Recently we visited our California friends. As they are long time ultra audio HiFi enthusiasts we were not surprised to see the big speakers still with pride of place in their newly re-modelled living room. But that was it. So where was the new Home Cinema system they had told us about in their email? Perhaps they had this home cinema installation in another room. But no. They smiled at our queries and made us wait until after dinner.
We were sat down in front of the speakers in the “sweet spot” but this was not for music. The home cinema screen, which was retracted into the ceiling and totally invisible was pulled down to fill almost half the wall. The home cinema projector dipped down from its hiding place in the ceiling over our heads. WOW. And then what did we watch? Something amazing ? Well certainly unexpected. Our friends had recorded an episode of their favourite UK Programme, MI5. Yes! We watched an old episode of Spooks!
I have to say we were really impressed by their whole home cinema installation. And, of course, such equipment is equally on sale in the UK though you would need to be doing quite a bit of knocking you ceiling about to fit the equipment as they had, and we have no friends currently affluent enough to be investing in such home cinema systems. But many more soon will, given the quality of the equipment and the fact that no space is taken up in the room with large pieces of kit.