The State of Home Theatre - Looking back at the second decade and moving on to the next decade

When we first began the noughties (90s), most homes had stereo setups, with a stack of equipment, and a pair of speakers.

Then came the 2000s, and by then, home theatre was firmly established, with owners moving from analogue bases setups that used Dolby Surround, to Dolby Digital. LDs, VCDs and even DVDs were becoming replaced by Blu Ray discs and the advent of lossless sound. We went from two speakers to five plus a subwoofer, then seven, and by the middle of the last decade, we already had some forms of three dimensional sound, with setups using up to 11 speakers, but these were largely in the same horizontal plane.

Somewhere in the middle of last decade, Atmos and DTS-X, and Auro introduced us to a new enveloping sound, which involved height as well as side or rear surrounds. We demoed new ways of sound transition, with rainfall from above, jets flying not only past us on the side but from on top too. 

There has been some consolidation of the market, with Auro largely relegated to a handful of titles, and even DTS-X has been the preserve of only a few select titles. Atmos was not only available on discs, but via streaming.

And that has been the new buzz word: streaming...



For decades, playback of either audio or visual content involved some kind of media, from cassettes to discs, you had a play with a receptacle for the media, and even in the last decade, we had slots for SD cards, but with the improvements in broadband, compression of media and new surround codecs which allowed Atmos and 4k media to be played back, we soon saw the introduction of numerous streaming sites, such as Netflix, and it's competitors like Amazon, Apple TV and many more.

On the video front, we have seen screens grow, and whilst homes continue to shrink, the cost of screens has decreased such that owning a 50" TV or larger is no longer the preserve of rich people. We have also gone from Full High Definition to 4k and the power of streaming has extended to this, and the quality of online media is quite impressive. Dolby Vision is the forefront of High Dynamic Range picture quality.  HDR has become standard on most 4k TVs, but HDR 10 and Dolby Vision are supported by rival companies and the battle is still on.

Another trend has been the growth of the soundbar. As homes become smaller, the WAF or Wife Acceptance Factor is becoming more important and more home theatre setups are done in the living room, where the wife rules. This means less room for cabling and hence the need for wireless solutions and the reduction of speakers. That has also seen a corresponding decline in the number of enthusiasts who boast of multiple speaker setups. Instead they now rely on the soundbar to give them their HT kicks. The other reason for the growth of the soundbar has been the diminishing thickness of the TV set. With less room for speakers, the quality of sound reproduction from the TV speakers has been getting poorer, and listeners are straining to hear the dialogue amidst the cacophony of explosions and here is where the soundbar can help.

However we also see some higher end models boast of Atmos, but the entire experience is highly reliant on the quality of reflective surfaces, with the most walls and symmetrical rooms giving the best surround experience. 

Some models rely solely on wireless sound playback, which is usually inferior, with the more basic ones only using Bluetooth and it severely limits the quality of the home theatre experience, but users at the lower end of the spectrum do not seem to mind too much.

That has seen the death knell of a few brands as the multi-speaker setups have been relegated to the enthusiast instead of being a staple in every new household. Subwoofers have gotten smaller, and are now wireless with a mid bass punch being all they can managed.

However it has not been all doom and gloom. Vinyl has seen a resurgence. High quality streaming and good quality music which can be downloaded has also seen more people enter stereo music. The quantity of sale still pales in comparison to the number of Bluetooth or wireless solutions as well as headphones. In days gone by, you would see multi-zone speakers but with good wifi being available at low cost, you see offerings from Sonos and Bose being challenged by those from the more traditional sources such as Yamaha and Denon (Heos), as more climb onto the wireless playback bandwagon. 

The smart retailer must adapt with the times. If he/she only relies on sales from the traditional surround sound, multiple larger speaker box setup, they will decline. However it's not necessary to just move boxes of small Bluetooth speakers destined to play measly mp3 music, but the store owner must have options that cater to homes which seek to enjoy their music as the owner moves from room to room, and also have equipment which allows streaming, of both music and video. The owner will also rely on their TV for high definition streaming, and will still look for better sound external speakers but sans all the complication cabling of yore. 

The discerning consumer will still yearn for the quality he/she gets from hard media playback, and there is definitely still a market for it, but as it becomes more niche, the equipment makers will need to consider inventing devices which allow both playback of discs, cards and stream, with the option of surround sound, and lossless sound at a price which can attract the average Joe consumer. Does it sound like a tall order? Well the cost of manufacturing has come down a lot since the old days of hand built tube amplifiers so it's not impossible. I mean who would have thought Clint Eastwood will still be acting into his 90s, or that we will be looking at another Mission Impossible movie, but in life, truth is often stranger than fiction, and things can only get better.

For me, I'm still into media, but I keep my options open and will continue this hobby for as long as my ears, my waller and now, what my wife allows ;)


Have a blessed 2020 and to many more years of movies, music and merry making.