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Recommendations for Home Theater Seating


Superdave

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I'm in the market for seating and would like to get opinions and reviews from others of their HT seating purchases both good and not so good. There are not many actual places to go and physically try the seating out, so probably will have to buy based on online reviews, but would much rather hear from Klipsch Forum Members that have been through this process and can give some input if they had to do it all again.

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I would suggest that you go over to AVSforum and check out the threads, [whats your system configuration] and also [Dedicated theater design and construction].  those threads have hundreds of home theaters,  lots of pics of peoples designs and  seating choices, often what they paid and where they got them. 

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This is what i went with... http://sfbay.craigsl...5074667507.html

Those look good.

 

Here's the two that I have some interest in, but having a tough time finding any reviews specific to the models:

 

OCTANE EDGE XL800

and

KLAUSSNER STUDIO This one has many options for the type of covering besides leather. I'm liking the Microsuede Onyx fabric. 

Edited by Superdave
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This is what i went with... http://sfbay.craigsl...5074667507.html

Those look good.

 

Here's the two that I have some interest in, but having a tough time finding any reviews specific to the models:

 

OCTANE EDGE XL800

and

KLAUSSNER STUDIO This one has many options for the type of covering besides leather. I'm liking the Microsuede Onyx fabric. 

 

One nice feature is the headrests adjust so if you recline fully, you can have your head angled up just like you had a pillow there.

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I went with palliser, if I had to do over I'd get the elite. Some of the other models like the playback and several others have a hump in the middle and doesn't cradle you well. The elite is molded up on the sides. I'd also splurge and get high end leather. The in stock stuff is cheap bonded leather that doesn't last long in many cases. We got fabric due to my wife wanting it but I'm not a huge fan.

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  • Leather recliners look great, but send more early reflections back to your ears.  This might be a (small) problem, especially if you are using room correction like Audyssey, and you want to have some of mic positions where your or your guests' ears would be.  Yes, you can throw a couple of thick towels over the headrests of the chairs (and in the seats) when calibrating, but then the towels won't be there when you are watching movies.  Therefore, I prefer cloth backs.

IMO, for best audio imaging, and the brightest picture, the viewers should be centered.  I like seats that aren't too wide, without cup holders, etc., so that the people aren't spread out too much.  We assembled a comfortable 5 seat couch from a kit we got online from Home Reserve (they will provide whatever number of seats you want).  They have something like Microsuede.  It only cost $130 per seat.  Each seat is only 22" wide, so people are more centered than they would be otherwise.  22" is wide enough even for people who are a bit broad in the beam, as I am.  More ideally proportioned folk can curl their legs under them on the seat, if they want to.  Not having cup holders is good in a way, so one won't have to hear ice clinking in the cups -- when Mike Todd and Magna Theater Corp were building/equiping the 70 mm Todd-AO theaters, Todd insisted on banning ice in drinks (and noisy wrappers, popcorn, etc.) because, and this is a quote, "The noise f***s up the stereo."

Edited by garyrc
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I went with palliser, if I had to do over I'd get the elite. Some of the other models like the playback and several others have a hump in the middle and doesn't cradle you well. The elite is molded up on the sides. I'd also splurge and get high end leather. The in stock stuff is cheap bonded leather that doesn't last long in many cases. We got fabric due to my wife wanting it but I'm not a huge fan.

We already have a huge sectional in the den that is microsuede, and we just love it. I'm not a huge fan of leather, except in the 80's, lol. I'm kinda leaning towards the Klaussner Studio 43503. Seems to be American made as well which is always a plus! 

 

 

  • Leather recliners look great, but send more early reflections back to your ears.  This might be a (small) problem, especially if you are using room correction like Audyssey, and you want to have some of mic positions where your or your guests' ears would be.  Yes, you can throw a couple of thick towels over the headrests of the chairs (and in the seats) when calibrating, but then the towels won't be there when you are watching movies.  Therefore, I prefer cloth backs.
  • IMO, for best audio imaging, and the brightest picture, the viewers should be centered.  I like seats that aren't too wide, without cup holders, etc., so that the people aren't spread out too much.  We assembled a comfortable 5 seat couch from a kit we got online from Home Reserve (they will provide whatever number of seats you want).  They have something like Microsuede.  It only cost $130 per seat.  Each seat is only 22" wide, so people are more centered than they would be otherwise.  22" is wide enough even for people who are a bit broad in the beam, as I am.  More ideally proportioned folk can curl their legs under them on the seat, if they want to.  Not having cup holders is good in a way, so one won't have to hear ice clinking in the cups -- when Mike Todd and Magna Theater Corp were building/equiping the 70 mm Todd-AO theaters, Todd insisted on banning ice in drinks (and noisy wrappers, popcorn, etc.) because, and this is a quote, "The noise f***s up the stereo."

