim to offer surround sound from one speaker that sits under the TV. This just isn't possible and is only impressive until you compare it to just about anything else.

The thing is; you forget picture quality as soon as you are drawn into the film but it is the sound that gets your attention. We are not advocating a poor quality picture by the way; just that spending a fortune on the TV and loose change on the rest is a BIG mistake.

People get bogged down with specification when it is really sound quality that matters. Sound is something that we know a lot about and we use our ears and our listening room to ensure we only stock the best equipment. We have no time or space for the mediocre.

There is a sea of average product out there. The reviews in the Home Cinema press tend to suggest it is all about specification and yet our experience has always shown us it is quite the opposite. You will forget about HDMI 1.3 (or similar shopping list features) as soon as the unit is plugged in but the sound will stay with you for the life of the product.

HOW WE CAN HELP

We start by selecting the products which perform well. You might be surprised to find that there aren’t that many of them, especially when you strip away features that are often meaningless.

The next (and perhaps most important) thing we do next is listen to your requirements. Your room and your needs might be unique and it is vital that we meet them in order that you recommend us to your friends. That’s how our business has grown.

Often a site visit or a room plan will provide us with an insight into the systems that are best suited. Only then will we suggest some alternative products to consider and to audition.

Some of our customers require complete solutions whilst others have already got equipment that we need to integrate. Others want the system to be so simple that their parents or their young children can still enjoy using it without fear. We are happy to be guided by your requirements and to find products to meet this criteria.

In fact most of our products are chosed for their performance and their ability to provide a solution to our customers requirements. And if we use things with sucess we use them again and again. Our experience can avoid costly mistakes on your part and keeps you away from expensive and unreliable products.

We also work with local craftsmen and cabinetmakers (like Floor to Ceiling in Sheffield) to ensure a bespoke solution can be found where the room or property demands it.

BRANDS

There are many brands and products that we DON'T stock. This is because the market is stuffed with mediocre and average products. Manufacturers tell you they can offer you surround sound from two or three speakers, or from speakers smaller than a beer mat. The fact is they can't but you will only realise that when you have listened to something decent. The Japanese and Chinese know that people want to believe in less speakers or smaller speakers. As a result they make products that fit this criteria regardless of the effect it has on quality. Most people think that this sort of stuff is good enough but the fact it it is pretty dreadful and you realise this the moment you hear something up to the job. We like to offer our customers an informed choice and we don't compromise our standards to get a sale.

Having said that, home cinema has the same issues as hi-fi does; both are about sound after all. Speakers need to be discreet and suit the design and layout of the room. Equipment may need to be concealed in order that the room not resemble a demo room or a flight deck.

There are many things that seem designed to confuse you when putting together a home cinema system. The language seems jargon and specification “heavy” for a start and this is off-putting. Let us worry about that whilst we guide you towards products that suit your requirements, your budget and your lounge.

I don’t want to preach but some shops see equipment as a sales opportunity, whilst we see them as solutions.

ROOM ISSUES 

Perhaps the most emotive issue in home cinema is the choice of loudspeakers. Filling the most carefully considered and designed room in your house with loudspeakers can be the grounds for divorce. Let us offer some solutions.

The first of these is to consider a 2-channel solution. Arcam (for example) make a one-piece system called the Solo Movie. It offers a built-in DVD/CD player, a DAB radio and a superb stereo amplifier all in one box. It also enables the connection of SKY or Free view and even an  i-pod. It can be connected to any good quality loudspeakers and even has a matching (and extremely compact) pair of small speakers that combined with a sub-woofer, offer excellent performance.

Purist would argue that the Arcam is not a 5.1 system and of course they would be right. Our riposte would be that if the sound quality is good enough; two channels are plenty, especially when you compare them with an average 5.1 system. By putting quality first and neat design second, Arcam have found a solution that suits many people.

