Want a home theatre of your very own? Kate Haycock explains what goes into a home theatre and how to find the professionals to help you create the cinema of your dreams.
Home entertainment is booming. In 2005, Australians spent $440 million on plasma televisions, with over 65,000 plasma TVs being bought and sold in the last quarter of the year. Sales of DVD recorders also grew by over 19 percent from the previous year. (Figures from the Canon Digital Lifestyle Index).
Meanwhile, cinema attendance in Australia is slowly declining, with the Australian Film Commission reporting that cinema attendance in the general population was down three percent since 2001. Clearly, more of us are enjoying movies in our own homes, via the convenience of DVD, widescreen TVs, and surround sound systems.
?Yes, there has been a huge growth in home entertainment,? says Michael Staindl, from custom installation company Smart Systems in Melbourne. ?People are making more use of their homes, and going out less. Prices for technology have come down. Now it?s feasible, with the technology we?ve got, to do so much more than we used to be able to.?