 

I'm going to order some of the swatches of fabric before making a decision. I have young kids and cup holders are necessary with this guys. Thanks for the great input Guys!!

 

Edit: American, not american. Beer sic.

Edited by Superdave
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I'm not a huge fan of leather, except in the 80's, lol.

Clearly you haven't tried any high end leather stuff. :) The cheap bonded leather and leather-like vinyl does suck though. The good stuff can make a typical $700 seat cost more like 3 times that. That's why you never see it. Palliser does offer it though. I've got some swatches of it. Just because they call the normal stuff "leather" doesn't mean it's the real deal.

Edited by MetropolisLakeOutfitters
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Clearly you haven't tried any high end leather stuff.

Hence, the word high end = high pricing, very high. The Elite seats are very nice, but very expensive.

The Elites in themselves aren't too out of the norm at least in my opinion, you can get four with bonded leather for $2,600 or so last I checked. Those same seats in the good leather can be around $7,000 though. There's different grades of the stuff and I can't remember the details.

Edited by MetropolisLakeOutfitters
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I bought a set of Coaster brand theater recliners (4-pack that fits together in a small arc) NIB from a local fellow who mistakenly thought he could fit two rows in his smallish theater room. They've worked great for me. Only three positions- upright, slightly reclined and fully reclined. I watch my 42" from all three angles alternately. Very comfortable for such inexpensive seating. Leather and leathermatch materials, manual cable release type mechanism. They came with 4 of the Aura bass shakers that I've never installed but might one day. 

 

 

I've sat in a friend's large, costly electrically reclining, very cushy theater seats that hurt my back after only one showing because they were too soft. These have enough support and are slightly smaller scale, yet still fit my roadie-frame very comfortably. If I had to do it again I'd seriously look at these same models - I like them that much!  

 

 

I think I paid $750 for the four, which at the time was about 1/2 the new price (about 8 years ago), the same thing is probably about $2K for a four-pack these days. 

Edited by colterphoto1
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The Elites in themselves aren't too out of the norm at least in my opinion, you can get four with bonded leather for $2,600 or so last I checked. Those same seats in the good leather can be around $7,000 though.
$2500-3k is the range I'm looking in for 4 seats with power recline. Yes, once you get into the real leather options, the price goes up. 
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I bought a set of Coaster brand theater recliners (4-pack that fits together in a small arc) NIB from a local fellow who mistakenly thought he could fit two rows in his smallish theater room. They've worked great for me. Only three positions- upright, slightly reclined and fully reclined. I watch my 42" from all three angles alternately. Very comfortable for such inexpensive seating. Leather and leathermatch materials, manual cable release type mechanism. They came with 4 of the Aura bass shakers that I've never installed but might one day. 

 

 

I've sat in a friend's large, costly electrically reclining, very cushy theater seats that hurt my back after only one showing because they were too soft. These have enough support and are slightly smaller scale, yet still fit my roadie-frame very comfortably. If I had to do it again I'd seriously look at these same models - I like them that much!  

 

 

I think I paid $750 for the four, which at the time was about 1/2 the new price (about 8 years ago), the same thing is probably about $2K for a four-pack these days. 

I also had some power recliners that were comfortable in the beginning (watching one movie), but when i started sitting in them for most of the day in the theater they became uncomfortable. I also found out that the power recliners don't last forever with constant usage. One of mine failed after a little over one year of use. I returned the ones I had purchased (luckily from Costco), and then purchased the non-powered recliners I currently have from a local dealer. The installers said that in their experience the power recliners are fine for occasional use, but don't last if used a lot.

Edited by ellisr63
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My Coasters broke a handle/cable assembly after a few years of heavy use (before I started rotating the seats around). They sent a replacement to me for free, pretty easy to swap it out. A motor would be another story. I like stuff simple whenever possible. 

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