Human Touch PC-095 Perfect Chair Review

Full Review

Since perfection can be pretty hard to attain, we figured we definitely had to take a closer look at the Perfect Chair as it is called from Human Touch. The PC-095 Perfect Chair is either a perfect crossover or a decent compromise between comfort and home theater seating depending on your point of view.

We hear a lot of talk about proper posture and supporting your back when sitting and reclining. Of course when it is time to watch a movie, creature comfort is of the highest importance and only helps to add to the overall experience that owning a home theater should entail. For this review we will take a pair of Human Touch PC-095 Perfect Chairs and see if they live up to their name.

Build Quality and Assembly

When we initially picked out the chairs, the actually size of them did not really occur to us. The first indication of the size of the chairs was when the delivery guy arrived and unloaded the boxes. Each chair came in two boxes with the largest box being the chair frame system and the smaller box being the cushions.  We found that the easiest way to get to the chairs, so that we could put them together, was to carefully cut the outside corners of the boxes and let the boxes fall open. Even inside the boxes, the chairs are well packaged and supported. Assembly of the Perfect Chair 095's was relatively simple and quick since most all of the major components came already pre-assembled. All we really had to do was connect the headrest supports and arm supports to the main frame and then we just slipped the leather upholstered cushions onto the frame.

As we worked on putting the chairs together, it was clearly evident how well constructed the chairs were. The wood that makes up the base is not only beautiful to look at and touch, but it is really the backbone to the chair and provides all the support. It is very thick and solid and has a perfectly smooth walnut color to it. Unlike many pieces of furniture that are all angles and straight lines, the wood on these chairs has a very pleasing curved design to it that helps give them a good sense of style and quality.  There are three wood colors available (Dark Walnut, Maple, and Walnut), so it should be pretty easy to get something similar to match the color of your other furniture.

All the mechanics of the chairs are hidden mostly inside the wood frame and underneath the chairs. Aside from the wood, the rest of the chair's support system is made of high tensile strength steel tubing that is powered coated black. As a nice touch, the main guide rails that are visible on the sides of the chair are nickel plated which actually helps ensure that the electric recliner operation runs smoothly. One of the handy things that we found when we were putting the chairs together was that, along with all the fasteners, the proper screwdrivers and Allen wrenches were included to make the assembly easy – even for someone that does not have any tools.

For the seated surface, we chose the Cognac Premium Leather chair pad. The leather is both soft and supple. All the upholstery is completely covered in leather, including the lumbar support pillow, the adjustable neck pillow and the armrests. According to the web site, they should have a wood, leather type and color combination that should match your décor with 35 different combinations available. Here are the available Chair Pad colors & materials:

• Cashew SofSuede
• Sage SofSuede
• Black Bonded Leather
• Espresso Bonded Leather
• Ivory Bonded Leather
• Mocha Leather
• Black Premium Leather
• Cognac Premium Leather
• Dark Chocolate Premium Leather

Using the Chair

So by now we are pretty sure you are asking what makes this chair so good. It is safe to say that this is not your normal recliner! There is a little science involved with the design of the Human Touch PC-095 Perfect Chair that actually gleans from Neutral Body Posture studied by NASA during the SkyLab program. This has to do with the idea of zero gravity and the ideal posture of your body when it is at rest. As you recline in the chair, you can go so far back that your feet will rise above your heart. What this does is takes the pressure off your spine and at the same encourages better circulation, which is supposed to lead to improved relaxation and rest. Of course for home theater use, having your feet higher than your heart will not work too well unless your screen is mounted on the ceiling. Maybe after the movie is done, and you are so dog tired that you can’t stumble into your bed, you can recline the chair all the way back and get a good nap in. 

Using the chairs is super easy! On the left hand side of the chairs, in front of the armrest is a little aluminum lever that controls the up and down motion of the chairs. With the chairs all the way in the upright position, you pull up on the lever, and within 15 seconds, the chair is in the “all the way back” position (Oh yeah, we forgot to mention, that you need 115V AC in order to operate these chairs, so make sure you have some power nearby).  The electric motor that moves the chair is pretty quiet and it is smooth as butter, thanks to a series of rollers that the main guide rails roll against. As the chair begins to recline, the footrest extends outward to support your feet. We do have to note that there are no separate controls to adjust the footrest position. While this is not a problem, there are sometimes where we wish we would either extend or lower the feet while we kept our reclined position in the same location. One of the biggest things we noticed about these chairs was how much space was needed for them to fully recline without hitting the back wall. We discovered they needed to be pulled nearly three feet away from the wall in order to fully recline  all the way back. This is not necessarily a problem, but more a consideration that has to be taken into account when you look at these chairs since they take up a lot of space when they are laid out all the way.

Home Theater Application

While the Human Touch PC-095 Perfect Chairs are not designed specifically as home theater chairs, we have found that they really are a viable alternative. To help make them more home theater friendly the folks at Human Touch gave us a Wedge Spanner Table ($230 option). This mounts between the chairs to connect them together and also gives you a place to put your drinks, popcorn and remote controls. This connecting table was the same type of wood at the base of our chairs and was finished in the walnut color. In a partially reclined position, we found that I could leave my head resting against the back of the chair and still comfortably see the display. For real hard core home theater guys, the high back of the chair might be distraction since it might block some of the sound from the surround speakers. Not that it is super critical, but the motor that reclines the chairs is not silent but rather emits some sounds when it is in operation. Of course once a comfortable position is found there really is no need for much additional adjustment.

Conclusion

While they may not designed as dedicated home theater chairs, the Human Touch PC-095 Perfect Chairs really do serve the purpose very well. Aside from the fact that they don’t have built-in cup holders, unless you get either the optional wedge table (which you need two chairs to use) or the small accessory table, these chairs are pretty nice. Right from our initial assembly, to using them in our home theater, the overall quality of the construction and materials is impressive. While these chairs are not cheap, it is safe to say that you will definitely be getting a quality chair for your money – something that will really be appreciated by those who value high-end products in their home theater. To us, these chairs really make sense for folks that don’t have a dedicated home theater room, but rather a multipurpose living space where versatility and form take a front seat to specific function.

About Human Touch
Human Touch is the leading provider of high quality innovative lifestyle products and experiences that deliver indispensable, life changing benefits to an ever growing number of consumers.

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

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Metric	Rating
Performance
Build Quality
Ergonomics & Usability
Ease of Setup/Programming/Integration
Features
Fit and Finish
Performance
Value