Jeremy Hummer’s love of movies began when he was a kid, much like most of ours did.  He actually began collecting films–and I mean ACTUAL FILMS, like sixteen millimeter film–but quickly branched out to video when he discovered that collecting actual film was a difficult and downright painful process.

But as he went on, and his love of movies carried on, soon he found himself the owner of a house with a five hundred square foot garage…or the perfect home theater to be.  And this set him down a path where, eventually, he would use that garage home theater as the centerpiece, and the showpiece, of his own home theater installation firm.

So what does he have in this incredible theater?  Oh man, you’ll hardly believe it.  He’s got Monitor Audio speakers, Velodyne subwoofers, a JVC projector, a VuTec one hundred ten inch screen, Oppo DVD player, Marantz Blu-ray player and plenty more to boot.

That’s one sweet home theater setup you’ve got there, Jeremy, and if that’s the kind of thing that your company, Electronic Home Designers, does, then even I’m interested.  And you know from experience I’m one cheap individual.

One truly awesome thing about the sweet home theater setup is that it, like movies, are a universal language.

It’s even spoken in Norway!  Want proof?  That’s okay, I can provide.  A guy by the name of Bjorn Kristensen set up his own sweet home theater setup in his two hundred twenty square foot garage.

This particular setup set him back twenty large, and includes the costs of construction and fresh components.  But here’s what he GOT for that twenty large–not only the pictured theater above, but also its contents, which include Infinity speakers, a Sony Blu-ray player and projector, plus a Yamaha receiver and DreamScreen one hundred and twenty inch screen.

I don’t care what language you speak–that’s sweet no matter where you hail from.  And for putting together a great theater setup that should serve him well until the next format change (and even then he’ll probably just have to swap out a couple components) he’s earned the title of sweet home theater setup.

Okay, so on the surface, five thousand bucks sounds like a lot of cash.  But if you break it down over the course of a year, you’re actually only talking about a hundred bucks a week.  And if you’re willing to put aside that kind of cash for that whole year, then you too can have a home theater setup like Mark Wiener’s.

When I read about this one I was pretty well surprised.  He mostly paid for electronics and furnishings, doing most of the construction work between himself and his father in law, which was probably a good bonding experience for the duo.

But that five grand went a pretty long way, putting up a Toshiba DVD, VCR and HD DVD player (though that one probably doesn’t see much use any more), a Panasonic Blu-ray player and 720p projector, KLH speakers and a B-tech ninety inch screen, and plenty else.

With some careful planning, you too can put in a really awesome home theater setup and without breaking the bank to do it.  That makes it, especially these days, doubly sweet.

Or at least, cheap for blu-ray.  Seems that the folks at LG are set to put their LG BD370 out for a hundred and fifty bucks.

Now, admittedly, that’s not as good a deal as the recently announced special from Best Buy in which they were offering their Insignia brand NS-BRDVD3 blu-ray player for a whopping ninety nine bucks, but there is actually a reason to consider picking this one up.

Again, like the insignia, it’s compatible with Netflix’s streaming video.  But the difference here is that LG was the FIRST to do it.

You might be able to wonder if “first”, otherwise known as the most annoying post on any message board, is worth an extra sixty bucks.  And you’d be right to do so, but I ask you to consider just one point:  if LG did it first, then aren’t they most likely to know how to do it BEST?  And that likelihood is probably worth an extra sixty bucks.

If you think the VHS player/recorder is dead, guess again. For some reason, the JVC-DR-BH250 continues the legacy. Not only does it continue to play the usual VHS tapes, it can even record blu-ray and some other content as well. And if you are worried about storage, never fear. It even comes with a 250 GB hard drive to save those recorded video formats. The JVC DR-BH250 is slated to arrive in Japan by November and will carry a $1,400 price tag.

(Source) Ubergizmo

So this guy by the name of Jeff bought a 1921 Georgian colonial house nine years ago, and it wasn’t exactly in the best shape when he got it.  Well, if you were eighty years old you probably wouldn’t be in the best shape either, so don’t laugh.

