So you’ve finally ponied up the money for that big, flat screen HDTV, invested in a surround sound speaker system, and amassed a solid collection of Blu-rays on your shelf — but at what point do you go from being a casual home theater owner to a full-blown, unashamedly proud audiovisual geek? You see, true home theater enthusiasm is about more than just the gear. It’s about an entire frame of mind, complete with a few key quirks, habits, and obsessions. If you’re unsure whether or not you fit the bill, here’s a handy list of 5 major signs that you should look out for.

1. You Have a “Sweet Spot”

Once thought to be only a myth, this term refers to the specific seat in your home theater room where the speakers perfectly align and the TV is perfectly centered. This miraculous spot gives the lucky individual who inhabits it the absolute best listening and viewing position, enhancing the full surround sound experience while eliminating any potential off-angle flaws in your HD display.

If you have one of these sweet spots, and find yourself racing over to seize it like a rabid animal claiming its territory whenever company comes over — then you’re already well on your way to true A/V obsession! Note to girlfriends, boyfriends, wives, and husbands: if your significant other is willing to give up their sweet spot for you, then it really is true love.

2. You Measured Angles

Going along with sign #1, properly setting up a home theater system requires a great level of precision when it comes to speaker placement. Various guidelines call for exact angles, heights, and distances between the speakers and primary listening position, which necessitates tools that go far beyond mere “eye-balling” it.

Basically, if you used any kind of chart, diagram, ruler, protractor, complicated algorithm, mounted laser beam, specially programmed robot, or ancient mystical incantation to help perfectly align your audio equipment, then I think it’s safe to say that you’re a real enthusiast… and possibly a super villain. Now God help anyone who accidentally bumps into something.

3. Light Has Become Your Enemy

It turns out that vampires aren’t the only creatures with a natural aversion to sunlight. In order to mimic the true theater experience, the best way to watch movies is in a completely dark environment. Not only does the lack of light help to immerse the audience in the film, but many TVs are prone to troublesome glare that can make daytime watching a nightmare.

To alleviate this problem, true home theater enthusiasts will go to any lengths to help cut down the light. From installing black-out drapes to enacting diabolical plots to permanently snuff out the sun, there is no real right or wrong strategy as long as it gets the job done. After all, an eternal globe-spanning ice age is but a small price to pay for the perfect movie watching environment. Those with the space and cash can even invest in a dedicated light-proof home theater area, creating the only situation where it’s socially acceptable to trap your guests in a dark, windowless room.

4. You’ve Invested in ISF Calibration

If those initials don’t mean anything to you, then you haven’t quite crossed the barrier into true home theater passion. The Imaging Science Foundation has developed a standardized system to properly calibrate video displays, ensuring the most accurate picture possible through the use of specifically designed test patterns and equipment. Without proper ISF calibration, many home theater owners can gradually grow suspicious of their displays, leading to paranoia and insecurity.

While manufacturer settings often feature high contrast, exaggerated sharpness, and impossibly vibrant colors, all that flash is really nothing more than an eye-straining lie! And since you’ve already bought and committed to your TV, who exactly is your display trying to doll itself up for with that “Vivid” setting anyway?! The first step toward any long lasting relationship is always trust, and until one can fully trust their TV’s picture settings, you might as well be strangers. Real home theater lovers realize this, and choose to alleviate any concerns through ISF calibration. It’s the only way to rest easy at night.

5. You Have Movie Watching Rules… and Consequences

Taking the home theater experience to the final level requires employing the same rules that any actual professional theater chain would — namely no talking or texting during the show. While the casual movie watcher might enjoy a laid back discussion during a film, for the A/V enthusiast, silence and full attention are non-negotiable stipulations.

Some might even go so far as to monitor their home audience like an amateur usher, escorting guests out who don’t follow the rules. In other words, you talk or text during the film — no movie for you!

So, there you have it. If you fit all of the criteria above, congratulations and welcome to the club! You are now officially a home theater enthusiast. If you haven’t experienced all five signs yet, then just give it some time, I’m sure you’ll come around. We’ll be waiting…

5 Signs That You’ve Become a True Home Theater Enthusiast

If you know someone that hasn’t upgraded to a television with streaming apps or simply wants to upgrade an existing “dumb” television in their home, there are a ton of streaming media players that will get the job done.