The other option is to use speakers that are discreet enough to do the job without compromising the appearance of your room. One extremely popular solution is the subsat solution. This is a series of compact speakers that are flexible enough in mounting options to work in most rooms. They will come with a matching sub-woofer and it is this that will generate the bass that provides depth and impact, often lacking in small speakers. The range is many and varied with lots of colours and lots of style on offer. The B&W MT-30 system pictured is a perfect example and comes in white, silver and black. It offers a powerful, detailed sound with lots of authority and control. It is also extremely attractive in the right room setting.

click for more info

Another option is to use in-ceiling speakers. In recent years the developments in loudspeaker design have been mirrored by in-ceiling speakers and there are no some superb products on offer that truly suit the home cinema market. Although the speakers are hidden away above you; the sound still appears to come from around you, just like it should. Many people think of squawky public address speakers when they thing of in-ceiling products but let me assure you that’s not the case at all.

What about
THE PICTURE

Your room will dictate the screen size you need, as will your requirement. Home cinema need not be about the size of your screen.

Flat televisions range in size from 16” inches to a whopping 60”. Smaller screens will be LCD type, although above 40” we still strongly recommend plasma. We use our eyes and our eyes clearly tell us that plasma offers superior picture quality and by a large margin, despite what the high street stores say.

Projection systems enable an even larger picture, which can be truly cinematic. There is nothing like a 7 foot image to blow the cobwebs away and make you the envy of all your friends. Projectors do offer the very best solution if you have a dedicated cinema room but are sometimes less practical for a lounge. They do not really replace conventional TV’s because they require low-light in order to give the best performance. They also tend to not be used for day to day viewing and instead are used for films and sporting occasions. Occasion is the right word too!

I want to
HIDE IT ALL AWAY

Equipment can be concealed in cabinets or units if you prefer not to see it. We have access to a wide range of cabinet solutions.

Our installers also have a lot of experience with lift and drop mechanisms. These enable screens to appear when they are needed and disappear when they are not. We even incorporate feature lighting to enhance the cinema experience and provide adjustable “moods” to suit your use of the room.

You could say we are a once stop solution. From putting together a cracking system on a budget to building you a cinema the envy of all your friends, we can help. And we don't drug your coffee and make you sell the kids to afford it. Many of our products are elegant and simple We've found that if we are friendly, helpful and honest; people come back.

Hi
DEF TV

Currently freaking everyone out and causing all manner of confusion. HD Ready sets are capable of reproducing 1080i (interlaced) lines and this represents a jump in picture quality from the 720 lines produced by DVD and the 625i produced by a normal SKY box.

True HD sets are capable of producing 1080p (progressive) which is slightly better but more costly to manufacture and hence more expensive to purchase.

   
Hi-Definition is currently available from SKY and one or two cable operators at a premium. Don't worry because more channels and more choice will be added as time goes by. You can make the change when you are ready and not before. High definition pictures are on display in our store if you wish to see what you've been missing.

Many people buy a TV that says HD ready on the box, plug it in and assume they are getting High Definition. This is not the case.

High Definition is also available from Blu-Ray players and now that rival HD-DVD format has hit the skids the number of titles to purchase and rent will increase massively. The price of players will also tumble until the magic £299 price is acheived and no doubt smashed.

The good news is the Blu-Ray is almost perfectly matched to the quality of 70mm films and this means almost all films ever made are up to transfer to the Blu-Ray format with a little remastering and the audio tracks cleaning up. Expect to see the shops brimming with titles by late 2008.

For those into gaming; Sony's PS3 is also a Blu-Ray player of some merit!

Awkward
ROOMS

Very few people have a room that is set aside just for watching movies or TV. As a result it is not unusual for the TV to be in the corner. Don’t panic though; we have come across this before and will come up with a workable solution.
 

Build yourself
A CINEMA 

If you have a room that is rarely used, why not consider letting us build you a cinema? Sounds expensive I know but in reality that depends on the equipment you want to use.

The advantage of a cinema is that you can optimise everything because watching movies would be the main use of the room. Often people have a games room or a family room and these make ideal cinemas.

We can even offer you a remote control that will control everything with the touch of one button. It won’t pour the wine for you but it will do everything else.

In
SUMMARY

Our experience is at your service. Contact us if you think we can help and be assured of our best response.