Anyway, Jeff set out to gut the house and renovate it to suit his needs.  Now, I know that this is how a lot of horror movies started, but for him it worked out just fine.  He added a new master suite, an exercise room, a guest suite…and of course, what we came here for, a sweet home theater setup.

He’s got plenty of awesome equipment in there, including fully TWELVE Acoustic Innovations Deco recliners (those red and pink things you see in the foreground), a Denon Blu-ray player, a JVC VHS deck, an Oppo DVD player, a Panasonic Blu-ray player, Klipsch speakers, a Sony projector and a monster screen from–where else?–Stewart Filmscreen.

For gutting most of his home and adding on like no tomorrow, Jeff’s definitely managed to add on a truly sweet home theater setup.

ADVANCE WARNING: THESE ARE SOME REALLY GOOD DEALS. IF YOU HAVE A HEART CONDITION OR SIMILAR CHRONIC ILLNESS I RECOMMEND YOU READ SOMETHING ELSE RIGHT NOW.

Maybe I’m going too far, but I dug up Sears’ Black Friday deals.  They’re clearly out to NOT get outclassed by Office Max, and best believe there will be PLENTY of joy for all my home theater heads.  So assuming you’re still reading this far, check out this incredible slice of awesome.

How about a forty-two inch Zenith plasma TV for just under five hundred bucks?

Not good enough?  Okay, how about a Sony Bravia 5.1 Channel 1000 Watt integrated home theater system (a home theater in a box kind of thing) for just under three hundred thirty?

STILL not good enough?  Oh, you’re killing me, but lucky for you I got plenty more–try this one on, true bargain shopper: your choice of a Samsung or Sony Blu-ray player for just a hundred and fifty bucks.

Yeah, I figured that’d get you.  So if you were thinking about sleeping off the turkey coma on Black Friday, you may want to think again, because these are some incredibly SWEET deals.

For the people looking for reliable Blu-ray writers in the market, Buffalo has released another one today but unfortunately for the Japanese market. The new model is the Buffalo BR-PX68U2-BK external Blu-ray writer, a device that measures just 137mm x 142mm x 20mm and weighs only 340 grams. It makes use of USB connectivity and has write speeds of up to 6X for BD-R, 4x for BD-R DL, 2x for BD-RE SL/DL, 8x for DVD-R/+R/+RW, 6x for DVD-RW, 5x for DVD-RAM, 4x for DVD-RW/+RW DL, 24x for CD-R and 10x for CD-RW.

The Buffalo BR-PX68U2-BK will be available in Japan by November for about $340.00.

(Source) Slippery Brick

Need a player that supports a variety of playable discs and formats? Check out the new XV-BP11, an entry-level Blu-Ray player by JVC. It is a versatile high definition player that offers playback of high definition Blu-ray discs and various other formats.

The JVC XV-BP11 Blu-Ray player offers playback of the AVCHD format, the high definition format widely used for HD camcorders. The playable discs supported by the player include BD-Rom, BD-R/RE, DVD-Video, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, Audio CD and CD-R/RW. For video output, the player has composite HDMI V1.3 and for video, it has Analog L/R, coaxial, HDMI V1.3. Plus, a USB host is situated at the front panel of the player for easy connectivity.

Other convenient features of the JVC XV-BP11 Blu-Ray player include quick loading, camera zoom, slim design and parental lock. The XV-BP11 high definition player is available at $199.95.

Via: JVC

Steve Mize is a man who feels much the same way I do about the movies.  Growing up, we both regarded them the same way, as a special treat.  See, we didn’t have Netflix back when I was a kid.  We didn’t have hundreds of cable channels.  We had some, yeah, but not that many. Cartoon Network was still a gleam in Ted Turner’s eye.  One of my earliest movie memories is my father packing me in his old pickup truck and the two of us driving a town over to catch Robocop 2 at the local small movie house while my mother was at bingo.  Needless to say, I went to bed late that night, and it was fantastic.

Steve Mize brought this same kind of emotion into his home theater setup.  He built his theater around a ticket stand, concession area (I love theaters that remember the concession stand) and a “walk of fame” featuring stars of the past, like Hepburn and Bacall.