In addition, there are a massive number of streaming media options available this year, with more coming next year. Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, etc…  If you want to stream everything, here are the best home theater, streaming media players for 2019:

Best Overall Option for Dolby Vision & HDR10+: Fire TV Cube

If you know someone that’s upgraded to a high end television that supports new formatting like Dolby Vision & HDR10+, Amazon’s new Fire Tv Cube (2019 model, MSRP $119) is your best bet. Utilizing a hexa-core processor (up to 2.2GHz), you can easily stream 4K content in Dolby Vision and HDR, HDR10+. There’s also support for the Dolby Atmos sound format on select titles on Netflix and Amazon.

Other cool features include the Alexa voice assistant, 16GB of storage, 802.11ac dual-band MIMO Wi-Fi, Ethernet support for hard wired connections and Bluetooth 5.0 support (longer range). The upgraded internals make is significantly faster than the previous model as well as faster than streaming stick options. If you are looking for a cheaper option, check out the Roku Ultra (which has equally snappy performance, but no Dolby Vision support; MSRP $99).

Check Price on Amazon

Best Option for Casting via Smartphone: Chromecast Ultra

If you know someone that lives their life with a smartphone in their face, consider getting a Chromecast Ultra so they can cast their streaming video from their phone to the television. The Ultra is 4K capable and includes support for HDR10 and Dolby vision. It also works with Google home, ideal for streaming content by voice commands.

If you don’t need 4K playback, consider the regular Google Chromecast. It provides an identical feature set, but limits resolution to 1080p at 60 frames per second. It’s half the price of the Ultra model and can be found as cheap as $20 on Black Friday.

Check Price on Amazon

Best Option for Tight Budgets: Roku Streaming Stick+

Definitely an awesome stocking stuffer, the Roku Streaming Stick is one of the better buys for overall quality and usability. I’ve tried all the smart user interfaces and Roku is always a step above the rest, which is why companies like TCL have adopted the Roku interface for their smart interface.

The Streaming Stick+ starts at $50, but Black Friday sales will drop it to $30 (page 5 of the Target Ad). It has a very small footprint (plugs into a HDMI port) and is extremely snappy. It supports 4K playback as well as HDR10 and Dolby Atmos. It also works with both Alexa and Google Assistant for voice control.  FYI, there are also even cheaper Roku options (probably in the $20 range on Black Friday) is you don’t need 4K playback.

Check Price on Amazon

Best Option for Apple Fanatics: Apple TV 4K

One of the priciest options on the list, the Apple TV 4K is ideal for anyone that’s invested a considerable amount of money in the Apple ecosystem of products (iPhone, iPad) and digital media (iTunes). Sold at $180 for the 32GB model and $200 for the 64GB, the device offers 4K resolution, Dolby Vision / HDR10 support and Dolby Atmos functionality.

It allows users to access Siri for voice control and does include an Ethernet port for those who prefer a hardwired connection. Like many other Apple products, don’t expect a huge sale on the Apple TV 4K during Black Friday sales. It may fall to the $150 range for new models and $130 for refurbished models.

Check Price on Amazon

Best (Two) Options for Gamers

If you know someone into video games, getting them a new gaming console will offer them access to awesome games as well as streaming video applications. There are two standout options:

• The Console Gamer: Get the Xbox One S. Significantly cheaper than the PS4 Pro, the Xbox One S can handle 4K streaming as well as offer playback of Ultra HD discs. You can find plenty of $200 Xbox One S bundles during November as well as a $150 Xbox On S digital console (if you only want 4K streaming, no disc playback). The Xbox One S supports Dolby Vision, HDR10, Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.
• The PC Gamer: Get the Nvidia Shield TV Pro. Offering access to any streaming app that’s on the Google Play store, the Sheild Tv Pro offers a really snappy performance with the new Tegra X1+ processor as well as access to over 200 games on Android TV. The 2019 model supports Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and Dolby TrueHD with Atmos via Plex.  But one of the biggest selling points of the Shield is the ability to stream games from your PC to your television; ideal for anyone with a huge PC gaming library.

