Little Known Ways To Choose The Best Theater Seating
So what should you look for when looking for the best theater seating? It seems everybody and their sister is making home theater seating these days. Some companies have teams of designers working on a single home theater chair design for months trying to make it perfect.
Other companies take one of their regular recliners, change its name and color scheme, and bingo! Their marketing people call it their new home theater furniture line. The key to spotting the differences between a regular recliner and a great home theater chair is to understand a few important key things.
Here are a few things you should look for when shopping for this important piece of furniture.
- A Solid Frame: Chair frames are usually built of wood and steel. Higher-end chairs use high-quality plywood or hardwoods (kiln-dried oak, ash, or maple) while cheaper models use lower-grade plywood. Give the recliner's arms a good tug. If they give just a bit, keep walking. A chair like that will only get looser as time goes on it will develop squeaks. The best theater seating have really strong frames that don't give when you push on them.
- Recliner Mechanism: Are the seat and seat backs both attached to the recliner mechanism? Chairs featuring the so-called "wall hugger" design recline by moving the seat toward the viewing screen instead moving the seat back away from it. This means the chair can be placed very close to a wall behind the audience. It can also help to minimize the amount of space wasted between multiple rows of theater seats. Avoid manufacturers that use screws instead of bolts to mount the recliner mechanism to the wooden frame. Over time, the screws will loosen with use. You don't spend money on a leather recliner just to see it fall apart.
- Cushioning and Lumbar Support: When sitting down for a 2 hour movie, or longer if watching television, you really need excellent lumbar or lower-back support in either upright or reclined positions. As your body temperature warms it up, high-quality foam will mold to your body's shape improving comfort. The best theater seating has cushioning thats tight and fairly rigid to help maximize low frequency sound transmission from a factory-installed or after market tactile transducers.
- Quality Fabrics and Leather: Most home theater seating are covered in either leather or suede, but you can find manufacturers willing to custom build a chair with almost any fabric you provide. Suede is leather that has been buffed to raise the fibers of the fleshy side. This isn't as durable as regular leather but produces a soft velvety nap. Genuine leather can stretch without loosing its shape. Unlike fake leather (or pleather), genuine leather sofas are't too cold in the winter or too hot in the summer. The material is very porous and will adjust to your body's temperature very quickly.
If you keep these four points in mind when shopping for your new home theater seating, you should be able take home some excellent new furniture that will provide years of comfortable movie viewing.
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