But it’s not all about the nostalgia, no sir.  There’s also some prime hardware in here too, like a JVC projector, Pioneer blu-ray player, Screen Research hundred and ten inch screen, and the ability to play almost every format ever released.  He’s got an HD DVD and a VCR in there, as well as a straight Denon DVD.

Steve Mize’s home theater setup brings the best of the past and present together, and must therefore always be called sweet.

You’ve got to love anyone who means to tackle the project of building a home theater on a budget.  It takes a lot of restraint, not to mention discipline and sheer grit not to go hog wild and blow every nickel you’ve got on a gigantic plasma TV or the finest speakers or anything like that.

And for Stephen Hopkins, restraint was the order of the day.

He put together his sweet home theater setup for under five thousand dollars.  That’s right, an entire home theater setup for the cost of a fairly low end used car.  How did he do it, you ask?  Simple–by careful shopping, haggling, and loads of scratch and dent, refurbished, and B-stock merchandise.

And it’s not like he just threw an old nineteen inch TV in a room with a couch and called it good.  No sir!  He’s got some pretty prime equipment in here.  Sure, he had some stuff on hand already, and that got thrown into the mix, but he also brought in other stuff.  He’s got an Onkyo receiver, a Samsung Blu-ray player, and a hundred-inch projector screen, part of that scratch and dent I mentioned.

So when you look to set up your own home theater setup, spare a thought for Stephen Hopkins, who showed us the way.

MediaTek has unveiled the MediaTek MT8530, the first DivX Plus certified chip for powering Blu-ray players. With the MT8530, Blu-ray players can now play DivX Plus HD videos based on H.264 technology and MKV. HD resolutions up to 1080p will be supported and products using the MediaTek MT8530 chip will be able to play HD files using AAC format audio which should broaden the home theater demands for home theater fanatics today.

(Source) Slashgear

Sometimes there’s one great thing about a home theater setup that makes you sit up and take notice.  And in the case of David Barron’s home theater setup, that certain something special is his very own brand of homemade speakers.

When David Barron started to set up his home theater, he got the opportunity of a lifetime from a mostly finished basement in the house he’d moved into.  So he started to set up the home theater of his dreams, splitting off space for a playroom, a bathroom, and the home theater.

After setting up that basic array, he then proceeded to add a slew of equipment, including a JVC projector, a Samsung Blu-ray player, an Audio Authority component box, and not only his own speakers, but also a projector screen he designed himself.

With that kind of homemade joy involved in the building of his setup, well, there’s no doubt at all that David Barron’s got a sweet home theater setup.

Vincent Bova’s home theater was something of a labor of love born out of tragedy.  He began analyzing the whole affair, trying to figure out what to do about it and how to set it up so that it would work out.  He made some calls and made some designs, but then, he got a problem he wasn’t planning for.

Vincent Bova had been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

He left his Wall Street job (when you’ve got a brain tumor?  That’s probably for the best.) and put most everything else on hold trying to get the problem fixed.  But to keep himself sane and from focusing everything on the cancer, he focused on home theater gear.  He called it “therapy”.

And his focus ended up creating an incredible home theater–a JVC 1080p projector, Paradigm speakers, a Marantz receiver, a Velodyne subwoofer, a Pioneer Blu-ray player, and more.

It’s an absolutely beautiful theater–and in case you were wondering about the tumor, he had an operation that turned out successfully, and as a result of all these he now works with two companies as well as having started his own, Total Control Remotes. But one thing’s clear:  he’s got one sweet home theater setup.  Here’s to you, Vincent, and your sweet setup.

Actually, chances are, it probably tops every OTHER holiday’s shopping list this time of year too–there’s a good chance most Chanukah shoppers will also be following these lines, along with everyone else.

First off, the bad news.  Holiday sales, by virtually every predictive measure known to mankind, are gonna SUCK.  A WorkPlace Media study says that forty three percent of respondents plan to spend less money this year.  More people will be shopping during work breaks of some kind, and more people will buy gift cards than ever.