Check Price on Xbox One S / Check Price on Nvidia Shield Pro

Check Ben’s for the latest streaming media player deals

2019 Gift Guide: The Best Streaming Media Players

Both Amazon and Roku have added to a relatively new product category this week, soundbars with a built-in user interface to access smart TV functions for streaming video. This product is likely marketed at consumers with older “dumb” televisions or perhaps users with older generation smart TVs / streaming devices & want to upgrade to faster interfaces.

The Amazon Nebula is seen above, yet another speaker for the home that will act as an Echo device. It offers the Fire TV interface for streaming (identical to Fire TV stick or cube), 100W of sound, 4K HDR support and Alexa support. It’s going to be released on November 21, 2019 and the retail price is $229.99. Expect to see a Black Friday discount at debut, likely between $50 to $100.

The Roku Smart Soundbar (seen above) debuts at a MSRP that’s already $50 less than the Nebula, $179.99. Roku expects to ship it a month earlier as well, around October 13, 2019. It will include the smart TV interface used by standalone Roku devices as well as TCL televisions. It also offers 4K HDR support as well as voice support via Google Assistant. Expect to see deals shaving $20 to $30 off the MSRP as we move into November 2019.

Here’s how the two soundbars compare:

[table caption=”” width=”620″ colwidth=”50|25|25″ colalign=”center|center|center”]
Features,Amazon Nebula,Roku Smart Soundbar

4K Streaming,Yes,Yes

HDR10 Support,Yes,Yes

Dolby Vision Support,Yes,No

Dolby Audio,Yes,Yes

Bluetooth Streaming,Yes,Yes

Smart TV Interface,Fire TV,Roku TV

Voice Support,Alexa,Google Assistant

Speakers,2x 1.5″ Full / 2x 3″ Subwoofers,Four 2.5″ Full

Connections,HDMI ARC/Optical/AUX 3.5mm/USB-A,HDMI ARC/Optical/USB 2.0

[/table]

While Amazon is attempting to include a bass-like experience with the 3″ speakers, Roku is releasing a companion subwoofer with their soundbar. Completely wireless, the Roku subwoofer offers a 10-inch driver and can be placed up to 30 feet from your television. Hypothetically, you could also pair it with wireless speaker sets and use the soundbar as a center channel in a 5.1 setup.

Of course, you can always save even more money by purchasing a $100 soundbar without smart TV functionality and snag a streaming stick when the devices go on sale around the $20 to $25 range. This Vizio soundbar with sub is a popular option when it falls to a sub-$100 sale price, typically during November / December. The Fire TV stick dropped to $25 during November 2018. The Roku streaming stick dropped in price significantly as well.

You can find the most recent deals on smart televisions, streaming devices, soundbars and other home theater products in our electronics deal feed on Ben’s Bargains.

Amazon, Roku debut soundbars with Smart TV, Roku has the best deal

Looking to help someone upgrade their personal home theater this year? One of the nice things about having a personal home theater is getting the surround sound benefits of a real theater without having to put up with the annoying sounds of people talking on their cell phones, babies and young children making noise or chatterboxes commenting about everything that’s happening on the screen. Check out our picks from some of the best home theater tech that would make great gifts this year.

Buy This Gift for Someone Who Wants Streaming 4K Video

Definitely a solid upgrade for anyone with an older streaming set-top box like the early Roku boxes or an Apple TV, the Roku Ultra is one of the top set-top boxes to access applications like Netflix, Hulu Plus, VUDU and Amazon Instant Video. Able to stream 4K Ultra HD video, other features of the Roku Ultra include HDR capability, a remote control finder, headphone jack in remote, universal search across all apps and 802.11ac dual-band MIMO Wi-Fi connectivity.

MSRP: $100 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $70

Check Price on Amazon

Buy This Gift for Someone Who Wants Dolby Atmos / DTS:X Audio

Ideal for someone with speaker already, the Onkyo TX-NR686 5.2.2-channel Network A/V Receiver will bump up a home theater into the 4K world. Including decoding for the newest audio formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, this receiver supports both HDCP 2.2 and HDMI 2.0 as well as HDR10 and Dolby Vision. It also includes built-in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Airplay for streaming music from services like Pandora and Spotify.

