When Michael Tarasenco was just thirteen years old, his father cosigned a loan for him to buy his first stereo system.  That stereo weighed in at a whopping three and a half grand, but this was the starting point for Tarasenco’s love of audio.  And this love of audio followed him into his sweet home theater setup.

This grew out of a longing for Tarasenco to consolidate and have an acoustically proper room  in which he could listen to his thirty thousand dollar audio system.

He got a lot of help from friends and family, and as such, built a magnificent home theater setup in his basement.  The components contained in that setup include an Onkyo 7.1 receiver, a Panasonic Blu-ray player, an Oppo upconverting DVD, Paradigm Reference Studio speakers with Polk rear surrounds, a Sanyo projector, a Da-Lite ninety two inch screen, and more.

While it does a bang up job on music, it also puts out a pretty mean movie soundtrack and still pays attention to the pictures.  It’s a sweet home theater setup no matter how you look at it.

Now HERE is an awesome idea, folks–Tom Hetzel, who lives in a townhouse in Cleveland, has neighbors surrounding him in pretty close quarters.

So how’d he beat that?  What he did was he built a room…in his basement.  The “room within a room” concept provides a little extra dead air insulation so that he can have his sweet home theater setup and not bother the neighbors.  He even showed the neighbors the construction process and how the various additions would be largely unnoticeable.

How sweet is this setup, you ask?  Sweet like candy, I’ll tell you that much.  He’s got Acoustic Research speakers, a ninety two inch Draper screen, a Pioneer receiver, a Samsung DVD player and a Sanyo projector.  The Acoustic Research 910s he’s got, for example have two twelve inch woofers, and one liquid cooled titanium tweeter.  They weigh a whopping one hundred forty seven pounds each.

Considering that the neighbors actually approve of this monster setup, you know it’s got to be pretty sweet to pump out that kind of force yet not wake the neighbors…or even the kids.

I’ve been of the opinion for some time now that, barring a massive sea change on the part of movie theaters, there’s no way they can survive.  They’re losing their technical advantage with each passing iteration of home theater equipment and technology.  And frankly, the move to 3-D movies isn’t going to cut it either as home versions are released.

The only real advantage the theaters have any more is having the very newest movies and the amorphous “theater experience”.  Well, they’ll be down one if the MPAA has its way.

The MPAA is lobbying for approval of some kind of as yet undefined mystery gadget that will allow them to send FIRST RUN FILMS directly to your cable box.  The MPAA is convinced that this will put a stop to theater piracy by allowing people to get their hands, for a fee, naturally, on any movie that comes out in a theater anywhere.

On the one hand this is brilliant.  The vast majority of theatrical piracy involves “cams”, or movies stolen via the simple expedient of pointing a camera at the screen and taping it.  That and location will no longer be a factor–movies released “only in New York and LA” will soon be available anywhere that gets cable, and thanks to satellite providers, that’s pretty much anywhere now.

On the other hand this is idiocy.  Who in their right mind will go out, at three dollars a gallon for gas (or more!), drive to a theater, shell out TEN bucks for a ticket, get an eight dollar bucket of popcorn and a drink and watch a movie when they can cut out the drive and slash the cost of the popcorn and drink?  Even IF the theaters charge ten bucks for their pay per view movie service, it’ll still cut the price at least in half.  Who’d go to the theater ever again?  For the “theater experience”?  Spare me.

I personally hope this service emerges, though I doubt it ever will.

In his home theater, that is.  And for Adam Feldman, doctor by day and home theater buff by night, he’s got good reason to stay in–plenty of them.

It took him about six months and forty grand to put together this home theater in his formerly unfinished basement, so when you factor in all the construction costs, he didn’t really shell out a lot of cash.  Finishing a basement costs pretty substantial amounts of cash, so that accounts for a LOT of it.  But what did he get for the rest of it?

He’s got a whole flotilla of B&W speakers in there, as well as a Sharp projector, a Stewart filmscreen, a Pioneer Elite receiver and plenty of acoustically transparent wall fabric to help keep the sound in check.

The doctor pulled off one doozy of an operation, and transplanted a sweet home theater setup whole and breathing in his formerly unfinished basement.

