If we’re honest, most of us don’t enjoy going to movie theaters like we used to. The wonder and magic is lost on us because of rude audiences who are loud and obsessed with their phones and of course the actual declining quality of cinemas – squeaky seats, average sound and dim picture. And of course there’s the costs of it all. Who needs to pay the price of a fine dining experience for a bucket of popcorn?
That’s why I made a decision after Covid to setup my own personal movie theater experience at home. And no, not that unattainable cinema rooms most millionaires own. Just a simple home entertainment system with a large TV, Dolby Atmos sound, some lighting and maybe bass shakers for immersion. By doing that, I’ve managed to bring the cinema experience right into my living room.
And it’s worked so well that my kids have lost almost all interest in going to the movies. When new films arrive and I suggest going they always answer with: “Why can’t we just watch it at home?” As someone who grew up loving attending the movies, this seems a bit blasphemous. I’d look forward to going to the movies every day as a kid. My family would literally watch everything we could at the movies and the remaining stuff on DVD or VHS. But I get why my kids don’t see why it’s so special. To them, they’d rather watch it in the comfort of their own home – on their TCL 6K 85″ TV [TCL 85QM6K, QD-Mini LED, 4K UHD, 144Hz, Dolby Vision/HDR10+, Google TV], Samsung Q990c 11.4.1 surround sound [11.1.4-channel, wireless subwoofer plus rear speakers, true Dolby Atmos and DTS:X], Govee TV backlights and Govee floor stand lights, and bass shakers fitted to reclining couches.
If configured properly you can catch every sound and see every pixel and feel all the rumble in the seat every time there’s a massive explosion. If you’ve been sitting on the fence about doing it yourself, this article just might convince you to make the jump.
It Didn’t Cost as Much as You’d Think
Firstly, this didn’t cost as much as you’d expect. Yes, it wasn’t cheap, but it wasn’t overly expensive either. The TCL TV, for example, offers mini LED 4K technology and only costs R20,000 [about $1,250] – and that’s for the 85″ model. There are even cheaper options.
Then the Samsung Q990c which offers incredible surround sound for movies at home costs around the same price. It offers real Dolby Atmos and allows you to hear surrounds from every corner of the room – and if setup properly even from above. It’s insane just how much this one item can enhance your home viewing experience. Of all the things I bought, this was the thing that made movies feel like cinema.
Lighting That Reacts to the Movie
Then I purchased Govee TV backlights, which basically expands what you see on the TV onto LEDs behind the TV and push the lighting around your TV. Connect that to Govee Floor Lights stands and you basically have a 4DX lighting experience at home. When things get bright the lighting gets bright. When things get dark and cold, the lighting gets dark and cold. It really makes movies feel more immersive. A camera above the TV picks up all the colors on screen and mimics it.
The Bass Shakers That Make Action Scenes Hit Different
Then, to push the immersiveness even further, we have bass shakers (which I bought online from Facebook Marketplace from a company that handles gaming tech). Imagine your seat shaking every time there’s a gunshot or a massive fight sequence. The bass shakers do exactly what the name says: they shake your insides when watching action films. While this could become too much for some, setting it at the perfect level elevates your movie experience 100x.
None of these extras were terribly expensive either:
- Govee TV backlights go for around R3000 [about $190]
- Govee floor lights go for around R1500 each [about $95]
- Bass shakers cost around R1500 each [about $95], attached to the bottom of my recliners
I jumped the bass from the Samsung Q990c subwoofer directly to the shakers. So I had no sync issues.
Pair It With a 4K Blu-ray Player and It Gets Even Better
Once you pair this system to a PlayStation 5 or a device with 4K Blu-ray, you get quality video and sound that rivals the best movie theater experience. It looks a lot better than 4K streaming quality — most streaming services like Netflix and Prime Video cap out around 15-25 Mbps for 4K content, while 4K Blu-ray discs push 70-100+ Mbps, with some discs hitting the format’s 128 Mbps ceiling. That’s the difference between a compressed approximation of the movie and (close to) what the studio actually mastered.
Watching movies like Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight look and sound like I’ve never experienced before – the sound is loud, in your face, full and you can hear projectiles above and in every corner of the room and the video is bright, colorful and blacks are deep. For all the complaints Nolan gets about his sound, this is probably what he had in mind when mixing these films. Every sound has a place in the room. Rewatching films with the new system allows you to experience them again anew.
The Verdict
Combined, all of this makes movies at home the ultimate experience. Yes, it’s not IMAX, but it’s clean, crisp and immersive experience in the comfort of my own home. I can grab popcorn I made fresh from the microwave and open a Coca-Cola and I’m living out what movie theaters felt like as a kid.
If you’ve been on the fence about setting up your own, this is the motivation you needed. Do it. You’ll love it.
Now if only we could stream Avengers: Doomsday from home on release date, there’d be zero reason to go back.
