Luxury TVs Invite Super Bowl Extravagance

The road to the Super Bowl is lined with hopes, dreams, passion and excitement as legions of diehard sports fans gear up for the big day. Of course, for Super Bowl number 46, a hotly anticipated match-up between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, there is sure to be another universal burning desire all across the Eastern seaboard: the urge to buy a bigger television.

Across the East End, options abound for ensuring that a home screening room is so luxuriously appointed, there’s no need for football fans to travel farther than the comfort of their own abodes.

At P.C. Richard & Son in Southampton, manager Frank Mason said that the team that makes it to the Super Bowl directly affects sales.

“If the Giants make it to the Super Bowl, we’ll definitely see an increase in TV business,” he said last week before the NFC Championship on Sunday between the Giants and the San Francisco 49ers.

For the ultimate in game-viewing pleasure, Mr. Mason recommended television sets with higher refresh rates. He explained that the amount of frames per second a screen refreshes, as well as higher contrast ratios, enhances viewing.

One hot item this year, Mr. Mason said, is an 80-inch Sharp model that sells at his store for just over $4,300.

For the ultimate in television viewing luxury, Crescendo Designs in Southampton offers a variety of high-end models. The full-spectrum home automation firm presents a glittering array of top-of-the-line technologies, including flat-screen televisions that can be completely hidden behind artwork or mirrors, or even underneath beds.

Crescendo Designs President Chris Brody explained that while clients might not rush in to purchase televisions before the Super Bowl, when they are renovating, building, or designing a media room, sports are a big part of the thought process. Popular among high-end clients, Mr. Brody said, are Runco televisions and projectors, which can run up to the hundreds of thousands of dollars. On the more affordable end, ranging from under $300 to approximately $5,000 for an 80-inch screen, Samsung and Sony models remain favorites, he said.

For those who would like to alternate between high culture and entertainment, the company sells a Runco WindowWall LCD television, which starts at $25,000 and can cost $75,000 or more, depending on the number of panels a client wishes to install. The WindowWall affords the choice of displaying either wall art or a 92-inch television screen, within which four screens broadcast simultaneously.

For the football fan who doesn’t want to miss a single moment of game play, Crescendo offers a Séura brand waterproof television for the shower for $2,700, as well as a disappearing mirror TV for above the sink. The company even sells a 50-inch Runco weatherproof television and landscape speakers for those who wish to catch televised action when outdoors. Prices for that system range from $4,500 to up to $70,000.

And for those craving a sinfully extravagant media room, there’s the Runco 103-inch plasma TV ($65,000) and Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series Diamond surround-sound speakers (ranging from $25,000 to $60,000).

Hot right now, Mr. Brody said, are LED screens, as well as plasma TV sets.

Mr. Brody, who founded his company in 2002 with his brother, Mike Brody, said, in his opinion, plasma sets are often more desirable for viewing sports events.

“They just handle the motion better,” he said. Prices, he said, can range from $1,200 to $60,000 for a 103-inch plasma set.

Additionally, sound quality is critical to the overall experience, Mr. Brody said. Clients, he added, look for three things: “Good sound, good video quality, and something that is easy to use,” he said.

Surround-sound systems can start at $10,000, Mr. Brody reported. But he added that there are options that come in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“And they can go up to as crazy as you want—up to $700,000. Why not, right?,” he said. “Most people ask, ‘How good could it sound, to warrant spending that kind of money?’ But once you hear it, it’s mind blowing.”

Bob Charos, the owner of Charos Custom Audio in Southampton, has specialized in the installation of home theater and custom audio/video systems for years. He said that Samsung or LG Electronics remain popular television brand names. New right now, he said, is 3-D technology, which is especially appealing to gamers, and “super-thin flat screens, with super high definition.”

Mr. Charos added that LED sets, as opposed to LCD sets, have become popular in recent years, as they offer a “brighter, better picture.” In addition, he said, the finest quality sets are now offered with 240 hertz refresh rates.

“This gives viewers crystal-clear action sequences for sports games,” Mr. Charos said. “Years ago, when the first LCD came out, you got a blur on a hockey game. You don’t get that blur now.”

Mr. Charos said that another way to enhance the game-watching experience is with a stellar sound system.

“What a lot of people are using today, instead of cluttering up their house with five speakers, is a sound bar,” Mr. Charos reported.

He recommended a sound bar made by Boston Acoustics that fits under a television set and simulates surround sound at a fraction of the cost. A sound bar can cost between $200 and $700, he said.

With prices dropping, the time is right to upgrade and add additional TVs, Mr. Charos said. He added that small 20-inch kitchen television sets that once sold for $1,700 can now be found for as low as $200, making a flat screen an affordable luxury.

No matter the price-point, those wishing to buy a new set or upgrade to a bigger television shouldn’t wait until the last minute, though, according to Mr. Mason, who said that in the spirit of the year’s biggest sporting event, P.C. Richard & Son stores will close at 6 p.m., an hour early, on Sunday, February 5, to allow staff to get home in time for the action.