Music can be a powerful memory trigger for many people. A certain song can make you think of a person, a feeling, a memory, or even a specific moment in time. I can remember the first time I played a new system for a client where they were literally moved to tears. It’s a powerful thing to witness, to watch someone so moved by the quality of what they’re hearing that they start to cry. 

I can think of a few powerful audio video experiences I’ve had over the years. One was at one of my first CEDIA (Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association) Expos. Many companies were showing the same demo clip from Air Force One where the terrorists take over the President’s plane, and there is a fair bit of shooting, but it starts with a single gunshot. The standout demo was given by an amplifier company named Cinepro using speakers from Polk Audio. (The system was called “the Predator,” if I remember correctly.) 

By the time I saw this demo, it was probably the fifth time I’d seen the clip, but it was immediately clear that this system had far more dynamics and detail than the others. The small sounds were more present, the voices clearer, and the metal-on-metal of the weapon’s slide was more lifelike. And even though I knew what was going to happen, and knew the first gunshot was coming, the Predator system had such dynamics and impact that I literally jumped in my seat—everyone else in the room jumped too!—shaken by the sonic violence of that first shot.  I’ve never been aboard a plane when a weapon has been fired (thank God!), but I’ve no doubt, that is what it would sound and feel like. And that demo was the talk of the show because it delivered a visceral and emotional experience that took you beyond what you saw on screen. 

Years later, a client bought a near-six-figure home theater system, and the first demo I showed him was a scene from Open Range. Near the film’s finale, there is a very loud and dynamic gun fight, which again starts with a single shot. When the scene was over, he turned to me smiling and said, “I go hunting, and I know what a shotgun sounds like. And that is what a shotgun sounds like.” 

The most powerful experience for me was the first time I got to hear surround sound at home. (This was in the mid  ‘90s before the term “home theater” had caught on.) I got together with two of my friends, one of whom brought over a LaserDisc player and the movie Speed, and the other whose dad had just bought a JBL surround sound system. From the opening moments when characters were trapped in the elevator and you could hear the sounds of cables twanging and snapping behind you, to when cars zipped past the bus on the freeway putting you in the action, and with the subwoofer making explosions actually feel like explosions, I was totally hooked. I had absolutely no idea you could have that kind of system and experience in your own home.

I left my friend’s house and started researching everything I could about surround sound—what components I needed, the latest technologies, the best brands. This was before the internet was really viable, so I started taking trips into San Francisco to check out the best gear I could find. That is when I encountered my first home theater projector and discovered high-end brands like Meridian, Lexicon, and Runco, which only fueled my dreams of what owning a system of my own could be. Ultimately, the experience of watching Speed on a surround sound system unlocked something in me that led me to quitting my job as a golf professional, moving cross-country, and starting my career as a customer installer. 

Today, my home theater system is of higher quality than anything I could have imagined owning back in the ‘90s, and every time my family and I sit down to watch something on it, I’m thrilled that I get to have this experience at home and share it with them. 

If you’re like most people, your most precious commodity is your time—you don’t have a lot of it. And when you sit down to enjoy something, it should deliver that “Wow!” experience every time. While your home theater might not result in a life-changing experience as it did for me, a premium home entertainment system—whether for music or movies—will definitely provide years’ worth of unforgettable experiences.