Now here’s the part that means something to us–the planned purchase categories:

• Apparel/apparel accessories (73 percent)
• Books/CDs/DVDs/Video games (72 percent)
• Electronics/computers (46 percent)
• Restaurants (38 percent)
• Personal care/beauty items (37 percents)
• Entertainment (33 percent)

Three of the top six gifts have at least some relation to home theater.  The CDs, DVDs, and video games to fuel it, the electronics and computers to power it, and the entertainment that serves as a catch-all to fully encompass it (okay, so that’s a bit of a stretch as “entertainment” could mean anything from an Astros game to a Zamfir concert)–one way or one way or another, home theater is the big ticket this holiday season.

So rejoice, home theater buffs, and know that you are on the forefront of a global trend.

There are still some theaters out there–I personally know of one not too far from my very doorstep–that incorporate a game room into the lobby. And now, a home theater setup does the same thing.

Dino Theo is a man who knows what he wants, and when it comes to home theater, what he wants is everything.  The picture at right is a shot of the lobby of the home theater he built, and yes, those are slot machines and pinball games.

But it’s not all fun and games down in Dino’s theater, it’s also fun and MOVIES.  To that end, he’s got plenty of theatrical hardware involved in this setup too, including Rocket speakers, a Draper ninety six inch projection screen, and a Panasonic projector.

Pinball machines rebuilt by hand, an arcade machine emulator with tons of games, and plenty of choice hardware to view the greatest in movie fare.  Dino Theo’s got one sweet home theater setup here, make no mistake about that.

So the Los Angeles Times took a run at the somewhat flagging DVD market to make a few breathless suggestions that, somehow, this was the beginning of the end for the DVD format.

Okay, sure.  Let’s make one thing clear right off the top.  Chances are, DVD is something of a doomed media.  But this doom is fairly off in the far flung future.  Right now, there are three essential aspects to media delivery: digital distribution, that is, distribution with no disc; Blu-ray, distribution on Blu-ray disc; and DVD, distribution on straight DVD disc.

Digital distribution is a fantasy until the basic internet infrastructure of the United States is sufficiently upgraded to allow ordinary citizens access to the internet in their homes without usage limits or low speeds.  That’s a good chunk of the country mostly out of the game right now, and no studio in its right mind will focus on a distribution strategy that excises major portions of the market.

Blu-ray is gaining ground as a distribution medium, as it should, but is still in its earliest stages.  Remember, the forum wars between Blu-ray and HD DVD were barely ended back in 2008.  Players are still pricey, and with a hamstrung global economy there’s not a whole lot of room for new purchases.  But like I said, it’s gaining ground, but slower than normal.

DVD is still the top distribution strategy, because it encompasses the widest portion of the market and thus, the most potential business.

The Los Angeles Times can say what it wants, but to ignore DVD is done strictly at one’s own risk.

Best Buy and Netflix have announced today that they will be bringing Watch Instantly streaming to a whole slew of new Insignia branded Blu-ray players.

These players include the NS-BRDVD3 clocking in at $179, the NS-WBRDVD that includes WiFi for $199. And, lucky for you Best Buy Reward Zone members, EngadgetHD reports that you’ll be able to have the NS-BRDVD3 for $99 through the 24th.

As people continue to shift towards the new Blu-ray viewing era, there have been a couple of players released in the market to widen your Blu-ray player purchasing needs. And LG Electronics has been known to come up with their own and one happens to be the LG BD270 Blu-ray Disc Player. This Blu-ray player comes with the usual full HD 1080p HDMI output with Cinema mode paired with optimized audio performance with 7.1 channels of Dolby Digital Plus and TrueHD & dts-HD. It comes with express reaction for instant tray opening.

Price: $199.95

(Source) Amazon

Just like most home theater manufacturing groups, Oppo is now focusing on Blu-ray technology. Oppo, tagged as the Internet’s favorite brand has announced that it will be expanding via the focus on Blu-ray route. They have claimed to have sold out their DVD players and are no longer going to produce them for the future. Being a small company, the obvious growing demand today and the future is for Blu-ray players and obviously, that is where the money is! So it is officially adieu to the Oppo DVD Player.

(Source) High Definition Digest