Do You Consider the Spouse-Acceptance Factor in Your Home Theater?

[Eug]

What don't you like about having a giant TV in the living room - too much of a blank centerpiece when it's off?

I've toyed around with putting a projector in my living room. Modern LED projectors are tiny, fairly quiet, and are easy to hide, and you can do some tricks to make it daylight-usable (ambient light screen paint or an SI Black Diamond daylight screen, build a little cove with some black light-absorbing material around the edges, etc.), but then you're stuck with a giant gray wall or black screen hanging on the wall instead of something like artwork or family photos. I suppose you could just leave it running 24/7 since it is an LED bulb & just display something like an HD fishtank or artwork screensaver or something...

Personally, I think it often looks tacky. Your "blank centerpiece" description is apt. But that's me, and I also have the luxury of having a separate home theatre room.

The only times I've seen it work well aesthetically is super high end homes where they hide all of that with moving walls and stuff like that. I used to see that in a magazine called "Audio Video Interiors".

BTW, given the cost of high cost 75" TVs, I was toying with the idea of putting a 65" TV in the home theatre instead. But my wife nixed that idea. So the wife factor in this case is pushing me to spend more money for a bigger TV.

 

[poofyhairguy]

So the wife factor in this case is pushing me to spend more money for a bigger TV.

Lucky man!

 

[Exterous]

Which Which is why I said "generally."

Yeah - and the "generally" part is that part that I don't know if thats true.

realtors tend to agree that home theaters are a poor investment from a resale viewpoint.

Poor depends on a variety of factors and, from what I have read, the investment is usually compared to higher value add project like kitchen or bath. Thats a bit different from a 0\net negative

Further appraisers will count it as 'finished sq ft' so I think saying the value add is "zero to the value of a home and are generally a net negative because of the usable space being given up" is tough to defend unless its an nonconvertible bedroom or bathroom being given up and considering it seems most are being built in basements or other unfinished spaces. (Meaning the finished sq is increased)

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/garden/would-a-home-theatre-increase-the-value-of-my-home.html?_r=0

http://hometheaterreview.com/do-home-theaters-actually-help-sell-homes-in-todays-real-estate-market/

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/19-dedicated-theater-design-construction/1141813-home-theater-appraisal-value.html

 

[MongGrel]

Well, that and it's a pain to use a projector in the daytime, at least not without spending $5k on an SI Black Diamond daylight screen. In my bedroom, I installed some blinds with a blackout curtain, which was pretty easy since it was just one small window. So, you're good

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Yeah, I'm probably better off in a reality in the living room without one.

 

[Eug]

Yeah - and the "generally" part is that part that I don't know if thats true.



Poor depends on a variety of factors and, from what I have read, the investment is usually compared to higher value add project like kitchen or bath. Thats a bit different from a 0\net negative

Further appraisers will count it as 'finished sq ft' so I think saying the value add is "zero to the value of a home and are generally a net negative because of the usable space being given up" is tough to defend unless its an nonconvertible bedroom or bathroom being given up and considering it seems most are being built in basements or other unfinished spaces. (Meaning the finished sq is increased)

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/garden/would-a-home-theatre-increase-the-value-of-my-home.html?_r=0

http://hometheaterreview.com/do-home-theaters-actually-help-sell-homes-in-todays-real-estate-market/

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/19-dedicated-theater-design-construction/1141813-home-theater-appraisal-value.html

Yes, it makes sense that:

1) A finished home theatre say in a basement would add to the finished square footage of a home.

2) A finished home theatre may not add any ADDITIONAL value over finished square footage of a home.

Luckily, generally a finished home theatre will not decrease the value of a home because if desired it would usually be easy to revert that to regular living space. This is in stark contrast to a swimming pool for example.

In my case, my "home theatre" is a converted garage. There is no screen, just a flat matte gray painted wall, along with a bunch of wiring and some discrete speakers, etc. There is an overhead projector, but it could easily be removed, and there is no downside to having the electrical plug there in the ceiling.

 

[Dude111]

What is choice number 4 doing in the poll at all? How does one even begin to "consider" "spouse-acceptance" when one don't have a spouse in the first place

Ya your right mate,I just didnt wanna leave those of us who dont have a spouse out..

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I said yes, but only so far as using a very dark wall/ceiling/trim color palette. Otherwise I would have gone with flat black everywhere. Everything else is all me, me and more me.

 

[Kaido]

Personally, I think it often looks tacky. Your "blank centerpiece" description is apt. But that's me, and I also have the luxury of having a separate home theatre room.

The only times I've seen it work well aesthetically is super high end homes where they hide all of that with moving walls and stuff like that. I used to see that in a magazine called "Audio Video Interiors".

BTW, given the cost of high cost 75" TVs, I was toying with the idea of putting a 65" TV in the home theatre instead. But my wife nixed that idea. So the wife factor in this case is pushing me to spend more money for a bigger TV.

Yeah, you're either stuck with a giant blank wall with a projector, or you give the impression that your house is centered around television worship with a giant-screen TV & all of the furniture pointed at it

I just put up a projector in my bedroom. Having a 92" screen is awesome (plus 5.1 surround-sound using tiny cube speakers), but it's pretty boring on that wall because I only have pictures on the left & right, but then just a huge blank space in the center. No desire to put a pull-down or electric screen there because the projector has color compensation for my wall color (light green), which looks totally awesome & also doesn't require any type of installation to setup, so...yeah.

 

[Eug]

I have no TV at all in my bedroom. The times I do watch, it's on my iPad.

BTW, here is my home theatre setup:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=38145997#post38145997

 

[soulcougher73]

She lets me do what i want but id do what i wanted even if she complained. Same reason i let her do what she wants in her rooms without my input

 

[LikeLinus]

speakers and shit though, she had no say at all and doesn't care. my speakers are pretty massive too. i think it turned out pretty sweet.

What speakers and subs are you running? Can't tell if the are JTR, DIY or something else?

Nice setup

 

[purbeast0]

What speakers and subs are you running? Can't tell if the are JTR, DIY or something else?

Nice setup

thanks, it's an all jtr setup.

mains are T12's, rears are T8's, and subs are Caps.

 

[biostud]

Yes, but I got it before my GF, when I was single.

 

[boomhower]

It's not a dedicated room, just the living room. She pretty much lets me do whatever I want with the AV gear and doesn't complain much. She's not a particular fan of my F12 sub and know she is really not going like the new HSU that's coming but she will deal with it.

We bought new living room furniture that included an new TV console, she made the mistake of saying we needed a bigger TV. Well OK if you insist...