So What Makes
Home Theater
Seating So Special?
Technology like the ButtKicker or
Bass
Shaker is one of the reasons
You’ve turned your family room into a
multimedia room and put in a great home theater system. It’s
like watching a movie in a theater, except for the lumpy old
couch and worn-out recliners. You need new furniture and you’re
wondering about home theater seating instead of living room
furniture. But you aren’t sure what the difference is. Is a
home theater chair just a recliner with cupholders? Not on your
life, baby. There are two words that describe home theater
seating: luxurious and wired (refer to ButtKicker / Bass Shaker
info below).
Luxury
Home theater chairs are made for luxury. They are available
in a wide range of fabrics, colors and styles. Two favorite
styles are theater-type chairs, complete with folding seats,
and recliners. Some chairs attach to each other so that you can
arrange them in theater-like rows. You can also get love seats,
couches, sectionals and chairs-and-a-half. If the seating
doesn’t recline, there are specially designed ottomans.
Leather is a favorite, and theater seating usually has
lumbar and neck support. You can get chairs that are heated or
cooled and massage chairs. Most have cupholders and many have
other built-in features.
Home theater seating is often custom-designed to maximize
your video experience. Home theater designers place the seats
at optimal video distance. They also map the audio
characteristics of the room, taking into account phase
variances, and place the seats where the sound is best.
Wired
Home theater chairs are often wired for
sound. Honestly, seeing a movie in a theater is inferior
to top-of-the-line home theater. Some chairs are wired
with Dolby Digital sound, so that the sound surrounds each
listener separately.
You can get chairs with wireless bass shakers installed.
These chairs emphasize the low-frequency sounds and vibrations,
so that you feel the sound as well as hear it.
One popular technology is the ButtKicker. We hear sound both
through air and through our bones; we feel the vibrations as
well as hear them. ButtKicker takes advantage of bone
transmission, directing all the sound through your body. Not
only do you feel and hear low-frequency sounds exceptionally
well, but the sound is isolated to you. You can be enjoying a
movie with the sound blasting and the bass full-on, and someone
across the room won’t be asking you to turn the sound down.
You can also get virtual reality home theater chairs that
have motion simulators wired into them. The chairs receive
motion signals that are on DVD’s and other media, and move
accordingly. You could actually get seasick watching The
Perfect Storm, because you feel the boat rocking with the
waves.
When you are looking for chairs online, don’t forget to
check the dimensions of your room and of all the doors the
chair has to go through. Consider having an audio-video
professional install the chairs after they arrive in order to
capture the best sound.
Home theater seating is a luxury, but it really brings your
home entertainment experiences to a new level. You’re not
competing with the theater experience anymore; you’ve surpassed
it. Click here to learn more about adding the Buttkicker to your setup, or click here for info
on HomeTheaterSeating with buit-in bass
shakers .
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