At one point in my life, I was a home theatre enthusiast.  While I am an audio engineer by training and consider myself an audiophile, I now live in a small apartment with an even smaller baby, so loud in the living room is not going to happen.

Even should these circumstances change, I don’t think I would bother dropping the money on building my own system, because the AMC Enhanced Theatre Experience is on par with going out to a rock concert… almost.

Last night I went to see Star Trek.  In my opinion, the may be the most near-perfect science fiction film of all time.  I have my critiques, but this is not a movie review blog.  I do talk about media and technology, and holy crap, this movie was an earth-shaking, eye-popping, ear bleeding supernova of an event.

Check out this pic I grabbed before the trailers started:

• The surround sound was dizzyingly spacial but not distracting (credit to the mix engineer)
• There was no distortion, ever.  Even at deafening volume.  This system clearly has boom to spare.
• Super smooth low end, even an inaudible infrasonic note that shakes you in your seat.  Credit the 57,000 Watts to push this kind of power.
• The highs were never piercing.  Credit the placement of 11 speakers for not having to throw sound over a distance.
• The picture was amazing.  The $115,000, 250lb Sony 4k projector sprayed a gigantic and crystal clear picture; the contrast and colour were phenomenal.  My friend commented that he could notice the low refresh rate compared to his new 240Hz display at home.

In a world of over-promise and under-deliver, the AMC Enhanced Theatre Experience kicked my ass, and I can’t wait to go to the theatre again.