The home theater world doesn’t much like the audiophile world and the audiophile community has always held a grudge against the videophiles. And all of that is still in that the two hobbies have so much in common. A good home theater needs good audiophile floorstanding speakers. Audiophile systems need powerful subwoofers which are called LFEs in the home theater space.
Audiophile Source Components in Home Theater Systems
Today, it isn’t uncommon for a home theater system to have an audiophile turntable- Many of today’s AV receivers also come with a modest phono preamp that can boost the low-level signal from a turntable loud enough to make some pretty dynamic sound.
- Most home theater systems run off of streaming devices but one of them can be an audiophile end point like a BlueSound Node, Rune, Sonos etc… In the home theater world, it isn’t uncommon to see Sonos as a source component and it turns out that they work well in the audiophile space too.
- Silver disc players are still alive and well in the audiophile and home theater space. In the home theater space, you might see a Universal Disc Player like the Marantz SACD 30n that plays everything from a Compact Disc to an Ultra-HD Blu-ray disc. In audiophile systems, you will see more dedication to Compact Disc players and transports paired with Digital To Analog converters.
Audiophile Electronics in a Home Theater System
- It isn’t impossible to get an audiophile stereo preamp into a home theater as many home theater based AV have a “pass through” which allows you to keep your audiophile system in its own loop while using your home theaters AV preamp for surround sound, HDMI switching etc.
- Speaking of HDMI switching, only just recently have companies started to put HDMI inputs into audiophile stereo preamps. The cost of licensing HDMI is costly but when a company like NAD (and their C 3050) or say Classe Audio does it – they do it with the bulk buying power of a big conglomerate who also sells home theater products. More companies like Lyngdorf Audio are doing it but not nearly enough audiophile companies offer HDMI inputs thus off-putting more mainstream technology people versus more snobby audiophile ways.
- Audiophile amplifiers make a home theater system just that much better. Be it a Class-A design or a GaN (gallium Nitride) or a more traditional “switching” or Class-D amp or even a traditional Class AB amp – there are huge benefits to using audiophile amplifiers in a home theater system.
Audiophile Speakers in a Home Theater System
- Audiophile floorstanding speakers are excellent and as the front of a home theater they can bring fantastic sound to a home theater system be it 5.1, 7.1 or even object-based surround sound of say 13.1.1.
- Audiophile bookshelf speakers are excellent for use for read, side and/or height channels. While audiophiles use these smaller format speakers for their imaging and often match them with a subwoofer, home theater enthusiasts often benefit in large configuration surround sound systems when using smaller speakers that can really shine sonically.
- Audiophile fight subwoofers but home theater enthusiasts don’t. Using one or more audiophile grade subwoofers is an excellent way to get the deep bass (think: far lower than a kick drum, a bass guitar etc…) into your life.
Why Do Audiophiles Hate Television Sets?
This is one of the most stupid concepts in the audiophile world. In the late 1960s and well into the 1970s, music was at its creative best. Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, AC-DC – the list is infinite. Today, music isn’t quite the same but television is simply excellent in recent years. The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, Billions, Succession – today’s TV is simply unreal. The video quality from an under-$100 is often at 4K levels. Documentaries like the one on the Harlem Music Festival (black Woodstock) on Hulu or food porn like Chef’s Table come in 4K resolution.
Don’t tell me that you don’t want this content in your system versus worrying about any kind of reflections from a TV in your music room. That’s just lame. Watching the best TV with your loved ones through your audiophile system is a very worthwhile way to make an audiophile system even more valuable.