So I just caught this today over at Electronic House Magazine and they were telling me all about BB King’s tour bus.  Yes, BB King.  Yes, he’s STILL touring.  And yes, he’s still got Lucille right by his side.  I personally think that’s awesome myself, but you don’t come here for music news–you come here for home theater news.  And that’s where the two intersect.

It turns out that BB King’s tour bus is literally LOADED with scads of the sweetest hardware, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if half the cost of the bus itself–right around one and a half million dollars–was in A/V hardware.

Check this out:  he’s got four Kaleidoscape players and a Kaliedoscape server, individual iPod decks for each bunk and another one that hooks into the bus’ speaker system, two Integra Blu-ray players, a PS3 and an Xbox 360 (BB King’s a GAMER??  Man, that made my day!  If I found out he plays Guitar Hero I think I’d have an embolism..  He’s also got four DirecTV decks, which is kind of sad as they really should have Dish Network, and, the crowning glory, EIGHT HDTVs.  Eight of them.  Yeah.  Just like The Octopus in The Spirit.

This is just a sweet setup no matter how you slice it.

I would like to remind you all that this is NOT in any way affiliated with the Best Buy Geek Squad.  Even though it’s basically the exact same concept, only as far as I can tell, the Walmart home theater crew doesn’t dress in button down shirts and ties and drive Beetles around.

Anyway, Walmart’s tacked on a special extra service for its customer base–you can have your gear installed.  Everything from TVs and home theater setups to computers, for just an extra charge between a hundred and three hundred forty bucks.  This also includes pre-purchase consultation (just in case you don’t want to just ask the guy at the counter free of charge just what the difference is between this one and that one) and a tutorial on how to use the stuff you just bought once it’s been installed.

So just in case you’re getting started with home theater and want to take advantage of Walmart’s prices, you should be able to find a helping hand here.

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.

You’ve got to hand to Ashok Kimar.  The guy’s a software programmer who’s been enamored with movies most of his life.  And he’s always been fond of the big screen, but he hasn’t had the opportunity to indulge that fondness until recently, when he bought a new house that had an extra room in it that made for a great home theater setup.

So he set out to get what amounts to a few basics in, with a plan to expand later.  To that end, you can see what he’s done–there aren’t any structures for most of his material.  A lot of it is simply sitting out in the open, waiting to be replaced with one part or another. He expresses his overall strategy like this:

“My goal for this home theater was to build my equipment slowly, get small components one by one, and to get the absolute best equipment in the midrange,” says Ashok. “In my opinion, after a certain price point, the law of diminishing returns kicks in, where you get only small improvements in quality for larger increments of money. That was the guiding principle behind all my purchases, from the receiver all the way down to the speaker cable.”

And replace he has.  Check out what he’s put in!  He’s got an Onkyo receiver and speakers, an Optoma projector, an Oppo DVD player and even a couple game systems in there.

It’s a pretty sweet home theater setup, if for no other reason than, in ten years, it’ll probably still be this sweet because he can easily adapt to changing trends.

Okay, so we’re really stretching the definition of “home theater” on this one, but it actually DOES apply if you use the term “theater” in its original sense of stage acting.  And even if it didn’t apply, it would still be entirely too cool to pass up.

Today we’re talking about the Halloween Park Haunted House, in honor of the holiday we just left behind.  I know a good portion of you are probably still sleeping off your nougat coma from two nights ago, so settle in with a cup of tea and check out this spectacular array of theatrical wonderment that’ll blow you away.

This may be the first ever interactive haunted house on the face of the earth.  Sure, we’ve all gone through spook houses and scream parks and whatnot in which you walk around and people in costume jump out of corners and the like, but Halloween Park, thanks to a series of contacts, motion sensors, and a computer system involving eight hundred lines of code, is a wholly different animal.  When you make contact with objects or areas in Halloween Park, there’s a tangible response.  Step somewhere and something jumps out.  Move a book and a hidden door opens.

It’s a positively amazing process that yields a really spooky show, and shows us all exactly the kind of thing we could be doing with OUR home theater setups if we wanted to take that kind of time.

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.

I’m not a hundred percent sure that this is the best option for a home theater seat, but I can see where there’d be some appeal.  I’m just not convinced it’s wide enough appeal to merit a product launch.

