One of the most underappreciated American holidays is Thanksgiving. The fourth of July, Christmas, Labor Day and Memorial Day are popular because of gift giving, cookouts and beer. Naturally, people love to celebrate those days for all those reasons and more.
Thanksgiving however, is taken for granted in many cases. Kids are home from college, families gather or they simply stay home to enjoy a day of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pies, cakes, cookies, and adult beverages with no second thought.
What makes Thanksgiving great is that regardless of whether you are a sports fan or not, you’re likely to turn to the TV and home AV system for some entertainment. Of course, the National Football League (NFL) offers a full schedule of football from about 1 p.m. to about 11:30 p.m., so that solves the question of entertainment for many people, but what options are there for those people that aren’t football, hockey or basketball fans.
Home AV Streaming Options for the Thanksgiving Holiday
Focusing on the NFL game action on Thanksgiving, the slate of football begins with the Green Bay Packers vs the Detroit Lions at 1 p.m on Fox. Following the Lions game, the Dallas Cowboys will then play the Kansas City Chiefs at 4:30 p.m. on CBS. Wrapping up the trio of games are the Cincinnati Bengals taking on the Baltimore Ravens at 8:20 p.m. on NBC.
Moving onto the streaming services, here are some movies and TV shows to check out on your home AV systems:
HBO Max: The latest “Planet of the Apes” movie, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” is now available on the service along with popular series that include, “It Welcome to Derry,” and “The Chair Company.”
HBO Max also has movies such as “Elf,” “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” and “Weapons.”
Disney+: The popular streaming service offers a wealth of content that is sure to provide a workout for a home AV system. Some of those titles include “The Fantastic 4: First Steps,” “Zootopia,” and “Avatar: The Way of the Water.”
Naturally, Disney+ provides a host of holiday titles such as, “A Very Jonas Christmas Movie” and “Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause.”
Prime Video: Amazon’s streaming service is available to anyone with a Prime account, and it offers a range of live sports, movies, documentaries, and TV shows. Some of the latest content options from Prime Video include the series “King Conqueror” and “Hazbin Hotel.” Movie options include classics such as “Uncle Buck,” recent blockbusters such as “Spider-Man: Coming Home,” and rental titles like “One Battle After Another.”
Netflix: Netflix, the largest streaming service is now offering shows such as “Death by Lightning,” “The Beast in Me,” “Stranger Things,” and the “Last Samurai Standing.” Movie choices include “Frankenstein,” “The Thursday Murder Club,” and “The Marksman.”
Component Recommendations to Foster Food Coma TV Binging
One of the fun things that attracts people to home AV as a hobby and/or as a means of entertainment is the fact that it provides an array of options to deliver those entertainment options.
Price while a factor is not the sole point in determining a home AV purchase. Ease-of-use, industrial design, and size are also factors. With these factors in mind, here are a few suggestions that can be used to help homeowners achieve their home AV entertainment goals:
Sonos Arc Ultra Soundbar: The fully featured Arc ($1,099 retail) is a popular choice for homeowners that want immersive audio in a solution that provides a room-friendly footprint. The Dolby Atmos immersive audio soundbar can be paired with other Sonos components such as its Sub 4 subwoofer and Era 100 speakers. An additional benefit with the Sonos ecosystem is that beyond its home theater capabilities, it also provides homeowners with the ability to stream and playback music as part of a whole-house audio system.
Leon Speakers TIMBRE TI44UX Speakers: The Mich.-based audio company Leon is known for its one-off custom speaker products, as well as its combination of design and audio technologies. The TIMBRE TI44UX ($2,750 per pair) is available in a list of standard finish and grille options, and the speakers are backed by Leon’s custom finish program. Internally, the speaker utilizes a 4-inch woofer and 1-inch tweeter, and the speaker can be used as part of a full immersive audio system or as part of a stereo or 2.1 system when combined with a subwoofer.
Quantum Media Systems XDR4 8K Extreme LED Wall: At the top end of the home theater market there has been growing momentum for the use of custom video walls in home spaces. Quantum Media Systems’ newly announced XDR4 8K Extreme Video Wall is a custom solution that professional integrators can utilize to meet the performance goals of luxury consumers and enthusiasts. The XDR4 8K Extreme LED wall delivers DCI compliant images using proprietary image processing and panels that employ a 0.7mm pixel pitch.
Epson Lifestudio Flex Projector: Retailing for a price of about $780, the Lifestudio can be used to project images as large as 150 inches on walls and projection screens. The compact and affordable Epson projector incorporates the Google TV smart services operating system (OS), and it delivers 1080p HD images at brightness levels up to 700 lumens.
A couple of other points of interest that homeowners should consider for their home AV systems include power protection and quality infrastructure. Products from respected manufacturers such as Torus Power and Kordz, provide proven reliability and performance in environments such as recording studios, luxury home cinemas and other similar environments.