[speedwell68]

People are really underwhelmed by my media server when they ask where the videos come

Most of a good home theatre is behind the scenes, the smell of popcorn,  lighting, seat arrangements, wall art and stand-up posters all add to the atmosphere and the $5 entry on the door doesn't hurt either, hand out guest passes at dinner, once the conversation enters the 'what's playing to-day' stage, the sparkle is lit, make them beg. 

What does impress them is the full voice control of the TV/AVR and Kodi via Google Home.  The Hyperion Ambilight setup also impresses too.  What I am having difficulty with is having the room lights dim and brighten when the film start/stops.

I am actually in the middle of redecorating the TV room at the moment and I have recently started the process of instigating a series of upgrades to the whole house.  This thread has inspired me to do a thread of my whole technology/media experience as you say it is more about what is behind the scenes than the picture on the screen and running a decent Kodi setup is more than just running Kodi.