What Is The Difference Between Hi-Fi & Home Theatre?

by James Leahy

There are many differences between a sound system designed to provide maximum impact for movies with surround sound effects, gimmicky Hollywood style 3D visual special effects and a lot loud bangs & crashes compared to a system designed to reproduce pure uncompressed stereo.

The home theatre craze that is sweeping the average Australian household is derived from low grade consumer based entertainment needs and aimed  squarely at the masses. It has no place in a Hi-End system. On the other hand High-End Hi-Fi represents High Fidelity music reproduction for the sophisticated connoisseur who can appreciate the finer things in life.

A very different approach and type of person can indeed be seen to emerge from the choice they make between the two systems. If you are the type of person that enjoys an amazing concert experience, relishes the feeling of live music, enjoys a fabulous orchestral  experience...... keep reading this site! If you prefer to watch the latest instalment of 'Superman Returns' or the like, you are in the wrong place.

There are plenty of websites and other businesses that specialize in what is considered 'popular' and in 'vogue' today and who target the lowest common denominator in our society or give a half hearted approach to attract those interested in putting in a home theatre and the true audiophile that demands uncompromising quality. What often ends up happening is they ultimately please neither. I prefer not to adopt this 'jack of all trades - master of none' approach. I specialize in what I love and that is High-End music reproduction. I will not accept compromises for my own system and would not expect my customers to either.

With a surround sound system you are relying on five or more loudspeakers to produce a cheesy surround sound experience which is perfect for movies and the like but totally undesirable for music. For home theatre systems you can get away with murder when it comes to component choice and still have a fairly decent sounding system. Not so for stereo unfortunately. Maybe this is why home theatre is so popular today. Even the most basic and under performing home theatre system will keep the average viewer entertained for 2 hours (the length of a normal movie), without much distraction or loss of interest. How many people do you know that have a stereo system capable of doing the same? The reason that it is harder to keep the listener's interest for the same time period with a stereo system is that you are relying on one medium only. Sound quality in it's purest form is needed. So few systems are purchased with this in mind today and those that are cost ten fold what it costs to do home theatre to a similar standard.

Also with a stereo system, you are solely relying on a pair of loudspeakers to reproduce a rock solid stereo image when you are in your listening position. There are infinitely more considerations to get 'right' in a stereo system to produce a pleasing result over a surround sound system. For a stereo system to be of high quality and produce the goods everything has to be spot on without any errors in component selection & installation. In other words a stereo system's performance is very unforgiving of mismatches in set-up and equipment choice.

It is also easier for lazy people to justify a $5,000.00 home theatre purchase on an item like a 50" high definition plasma panel then a $5,000.00 turntable. They do not have to work nearly as hard to explain to their wife, friends or partner that they are indeed not crazy just because they did not buy what is popular. Sadly I can tell you from speaking to hundreds of customers each year, most think Hi-Fi and Home Theatre are one-and-the-same. The average customer perceives that a $5,000.00 plasma to be of significantly better value for money then say a turntable costing the same amount. I, along with many Audiophiles believe the opposite is in fact true.

I have also had another very well known Melbourne Hi-Fi dealer explain to me that he felt the need to prostitute himself to the likes of Sony and Pioneer and turn his business into a box moving enterprise just to stay in business and pay the weekly bills on the count off his declining 2 channel sales compared to what they were in the 1980's.

He explained to me why this was the case and likened the act of spending money today on Hi-Fi for the average Joe to STEALING money from the family. This was not the way he saw things to be but the way he felt this type of spending paten is often perceived by other family members. Sadly, I would have to agree with him 100%.