Tired of going to movies? Install a mini-theatre at home

 Epson East Africa regional sales manager Mukesh Bector.

That Kenya’s middle-class is expanding fast is starting to sound like a cliché. We are told that all the good things in life (or should we say in Kenya) are being assembled to satisfy the insatiable appetite of this group.

Talk about their well-furnished apartments in a new estate bought through mortgages. To this group, image is everything and nothing works wonders than a well-assembled home theatre.

With the decline in the number of people going to the cinema, home theatres are now in vogue as families and friends watch their favourite movies, programmes and listen to music from the comfort of their homes. The allure of big pictures coupled with rich sounds is at the centre of the new home entertainment revolution.

“Listening to music or watching a good movie through a mini-home theatre is more satisfying than always clutching to your mobile phone. I am shopping for a new system, especially to amplify the voices in my favourite music,” says Jackie Munene, a tech savvy computer programmer who is an avid lover of rock and jazz music.

Munene would be happy to know that technology has advanced so much that apart from movies, one can listen to music in 3-D as well. In the past, says TechHive.com, recording engineers have never had the tools to deliver a truly three-dimensional audio experience in which sounds come from above you as well as around you. And you don’t need to mount extra speakers on your ceiling – just ensure that the ceiling is flat and refrective, and either made of plastic or sheetrock.

“With the right kind of ceiling, the upward-firing speaker will project the height channel information off the ceiling and back down to the listener,” states TechHive.com.

According to Munene, having a good home theatre goes beyond amplifying the sounds and pictures in her home. It also has to do with keeping a cosy home environment. “A well arranged home theatre system adds to the beauty and appearance of the home. I get envious whenever I visit my friends who have installed a home theatre. The home looks so trendy,” she says.

Mukesh Bector, regional sales manager for Epson East Africa says more and more Kenyans are investing in modern home theatres in a bid to spend more time at home with their families.

“You can get everything you want in a movie by watching it at home with a digital sound system. Tech savvy Kenyans will stop at nothing to invest in a modern home entertainment system,” he says.

Global companies in the entertainment sector are spending millions of dollars on new innovations on large screen projectors that are slowly replacing large screen TV sets.

“New projection technologies should create outstanding visual experiences for business and personal lifestyles,” says Bector.

Interestingly, owning a home theatre is no longer the preserve of the rich. According to lifestyle cable media network HGTV, anybody with an extra room measuring 20 feet long by 13 feet wide can get online tips on how to convert it into a home theatre.