Blog
Summer Blockbusters Come To Life
In The Comfort of Your Home
The Summer Blockbuster tradition in cinemas is back and bigger than ever. Between the seemingly endless permutations of the Stan Lee/MARVEL Comics characters (in Avengers Infinity War they couldn’t decide which ones to feature so they apparently dumped the sum total of every super hero ever created into one film; chaos ensues predictably), Star Wars latest, Black Panther from last Spring, there’s something fun for everyone. Eye candy? Yes, but as importantly, Ear Candy. Because all those special effects rely upon floor shaking output levels to sell the scene, nothing has a bigger role in creating that sound than bass. At no time in the history of movie making has the subwoofer taken on such a critical role.
Which partly explains why we chose to launch our new high performance range of Home Theater-centric subwoofers in the summertime. Like a movie blockbuster, make a range of theater subs profoundly impactful, larger-than-life and affordable and people will flock to them. Hence the extreme affordability and ease of use of our HT Home Theater range.
It was important to us that the new Home Theater models be conventionally simple to use and don’t require our High Level Connection method. Why? Because for HT to reach its target audience, being simple and conventionally connected is critical. Does REL’s classic High Level connection offer several performance advantages over the RCA cable? Yes, but classic RELs require a deeper level of understanding of system design and there are many for whom an exciting home theater is all they want and need, hence the hundreds of thousands of simple receiver-based home theaters sold every year. For these systems, HT is such an obvious win—it’s just like all the others, but better.
It Simply Sounds Better on a Quality Home Theater: Let’s talk about one obvious benefit to making your home theater the getaway for your family (and likely your kids friends too). Scooping up the blu rays as they come out, whether via RedBox or by actually purchasing them means being able to watch them in the comfort of your home. Based on extensive scouting of the Bay Area—an area rich in quality theaters, ones that have been rumored to be specially outfitted for the likes of George Lucas who has a habit of turning up at that theater to check out both crowd reaction and to experience his movie in a real public theater. Even so, the sound we routinely create with relatively modest equipment at home is infinitely better quality than what we hear in public theaters. At $15/ticket for a family of four (£12-15), it adds up fast. Our family works hard to keep the average visit to a megaplex down to $80-100/movie (around £70). That doesn’t take many movies to justify transforming an average theater into something extraordinary by adding an HT/1205 or HT/1003 into the mix; around half a dozen theater visits covers the cost.
And then there is this: Last week, I took my son to see Tag, the movie about a circle of now-adult friends who have been playing a game of Tag for over 30 years. We got there late and the best available seats were up front in the first 6 rows. No problem, we’re flexible. As we sat down to enjoy the previews, the family behind starts up with a stream of loud vocal commentary that never stopped throughout the movie. Two minutes later, as the movie starts, I hear a thump to my left and turning my head, realize that the Dad’s size 13 shoes have been deposited over the seatback of the seat next to me..
Enjoy the summer, try to stay out of the heat. Enjoy movies, they’re a hugely enjoyable form of entertainment. Go to theaters, or stay home and enjoy not having to leave, it’s all good entertainment. At home, realize that it’s not a theater until you employ a great subwoofer. For less than you might think, upgrading to our new HT’s can dramatically upgrade your theater. Then sit back and enjoy fresh popcorn made exactly the way you like it, and revel in the fact that no stranger’s size 13 shoes are parked next to your head.