MSRP: $449 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: n/a

Check Price on Amazon

Buy This Gift for Someone Who Hates Their Cable Box

While cable companies are catching up slowly, TiVo is still a superior company when it comes to user interface and the quality of the software on DVR boxes. Enter the TiVo Bolt Vox, a killer DVR box that offers 4K Ultra HD recording and a commercial break skip option that will zip you through your favorite shows. The base model of the Bolt can record 4 shows at once with a 500 GB recording capacity (75 Hours).

MSRP: $169 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: n/a

Check Price on Amazon

Buy This Gift for Someone Who Needs to Protect their Home Theater

It’s surprising how often people purchase expensive televisions and home theater systems, but neglect to protect their investment with a powerful surge protector. While Monster has actually produced a decent line of these devices, we are partial to the Tripp Lite HT10DBS surge protector. This hardcore surge protector provides 3840 joules of total protection and includes connections for coaxial cable, the home phone line and the high speed Internet line.

MSRP: $139 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $48

Check Price on Amazon

Buy This Gift to Upgrade Audio in a Bedroom / Office / Apartment

Using a full home theater setup with a large 12-inch subwoofer is not ideal for small rooms or apartments. It’s tough to fit tons of large speakers into a small area and can rattle your neighbors if living in a multi-unit apartment. That’s where the Yamaha YAS-108 Sound Bar with built-in subs comes in. This 35-inch soundbar provides a much higher quality of audio than speakers built into a television while keeping the volume tolerable for small or shared spaces.

MSRP: $199| Lowest Price on Ben’s: $150

Check Price on Amazon

Buy This Gift for Someone Who Isn’t Happy with a “Small” 70-inch HDTV

Definitely a great gift for someone with a room in their home dedicated to a home theater, the Optoma UHD50 projector offers 4K playback as well as HDR10 playback. Providing 2,400 lumens of total brightness, you can easily project a 140-inch image from 16 feet away. The projector includes two HDMI inputs if connecting a secondary video source like a gaming console.

MSRP: $1,499 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $999

Check Price on Amazon

Buy This Gift for Someone Who Already Has an A/V Receiver

Ideal for someone setting up their first 7.1 system, the Onkyo SKS-HT993THX 7.1 Ch. THX speaker system is an extremely well-reviewed speaker package that includes a solid 130-watt rating per speaker and a 125-watt, 12-inch subwoofer. The speakers have a fairly small footprint compared to large, floorstanding models and are ideal for content with significant directional audio effects such as action movies or video games.

MSRP: $799 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $599

Check Price on Amazon

Buy This Gift for Someone Who Hates Having Seven Remote Controls

While the Harmony Elite is getting great reviews, we actually recommend going with a previous generation model due to the high $300+ price tags of the new Harmony models. Check out the Harmony Touch Universal Remote (with color touchscreen) at a $100 sale price ($200 MSRP) or the Logitech Harmony Home at a $75 sale price ($150 MSRP). Both will give you significant control over the remotes currently lost in your couch cushions.

MSRP: $249 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $60

Check Price on Amazon

Upgrade That Home Theater: Eight Great Gift Ideas for 2018

Looking to help someone upgrade their personal home theater this year? One of the nice things about having a personal home theater is getting the surround sound benefits of a real theater without having to put up with the annoying sounds of people talking on their cell phones, babies and young children making noise or chatterboxes commenting about everything that’s happening on the screen. Check out our picks from some of the best home theater tech that would make great gifts this year.

Buy This Gift for Someone Who Wants Streaming 4K Video

Definitely a solid upgrade for anyone with an older streaming set-top box like the early Roku boxes or an Apple TV, the Roku 4 (reviewed here) is one of the top set-top boxes to access applications like Netflix, Hulu Plus, VUDU and Amazon Instant Video. Able to stream 4K Ultra HD video at 60 frames per second, other features of the Roku 4 include a remote control finder, universal search across all apps and 802.11ac MIMO Wi-Fi connectivity. (The new 4K Amazon Fire TV at $99 is also available, but we DO NOT recommend it.)

