Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream Theater
Introducing Mr. Blandings
by Dan Ramer
Apr 20, 1999


In a classic Cary Grant comedy, Jim and Muriel Blandings decide to leave the frenzied life of New York City and move to the suburbs.  They find a lovely old home in Connecticut that needs a little renovation.  Despite a tight budget, they buy the property and hire an architect and contractors.  Naturally, things don’t go very smoothly.  Hidden costs and unexpected problems push the budget higher and higher, until Blandings explodes with frustration.  But this is Hollywood of the 40’s.  When the house is finished, a gentle calm settles over the family.  The Blandings step back and gaze at their home as if seeing it for the first time.  Memories of expensive setbacks dissolve in a sentimental haze.  Their dream has come true. 
 
Building a home theater is something like that. 
 
I spent a fair part of my career as a design consultant in the consumer electronics industry (with some significant experience in home theater design), so I got to attend the Consumer Electronics Show.  With each passing year, I watched the audio industry evolve from two-channel music systems to a dominance by film-oriented home theater.  I’ve always loved film, but two product demonstrations convinced me that I had to have my own home theater.  The first time I saw a Faroudja line doubler I was amazed at how film-like video could be.  And for several years, Miller & Kreisel (M&K) erected a home theater on the exhibit hall floor that consistently blew me away with its superb speakers.  In my mind’s eye, I had seen my little fixer-upper.  Years of saving, planning, designing, slow equipment accumulation, building, and budget busters would follow.
 
Within a collection of articles, I’ll be describing my experiences as I planned and built my home theater.  This won’t be a general reference on home theater design - a book-length tome would be required for that.  What it will be is an anecdotal tale that will include lots of (I hope) helpful information that you might be able to use when you design your own dream theater.  And along the way, for those who may be new to the technology, I’ll try to explain some terms to help you build your home theater vocabulary.

You'll find all the chapters and the photo gallery listed on the TECH page, which is accessible from the Menu Bar.

I began this series in 1999, and as you’d expect, much has changed since I first brought fingers to keyboard.  Some of my comments and details related to specific pieces of equipment and certain technologies have become unavoidably obsolete.  But I feel that many of the discussions of design philosophy, construction, control, and fine-tuning are just as valid now as they were years ago.  I’ll continue to add chapters as my home theater evolves, and I’ll leave this history as a reference.

I hope you enjoy this journey as much as I do.  And if any of you learn from my mistakes, this series will have been worthwhile. 

(If you have any questions or comments for the author, say hello to Dan here.)