See, what this chair does is not only provide a comfortable seat to watch movies or the big game or what have you, but it also provides a little something extra–the ability to recharge your battery-driven hardware while you sit in it.

The Berkline Concert Series recliner offers wireless recharging of all your handheld devices, it creates “an electromagnetic conduit combined with an intelligent control system that constantly monitors power flow so various devices from different manufactures can charge at the same time.”

See, what I can’t help but wonder at this point is, why would you need your battery gear recharged in a home theater chair?  Oh, sure, it’d be GREAT for remotes!  Are you kidding?  Never recharge a remote again?  That’d be amazing!  But to pay plenty more for a chair–I couldn’t find any pricing data on this one–for the ability to keep your remotes permanently hot and ready just seems a bit unnecessary.  I’ve got my Rayovac Renewal charger for a reason.

There’s a whole lot of people out there who crave the “drive in movie experience” of yore.  But Kevin Van wanted it so badly that he built one.  In his backyard.

He bought his first projector for inside the house, and it got him to thinking, why can’t I use this projector outdoors?   But that wasn’t the end of his quest to remake the drive in, no…only the beginning.   Get this–the guy went so far to restore the “drive in movie experience” that he bought and restored nine vintage drive in speakers, paying a hundred and ten bucks for the lot on eBay.

He put a concession area on his screened-in porch to keep the bugs out, and included a commercial-grade popcorn popper, a hot dog steamer, a nacho chip and cheese warmer and even a chili warmer.  He even built his own screen.

But he’s also got a bit of the twenty-first century hooked in as well–a Sharp projector, a Sony Prologic receiver, Pioneer amps (the vintage speakers on eBay?  Pioneers all.) plus some Bose and MTX speakers too.  Speakers are a big part of outdoor theater.

The sheer devotion to the medium definitely earns the appellation of sweet home theater setup, and hopefully, the heartburn from the chili will be mistaken for the warming love of home theater.

So I got hold of a couple day old press release and caught a little something that I haven’t seen anyone else take a run at.  Check this out.

The TheaterSeatStore company has doubled its inventory at its warehouses, possibly anticipating a massive surge in business.  Why, you wonder?  Well, it turns out the answer’s fairly obvious–here’s the word from the company:

“We’re following the growth and expansion of our client base and their demand for expedited shipping on their orders,” said Bruce Tucker, Director and Chief Operating Officer. “By adding additional square footage to house inventory, and expanded loading docks, we have the ability to handle a larger volume of orders daily, and are positioned for significant growth.”

So…they’re expanding, in the midst of a horrible economy, based on previous orders?  That’s a move that just might come back to haunt them.  After all, if the orders suddenly fall off, now they’re left with expansion for nothing.

Of course, thinking like that will guarantee they don’t go anywhere at all, but it might have been a little more prudent to start expanding slightly smaller than doubling.  So keep your eye on these guys–they might be having bargain-basement prices sooner than you think.

David Adey of Newfoundland may well be the poster child for building a home theater in the modular style.  I love the modular style.  I personally espouse it.  And when you consider how he did it, a little bit at a time, he shows exactly why I endorse this style of design.

A little at a time, a new piece here and there, and soon (well, in seven months) he had a home theater system.  And though it sounds like he spent a small fortune on this sweet home theater setup, he actually spent ten thousand dollars.

Now, that SOUNDS like a lot of money.  And objectively, on the surface, yes it is.  But think about this–he didn’t spend ten thousand dollars…he spent three hundred and fifty bucks a week. Every week. For seven months.  And that doesn’t sound nearly as bad.

What did he get for that cash, you ask?  How about a Yamaha receiver, Paradigm speakers, a Sanyo projector and a hundred and four inch projector screen, among others?

It’s a pretty sweet setup, and the fact that he built it a little at a time makes it all the sweeter.

I found this great article over at Tom’s Guide and figured I’d let you guys get in on the fun too.  Check THIS out!

He clearly states that online theft siphons billions of dollars out of the industry, dollars that could have been obtained had those individuals who watched pirated movies went to the theater instead. Without those funds, there’s less money to make movies. Lynton even threw in a few numbers, indicating that top movie studios made 162 films: over 40 less than the number filmed in 2006, and the lowest number in a decade.

