This article is presented together with Yamaha Home Entertainment Australia, the world’s largest sound company.
In the lavish McMansions, sprawling residential estates and boujee cribs across the globe, you’ll probably find a home cinema. A laptop with a lengthy Netflix queue is nowhere in sight — instead, think thousands of dollars worth of sound equipment and huge projection screens.
These dedicated theatre rooms are often complete with all the trimmings — classic cinema-style seats, popcorn machines, fully functional bars and whatever other creature comforts the cinema buff desires.
There’s no doubt that listening to the magnificent film scores of Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings through a dedicated sound system — rather than your sad laptop speakers — makes all the difference. And viewing the professional grade content on a screen larger than an A4 piece of paper may also influence the quality of your experience.
So, in the absence of a bank account sufficient enough to build a custom home cinema, it’s time to assess your other options.
However, before we begin this “Pimp My Ride“-esque journey to up your home cinema game, let’s take a tour of some of Hollywood’s most extravagant home theatres for some inspiration.
Drake
The rapper’s large L.A. property — dubbed “YOLO Estate” — contains a swanky 25-seat movie theatre. Evidently built for entertaining, the compound also boasts a tennis court, 80-foot waterslide, and a mechanical bull. YOLO indeed, Champagne Papi. We expect only the highest quality speakers to be installed in a cinema belonging to a musician whose career relies on audio equipment.
Michael Jackson
The late Michael Jackson’s famous Neverland Ranch, now known as Sycamore Valley Ranch, contains a 510-square-foot movie theatre. The cinema is surprisingly tasteful compared to many of the other bizarre elements the ranch is known for, including fairground rides and live animals. Fitted out with classic cinema seats, the room is a throwback to the theatres of decades past.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
For the full cinema experience, The Rock and co. don’t even need to leave the house. The home cinema nestled within his California mansion includes a lobby, bar, marquee entrance, red wall panels and black leather seats. With a 220-inch screen and built in custom speaker system, Dwayne Johnson can look back at all his finest cinematic and wrestling moments in high-definition.
Judd Apatow
The producer/writer/director’s state of the art home cinema is equal parts technologically fantastic and beautifully decorated. With raised seating, decorative Greek columns and gold-leaf on the ceiling, it’s design compliments the phenomenal audio-visual tech installed to ensure every film is experienced as intended.
Ryan Seacrest
Media mogul Ryan Seacrest has an incredibly cosy home cinema inside his L.A. mansion. The set-up boasts four in-wall speakers, and two in-wall subwoofers, ensuring a prime audio experience.
You might not be able to install 28 cinema seats or a fancy popcorn machine in your basement, but that doesn’t mean the home cinema experience is out of reach.
Forget the trimmings, the main essential is the tech you’ve got, and ultimately you just need to spend a few hundred well-earned dollars in the right places.
Whether you’re a habitual Netflix-binger or PlayStation fanatic, there’s probably already a decent TV floating around the house. Only problem is, you’re probably using the TV’s built-in speakers.
This is where companies like Yamaha come in. They have a huge range of speakers to fit the aural needs of the average Joe and audiophiles alike. The YAS-108 is a perfect example of a purpose-built home cinema speaker with the consumer in mind. The soundbar is compact and affordable, yet still delivers the powerful, room-filling audio.
Gone are the days of the Mamma Mia! soundtrack blaring out of crackly laptop speakers — now you can enjoy the vocal stylings of Meryl Streep and co. in true style, with crisp and clean audio filling whatever room you choose.
After all, why wouldn’t you want to spend your hard-earned relaxation time immersed in a fantastic audio-visual experience? Treat. Yo. Self.
