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Home Theater IMAX Experience w/ A Robinson-Youtube

Anyone see this tutorial/educational viedeo series on Youtube? Home Theater writer Andrew Robinson has a series of Youtube videos on the subjects of home theater and IMAX Home Theater, where he discusses his opinions, experiences, and recommendations on home theater, HT theory and design, construction ideas, equipment, IMAX experience, technology, and so forth?
Looking for input on what others think of the series, the expressed opinions and suggestions vs your personal opinions, experiences, and competing advice on doing dedicated home theater?
I do find some of his recommendations interesting, but most of the time he demonstrates and suggests that all of this is, ultimately, "left up to your ideas, choices, and interpretations as what choices you make, equipment options and choices you chose for IMAX type of results"!!! Well I find issue with that, and don't agree with many of his opinions, choices, applications, suggestions, and recommendations, personally! Leads people to just do WHATEVER, and expect their dedicated home theater will be as good as anything, or "close enough" to high performance, IMO.
For example: in the IMAX series, he suggests that, since you can do an "inspired" IMAX system, you can pretty much just chose any type of loud speakers you have laying around the house, and they will work just fine!. Also, you can sit as far back and or as close as you like to the screen, and even forgoes the acoustics, from what I could tell!
Thoughts?...
avgoround

Showing 4 responses by criderfive

criderfive
13 posts
 
I think he does a good job of explaining what he is trying to accomplish. We all know there are certain scientific rules that dictate how we are going to perceive our systems. He is saying we all don't have $2,000,000 to do a Imax theater at home but using a few Imax guidelines we can come to a reasonable fake for short money. In this day and age with the technology we have I agree with him.Like we all know most of us would do a ton of research before setting on such a quest. What gear you would use would be personal preference. The room and other factors are what we have to work with and there would be no way for him to cover all of that in a small youtube series.
criderfive
13 posts
 
The rules are set, acoustics only work how they work, electronics only do what they were designed to do. Not everyone will perceive them the same way in different rooms or environments but they will always only work one way.Opinions are just that, without fact to dictate them they are worthless. That's the problem with this hobby, willful ignorance. Copper can only do so much but many claim they have magic that can transcend it's limitations. Silicon and magnets are barriers that even if you put a outrageous price tag on them will only do what they are supposed to do. I know quality is a factor and controls also but that is just another set of rules.
criderfive
13 posts
 
Zd542, you are correct we will have to agree to disagree and yes audio is very objective.Thank you for the mutual respect.The op has a valid point there are right and wrong ways to do things in the a/v world. Case in point, my father in-law has a 55" led lcd that he insists looks fantastic on the sports setting, every time I'm there I have to re calibrate his set because people are not orange and black is not grey.Now to be fair I do things wrong in my own set up. I have a 120" screen that I sit 12' away from and at times because my siting distance is to close ( the science of how our eyes perceive things at different distances dictates this)on a very busy action scene it can be distracting. I know it's wrong but I like my big screen and 95% of the time it works fine. The men at Dolby laboratory have spent decades figuring how to do surround the right way. They set parameters to follow if you want the best experience. Not to get to philosophical here but there are universal truths and this applies to a/v too. You also asked for evidence of my claim that company's sell magic and call it science, most commonly called snake oil in a/v circles. So here it is, and the site I linked has many great articles on various myths that many call truth with evidence to back it up. http://www.audioholics.com/audio-video-cables/top-ten-signs-an-audio-cable-vendor-is-selling-you-snake-oil
criderfive
13 posts
 
Zd542 I have to thank you again for a honest discussion. That is why I don't post to much. I do see your point of view. Many things can be subjective and go against the grain when it comes to preference. Anyone would be foolish to argue that's not true. I do like doing things the way they are designed to work. It keeps things simple for me but I do push the boundaries my self from time to time, sometimes out of necessity sometimes just to see if it improves my overall a/v experience.I think that was the whole point of Andrew Robinson's general statements. We all know what is right and what defines a IMAX theater but play around have a good time and do what works for you. Many of us including myself loose sight of this from time to time and some never get it at all. I think all the arguing hurts this hobbie more than any false claim made by manufactures. Newbies enter a site like this and read forums get confused and aggravated at all the different opinions and just say why bother life is complicated enough, I just wanted advice on how to set up a stereo or home theater that I can enjoy. Anyway good discussion.
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