I have been hunting for a long time now for some seating for my home theater.

My wife (and I agree) wants reclining seats in the room, however, in order to fit the narrow space, a lot of choices go out the window, or require at least 1 of the arm rests to be removed (making a nice loveseat in the middle of a row of 4 seats which my wife also likes), but then some recliners turn into non-reclining loveseats as soon as the armrest is gone.

I found several potential options from Berkline, but holy crap, they are pricey. I like the adjustable headrest of the 075 series, but it is about 4" too wide when set up basically as a couch (only has arm rests on the two outer ends). There are some others that would fit, but the cost goes way up. I know that the 088 (now called 45088) is popular, and I could get a curved row of 4 (love seat in the middle) to fit, but the backs don't look like they will be tall enough, plus, again, it is expensive.

Any ideas?

Here are the requirements:
1) No more than 114" wide
2) Seating for 4
3) ALL seats must recline
4) Seats should be around 40" or taller
5) Can't cost an arm and a leg (I know that is relative)

Thanks!

Four used electric wheelchairs bolted side-by-side?? I know there's an easy way to get them for real cheap, just push the person over and take it, or take it when they're not in it, there's nothing that they could do about it . I'm not condoning this act (as long as it's not my wheelchair), just giving you a viable alternative

Boy Nick, that's a tough one.

I was kind of in the same situation as my theater is only 16 ft wide. I started out with one row of four seats (plus armrests), but the unit almost came out to the walls. It was much better going to 2 rows of three. Even rows of three will hit 112" of so with nice wide seats and armrests. Keep in mind that an average 1st class seat in a plane is only about 21" wide (without arm-rests), so that would be 84" without the armrests. If you went with a loveseat in the middle, you would still need 4 arm-rests, and even at only 6" wide, you are hitting 108"... With 4 seats you hit the magic 114" number. Although it may meet your dimensions, I think you would want a wider seat to be fully comfortable and enjoy your room.

I suggest considering a row of three, with nice wide seats and and nice wide arm-rests. I have two rows of three, curved, and they fit great in the room and are nice and wide and comfortable.

Nick - I have the 088 series in my room. 4 wide in front, 3 wide in back. Check out my pics. I have a loveseat in the middle of the front row for the same reason (narrow theater). My only caution is that the 088s are not only narrow, they're also a little short in the back. I haven't decided if this leads to my neck being uncomfortable after a few hours in front of the screen or if it is my screen height, but something about the combination isn't totally perfect. (I suspect though it's the screen as my neck often hurt before getting these chairs in the room)

Another model to look at is the 45004. It's just a bit wider (1") and has 3" higher back height.

I picked them up from Serge at Home Theater Authority at about 1/2 of the retail price. Call him for pricing. He's very competitive and offered me amazing customer service. (first found his name on AVS Forum - very well regarded there which made me feel more comfortable purchasing from him)

Even through him, the chairs are still expensive, but 1/2 price is a big step in the right direction. Oh, and for all of my friends to the north, they have an office on both sides of the border and ship to Canada and the US.

Jason

I hear ya. Unfortunately, in a family of 4, someone wouldn't have a seat. If the room was deeper, I'd go 2 rows, but it is only 15' deep and I have a 104" screen meaning the first row would be REALLY close to the screen once you factor in full reclining room needed for the second row.

Yeah, I just discovered that the 088 is only 38.5" in the back. The 45004 was also on my list and has 41.5" tall backs and can be set up like a "couch" with 4 reclining seats and just an arm rest on each end and be 105" wide. I found a place that wants about $3200 shipped to my door. YIKES!

I also had Serge's name from a search on AVS as well as some guy named Roman from Ultimate Home Entertainment. Maybe I'll have to look them up and ask them for a quote.

Ha, I hear YOU. We have a 1-1/2 year old and a 4-1/2 year old... They all seem to squeeze in the front row with mom and dad. If your kids are young, they will fit easily with nice wide seats. Older... Not so much.

Yes, nice very wide seats.

Ours fit two a piece, assuming no one person is too 'rotund'.

DAMN that's HUGE

i really should resize some of those down for the web
someday...

I thought the non-resizing was for dramatic effect.

I'm still waiting for Peter to chime in on the "damn that's huge' comment which followed.

not happening.

I'll make the next one easier.

What, like by slipping her a roofie?

And it's going way out to left field!

The grass is softest there so her bum doesn't get bruised.

I was just thinking that myself.

Nick - I called both Roman & Serge and their quotes were very close to one another, but they had different pricing
on the options (power recline versus not, factory-installed Buttkickers, etc.). When it came down to it, both
were very close, but Serge gave me a ton of advice on building my riser and room setup in general before I'd even bought
anything and I felt happy to give him my business at that point.

The base price on my chairs with a Level 4 leather before any options was around $675 / seat. I added in the power recline
and white glove delivery (I didn't want to lug 7 of those babies up my stairs). If you want details feel free to PM me.

I called a lot of places and this (6 months ago) was the absolute cheapest they could be found. They're just plain
expensive, but I can reassure you that the leather is VERY nice. They've "made" my room since adding them.

Jason