MSRP: $129 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: n/a

Check Amazon for Roku 4

Buy This Gift for Someone Who Wants Dolby Atmos / DTS:X Audio

Ideal for someone with speaker already, the Onkyo TX-NR646 7.2-Channel Network A/V Receiver will bump up a home theater into the 4K world. Including decoding for the newest audio formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, this receiver supports both the HDCP 2.2 and HDMI 2.0, both requirements for HDMI transfers from modern Ultra HD televisions. It also includes built-in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Airplay for streaming music from services like Pandora and Spotify.

MSRP: $699 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: n/a

Check Price on Amazon

Buy This Gift for Someone Who Hates Their Cable Box

While cable companies are catching up slowly, TiVo is still a superior company when it comes to user interface and the quality of the software on DVR boxes. Enter the TiVo Bolt, a killer DVR box that offers 4K Ultra HD recording and a commercial break skip option that will zip you through your favorite show. The base model of the Bolt can record 4 shows at once with a 500 GB recording capacity.

MSRP: $299 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: n/a

Check Price on Amazon

Buy This Gift for Someone Who Needs to Protect their Home Theater

It’s surprising how often people purchase expensive televisions and home theater systems, but neglect to protect their investment with a powerful surge protector. While Monster has actually produced a decent line of these devices, we are partial to the Tripp Lite HT10DBS surge protector. This hardcore surge protector provides 3840 joules of total protection and includes connections for coaxial cable, the home phone line and the high speed Internet line.

MSRP: $139 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $48

Check Amazon for Tripp Lite surge protector

Buy This Gift to Upgrade Audio in a Bedroom / Office / Apartment

Using a full home theater setup with a large 12-inch subwoofer is not ideal for small rooms or apartments. It’s tough to fit tons of large speakers into a small area and can rattle your neighbors if living in a multi-unit apartment. That’s where the Yamaha ATS-1030 soundbar comes in. This 35-inch soundbar provides a much higher quality of audio than speakers built into a television while keeping the volume tolerable for small or shared spaces.

MSRP: $249 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $150

Check Price on Amazon

Buy This Gift for Someone Who Isn’t Happy with a “Small” 60-inch HDTV

Definitely a great gift for someone with a room in their home dedicated to a home theater, the Optoma HD28DSE projector offers 1080p playback as well as 3D playback for those who like to wear the glasses. Providing 3,000 lumens of total brightness, you can easily project a 107-inch image from 12 feet away. The lamp life is rated up to around 4,000 hours depending on brightness levels, and the projector includes two HDMI inputs if connecting a secondary video source like a gaming console.

MSRP: $799 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: n/a

Check Price on Amazon

Buy This Gift for Someone Who Already Has an A/V Receiver

Ideal for someone setting up their first 7.1 system, the Onkyo SKS-HT540 7.1 Channel speaker system is an extremely well-reviewed speaker package that includes a solid 130-watt rating per speaker and a powerful 230-watt, 10-inch subwoofer. The speakers have a fairly small footprint compared to large, floorstanding models and are ideal for content with significant directional audio effects such as action movies or video games.

MSRP: $349 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $150

Check Price on Amazon

Buy This Gift for Someone Who Hates Having Seven Remote Controls

While the Harmony Elite is getting great reviews, we actually recommend going with a previous generation model due to the high $300+ price tags of the new Harmony models. Check out the Harmony Touch Universal Remote (with color touchscreen) at a $100 sale price ($200 MSRP) or the Logitech Harmony Home at a $75 sale price ($150 MSRP). Both will give you significant control over the remotes currently lost in your couch cushions.

MSRP: $199 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $100

Search Ben’s for Harmony Remotes

Upgrade That Home Theater: Eight Great Gift Ideas for 2015

Moving into a small dorm room doesn’t necessarily mean you have to sacrifice watching movies or playing video games in a home theater environment. We have put together some great back-to-school options for home theater gear that will fit into a dorm room and still provide a quality experience for entertainment when you’re de-stressing from classes as well as privacy options when it’s time to study.

