The home cinema experience

Hear the words "home cinema" and you might be tempted to think of the kind of hedonistic den JR Ewing would enjoy, with plush row seating, a proscenium arch and a flickering projector.

That whole package is available at a price.

According to trade magazines, from Which Hi-Fi to International Smarthouse, hypnotized UK technophiles are spending up to £8,000 to £87,000 sterling on a projector Runco (VX5C), tens of thousands on speaker systems by Meridian and Wilson Benesch, and indulgent fortunes on acoustic chambers for their own domestic Odeon.