My first objection to theatres is noise. People who speak, rattle their popcorn or candy sacks, or forgot to turn off their cell phone.
The large space of a movie theatre is great, but even with all that acoustic treatment, the sound is seldom perfectly balanced. Two weeks ago my son and I saw "Dawn of The Dead" and the left channel was considerably louder than the right. We were not at the first showing so there was no excuse for the calibration being so far off.
Aside from the error in balance, the sound was too loud. I have not viewed a movie in several years that was not too loud and combined with overly bright, gritty distortion in high's, I resort to a layer of Kleenex in each ear.
Recent movies such as "Kill Bill" and "Dawn of the Dead" were both single layer Kleenex movies. The old "Jurassic Park" required full ear plugs and was still uncomfortable in places.
Recently a movie had several scenes where the boom microphone clearly dipped into view. At first I thought this was for effect or a minor slip up but when this happened all during the film it prompted me to ask the management about it. Surprisingly I found that many theatres control the crop with shutters on the projector and if not set properly the audience sees outside the intended area. We were offered an apology and told it would be calibrated. Perhaps yet another reason to watch on the "big screen" at home.
Still, the movie theatre has its attraction. Particularly if you don't want to wait for the DVD release. The really good movies I rent or purchase when they become available and watch again at home.
My own system is a fraction of the distortion, has tighter imaging and steering (ability to switch to correct channel with image) and beautiful bandwidth without harshness. Best of all, I don't play it at levels that damage my hearing.
If you wish to view my system click on the link. My home theatre gear is all tube. My side channels are bi amped and bi wired tube. Dialogue is driven by an Atma-Sphere OTL.
The large space of a movie theatre is great, but even with all that acoustic treatment, the sound is seldom perfectly balanced. Two weeks ago my son and I saw "Dawn of The Dead" and the left channel was considerably louder than the right. We were not at the first showing so there was no excuse for the calibration being so far off.
Aside from the error in balance, the sound was too loud. I have not viewed a movie in several years that was not too loud and combined with overly bright, gritty distortion in high's, I resort to a layer of Kleenex in each ear.
Recent movies such as "Kill Bill" and "Dawn of the Dead" were both single layer Kleenex movies. The old "Jurassic Park" required full ear plugs and was still uncomfortable in places.
Recently a movie had several scenes where the boom microphone clearly dipped into view. At first I thought this was for effect or a minor slip up but when this happened all during the film it prompted me to ask the management about it. Surprisingly I found that many theatres control the crop with shutters on the projector and if not set properly the audience sees outside the intended area. We were offered an apology and told it would be calibrated. Perhaps yet another reason to watch on the "big screen" at home.
Still, the movie theatre has its attraction. Particularly if you don't want to wait for the DVD release. The really good movies I rent or purchase when they become available and watch again at home.
My own system is a fraction of the distortion, has tighter imaging and steering (ability to switch to correct channel with image) and beautiful bandwidth without harshness. Best of all, I don't play it at levels that damage my hearing.
If you wish to view my system click on the link. My home theatre gear is all tube. My side channels are bi amped and bi wired tube. Dialogue is driven by an Atma-Sphere OTL.