Technology plays such a crucial role in everyone’s lives in the 21st-century, it’s sometimes difficult to imagine how we coped previously! Nowadays, everything from digital banking to surround-sound AV systems to online dating services can be accessed via a handy smart device! One way of assessing the extent of this reliability might be examining how these innovations have impacted a particular demographic: the LGBT community. LGBT people are twice as likely to search for a relationship online than heterosexuals. This means they are also tuned into other areas of tech, such as enhancing home theatre experiences with AV-receivers. Here are five stories illustrating this phenomenon.

“I first met my partner Liam when our paths crossed on our favourite gay dating service. We found out we had so much in common, not least our passion for home cinema. There’s nothing better than snuggling together on the couch watching a classic movie, refreshments to hand. Because we are sticklers for the full theater experience, we decided to invest in a decent AV-system that provided the best digital signal processing!”

“My boyfriend and I were drawn together by our love of the gay BDSM dating in the UK. When we are not involved in sessions, we indulge in watching many of the DVDs purchased from our favourite UK BDSM websites. To get the best out of this experience, we use a TV system linked to high definition players. We now own quite a library of top quality DVDs and Blu-ray discs. These feature professionally-filmed erotic scenes, starring other gay BDSM enthusiasts in the UK. The ultra-precise footage always gets us in the mood!”

“I met my French partner Jean when traveling around Europe during my gap year. We lived together on the continent for some time, making little home movies of our adventures. When he accompanied me back to the UK, one problem we encountered was the discrepancy between his tech equipment, which utilized European SCART connections, and the HDMI hardware I was used to. We solved this imbalance by investing in a quality AV-system. The most impressive add-on has been the phono input we’ve included to allow is to listen to his extensive collection of French jazz.”

“Having grown tired of hanging around in the usual gay hangouts and bumping into the same-old faces, I decided to try online dating. This is where I came across Shane, who shared my passion for AV-receivers. Our first date involved poring over websites offering advice about the best systems. Once we had assessed a top five, we decided to go for the Denon AVC-X3700H. This allowed us to stream all our favorite channels, including YouTube, Spotify and Tidal. We’ve been so impressed by how clear and detailed the sound was through this device.”

“My partner and I have an unusual interest. After meeting online and becoming familiar via regular conversations in a gay chat room, we embarked on a series of dates. This is when we discovered that we were both fans of video conversion. I have an extensive library of music videos accumulated when I sang in R&B bands back in the early 1990s. As most of these archive recordings were sitting on shelves gathering dust, I initiated a project to start upscaling all this video footage, purchasing an AV-receiver capable of improving older VHS formats by using conversion techniques. This enables the previously grainy film to be upscaled to a much higher resolution. When my partner Ben joined me in this endeavour, it became so much more exciting. We have even managed to achieve an HDTV definition of 720p after all this transcoding mission, guaranteeing hours of sheer joy when Ben and I recapture my performing heydays!”

As these anecdotes reveal, dating online has come a long way from consisting of platforms for singles to mingle. While you can still register with a site to instigate a relationship online, you can also dip into chat rooms or forums, joining in group discussions about a variety of issues. You might discover enthusiastic group discussions are already underway about the av-systems. While chatting about the best interfaces to switch between gaming systems and cable boxes, you could also kindle romance.