Welcome to my first article in a while. I am writing a few blog articles to share my journey in Home Theatre, centered around my personal Home Theatre. A list of all articles in the series is below, and I will update the index with links to the articles once they are complete:
My Introduction to Home Theatre: Introduction, Background & Hobby
Training and Leveling Up
The UK Revolution – The Next Step
Design, Modelling & Specification
Physical Installation
Final Photos and Future Upgrades
Please note: A previous introductory article about me can be found here.
Introduction
From a young age, I was in love with the electronic entertainment industry, which includes video games, movies and TV shows. One of my fondest childhood memories was my first Dolby Surround sound experience watching Dragonheart at Ster-Kinekor. Hearing the dragon fly around you blew my mind, and from that moment onwards, I embarked on a quest to bring that experience home.
At home, we had one of those all-in-one Sony Pro Logic II 5-channel systems, and we committed the classic mistake of stacking the surround speaker on top of the main speakers. The entire experience was disappointing due to the system’s inability to reproduce discrete surround sound. It relied on upmixing to virtually create a fake surround sound.
For my 21st birthday, I insisted that my present be a Yamaha Audio Video Receiver (pre-HDMI AVR), which could optically receive and decode Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. When I installed the AVR, I moved the surround sound speakers to their correct locations and finally realized my childhood dream. Needless to say, I quickly learned the importance of speaker placement and the role a subwoofer plays! Six months later, my dad and I shared the cost and bought a PSB SubSonic 5i subwoofer, which I still use today! (although not in my Home Theatre)
With my love for LAN parties and content sharing back then, another thing that became very apparent was that the quality of source material is imperative for a good movie-watching experience. Here, I developed a picky nature and insisted on top-quality content before watching anything in my small 5.1 Home Theatre. Garbage in, garbage out.
Years later, I upgraded my system by purchasing a Bowers & Wilkins 5.1 speaker kit featuring 1st generation M1 satellite speakers and the mighty PV1 subwoofer. For processing and amplification, I used an Onkyo NR708. I also bought my first Plasma TV, a 50-inch Panasonic V20.
I would call this system my first proper home theatre solution and where we end our first article.
I will, however, leave you with a few additional photos from back then.