So…wait.  The putzes who’ve been shoving crap movies down our throats for years are now amazed to discover that, gasp!, people don’t want to pay huge sums of money to see them??  The hell you say!

Sony clearly has its head lodged in its primary waste port.  One, if you’re actually willing to watch a camcorder copy of a movie, chances are you wouldn’t be going to the movies ANYWAY, so how are pirates REALLY damaging profit margins?  Two, they made the lowest number of movies in a decade, but wasn’t this one of the best years EVER for movies?  Strikes me that they’re making money hand over fist, not losing huge sums to pirates.  Three, does he really expect us to believe that the lion’s share of the money goes to making more movies, as opposed to into, say, his own pocket?

Sony seems to either willfully misunderstand the issues or is just crashingly ignorant.

You know, with the economy the way it’s been for the last several months now and everything, we’ve all considered some ways to make cutbacks.  And first on the chopping block is usually stuff like entertainment.

I’ve been a Dish Network subscriber at various levels for five years this September.  I’ve tried all the packages and sort of settled in where I like it.  Oh, sure, I wish I could have more of an a la carte setup instead of having to stick with the packages they offer, but on the whole, I’ve enjoyed it.

Well, today, I got my bill after a particularly tortuous package shift.  I got a three month trial of HBO and Showtime, and it’s been pretty good.  Not really worth an extra twenty two bucks a month, especially when my Netflix account will pour my choice of movies on me, and never repeat, for about the same amount of cash in a month.  It’s due to expire this weekend.

So what do I find in my bill?  That they’ve CHARGED me for next month.

Needless to say, I was hot.  I called them right up and said, hey, this is a load.  I’m not paying for a free trial.  They explain to me that, because they bill a month in advance, they had to charge the twenty two bucks but would credit it to me on the next month’s bill. If I DIDN’T pay the charge I didn’t owe, they would tack a LATE CHARGE onto the next month’s bill, because I didn’t pay the full amount of the bill, despite the fact I didn’t owe the money.

And I got hotter still.  They expected me to give them an interest-free loan for twenty two bucks for a month.  And if I refused to front them the dough, they were going to CHARGE ME MORE, because I didn’t pay a charge that I didn’t owe in the first place!

But, thanks to the valiant effort of operator DNP, a fella named Jeremy, the charge was taken off my bill completely, override codes were used, and forms were filled out.  Now I don’t owe near what I did.

That’s why I won’t leave Dish Network after all.  These guys are GOOD.

Paradigm, the international leader in speaker design and manufacturing, recently announced its Special Edition product line that boasts the best of both worlds. The limited as well as unique addition to the Paradigm collection includes the SE1, a bookshelf speaker and the SE3, a floorstanding model.

Both of these home theater speakers are outfitted with stylish real wood veneer cabinets. They have soft edges, stat-of-the-art technology, clean lines and compact dimensions. Moreover, the SE line will come with Paradigm’s SuperDrive technology that combines high efficiency with high output and ultra-low distortion. In addition, the SE 1 and SE 3 boast the benefits of an aluminum midrange that eliminates unwanted resonance and distortion.

With a reasonable form factor, both the SE1 and SE3 home theater speakers are ideal for budget conscious customers seeking sophisticated appearance at a competitive price. The SE1 and SE3 are available at an estimated MSRP of $299 and $699, respectively.

When a chef and a drummer decide to set up a home theater in their basement, and the drummer takes care of all the details and watches their young son whilst the chef is at work (just in case you’re wondering, the lady in this scenario is the chef) you can get some pretty amazing things out of it.

Naturally, considering a musician was handling the setup on this one, the biggest point in the entire setup was the audio, and he went sufficiently all out setting up the audio.  In fact, the audio portion of this setup was SO good, that he describes how he was listening to a Radiohead song, and while listening, he heard a bell that he had never heard before.  If you’ve listened to any Radiohead recently, you know how hard it can be to catch one detail like that.

And he’s got plenty of choice components in here too–stuff like a JVC projector, a Stewart filmscreen, and a speaker combination of Triangle and Cambridge SoundWorks speakers.

It’s an amazing setup, made all the more amazing by the fact that he built it while watching his young son.