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
home theater seating
with buit-in bass shakers.
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