Save on Space with a Flat Screen

If you’re sending junior off to college, forcing them to take along that old SD television that weighs more than a pallet of bricks is simply a bad idea. Dorm room space is limited, and that bulky television simply doesn’t help the situation. The sweet spot for a dorm room television is probably 32 to 39 inches in size. Anything larger than that will likely require an agreement between roommates to stack furniture to make space for the television on a stand or mounted on the wall. However, they will likely be between 4 to 7 feet away from the television, thus a smaller size is better.

When shopping for a television, look for a model that’s 1080p, has multiple HDMI inputs and a direct LED backlight. If you are looking to save money, go for a 60Hz television over a 120Hz and skip features like smart applications or 3D playback. You can get all of those smart apps for streaming video in cheaper options like gaming consoles or media players. Quality name brands include Samsung, Vizio, Sharp, Sony, LG and Panasonic. Price target for a 32-inch should be $250 to $300 and 39-inch should be $300 to $375. Black Friday also yields greater deals, if your college student doesn’t mind waiting a few months.

Check Ben’s for 32-inch to 39-inch HDTV Deals

But What About the Audio?

While a dorm room is small and ideal for positioning speakers, space is still an issue. The total volume can also be a problem for neighbors within the dorm. A home-theater-in-a-box solution may be fun, but it’s also going to have the resident assistant banging on the door to turn down the volume.

To solve the space and volume issues, take a look at soundbars. Mounted underneath the television, a soundbar provides simulated surround sound for movies and significantly improved stereo sound for watching regular television. It may also come with a small subwoofer that adds just enough bass for impact, but won’t disturb your neighbors too much. Soundbars often wildly vary in price based on the brand and output wattage. However, you can find deals in the $150 to $300 range for a brand name product like Yamaha. You can do with a less expensive model, but be sure to read reviews (on Amazon and other sites) on the available features and quality of the sound.

Check Ben’s for Soundbar Deals

Steaming Video is the Future

If your college student already has a gaming console, they will already be able to access lots of streaming video services like Netflix Instant, Hulu Plus and Amazon Video on Demand. However, if they aren’t into gaming, you should look into purchasing an inexpensive media player for them.

There’s no contest in this category: the Roku 3 is the obvious choice. It launches content significantly faster than anything on the market, including all current gaming consoles. It’s extremely user friendly and the interface is speedy, responsive and well laid out. You can read our full review here (9 out of 10) if you would like more information about the handy media player. Look for deals on the Roku 3 in the $85 to $90 range. By the way, you may see cheaper deals for the Roku 2 XS, but the upgrade to the Roku 3 is definitely worth the additional cost due to the increased speed of the device. The Roku 3 remote also includes a headphone jack for increased privacy.

Check Ben’s for Roku 3 Deals

But Don’t Forget About Redbox

While physical discs are slowly losing the battle to streaming video services these days, Blu-ray is still a fantastic way to watch a film in glorious 1080p and listen in 7.1 surround sound. Redbox is a particularly good deal for college students since the price of rentals is cheaper than any traditional movie rental store. A Netflix subscription is also an inexpensive option for renting Blu-ray discs.

However, you are going to need a Blu-ray player to take advantage of this. Once again, if you already have a PlayStation 3 or are planning to purchase one of the new gaming consoles in November, don’t worry about purchasing a standalone player. However, if you own a Xbox 360 or simply aren’t into gaming, you should be able to find a decent Blu-ray player in the $40 to $80 range.

Check Ben’s for Blu-ray Player Deals

The Best Solution for Study Time

There’s nothing worse than a roommate who refuses to turn down the sound of the television when it’s time to study. It’s also a pain to keep the television off when the dorm has specific quiet hours. This is where a quality set of headphones is perfect for the dorm room for those situations.

If your student is really into surround sound and gaming, look into the Logitech Wireless Gaming Headset G930. It’s somewhat pricey at $100ish, but the headphones are wireless, offer simulated 7.1 surround sound and include a microphone for multiplayer gaming. The Plantronics GameCom 780 is another great 7.1 solution (and less expensive). If you want to save some money, 5.1 options are less expensive and you can forgo the microphone to reduce the cost, as well. If you do purchase a wired set, make sure the cord is a minimum of 10 feet long to stretch across the length of the room.

Check Ben’s for Surround Sound Headphone Deals

Excellent Home Theater Equipment for Dorm Life