EGC Electric: 3 Dream Home Theaters: Electronic House Award-Winners

Each year, Electronic House selects Home of the Year award winners from entries submitted by home systems integrators from across the globe. The following three home theaters were bestowed Silver and Bronze awards for their quality craftsmanship and A/V excellence. Use these and other Home of the Year projects as inspiration when designing your own media masterpiece. You’ll find other home theater award-winners, including Gold-winning home theaters, featured on electronichouse.com throughout the coming months.

Silver Award: Home Theater, $75,000 and Up

Lights, Action are Star Attractions in Compact Home Theater

Big lights and big sound were the requests for this custom theater, and Lifestyle Solutions (Bristow, Va.) and Custom Works AV collaborated to make both stand out quite well for this client “who did a lot of research and knew exactly what he wanted,” according to Lifestyle Solutions’ Behzad Sarwar. And what he wanted “was to feel the bass in his chest when he’s watching his favorite movies.” For this task, the design and integration firms deployed an audio system that handles Dolby Atmos via Triad Speakers’ InRoom Gold LCR, surrounds and in-ceiling speakers, augmented by JL Audio’s Fathom V2 Dual 12-inch subwoofer for the heart-pounding low frequencies.

Lifestyle Solutions addressed the design and build-out of the room, and specialized in the acoustics-related matters, while Custom Works designed and installed the A/V elements. “We designed the room by decoupling the ceiling and walls for sound isolation,” Sarwar says, adding that the limited amount of space presented a challenge. “Acoustical fabric-wrapped panels float off the wall with lighting revealed between each row of panels.” The A/V setup includes balanced subwoofer cabling and interconnects from AudioQuest, Liberty AV speaker cable and Ethereal Velox 18Gbps-certified HDMI.

For impressive pictures to go with the impressive sounds, the integrators specified a Sony 4K VPL-HW675ES projector and 120-inch Screen Innovations Zero Edge Pure White screen. When it comes to other dazzling visuals, the lighting behind the panels is comprised of color-changing LED strips from LIFX, which can be operated by the URC MX-990 remote control and URC MRX-2 iOS kit for iPad control. Lutron dimmers for the rest of the room lighting can be controlled via URC devices. Eye-catching ceiling and carpet designs also enhance the space.

Systems Design & Installation

Lifestyle Solutions, Bristow, Va.
Custom Works AV, Bristow, Va.

Equipment Highlights

URC control
Lutron, LIFX lighting
Sony 4K projector
Screen Innovations projection screen
Triad speakers, JL Audio subwoofers
AudioQuest, Liberty, Ethereal cabling
Marantz, Parasound, Oppo electronics
Torus Power power conditioning
Cool Components rack cooling

Bronze Award: Home Theater $75,000 and Up

Entertainment Goes Beyond Theater Walls in Basement Rebuild

The owner of this award-winning home theater didn’t want a dedicated room just to watch movies, but considering the large extended family rather envisioned turning this underutilized basement into an open space that combined a “wow” home theater and another comfortable living space. Complementing the theater is a full kitchen and sitting area featuring a wine fridge, beverage center, dishwasher, microwave, and a table to seat four.

The result of Kensignton, Md.-based Casaplex’s work in the home theater portion includes a 123-inch Vutec acoustically transparent screen, 5.1-channel Pro Audio Technology speaker system, 12 zones of Crestron centralized lighting control, distributed audio, distributed video, and two iPads for control. The room also features two tiers of seating using six powered recliners from United Leather, and a third row option in the bar countertop that features custom stools with great sight lines.

Casaplex treated the room with custom acoustical elements, and for both practicality and aesthetics, and incorporated a hidden door for access to the unfinished area where the Middle Atlantic rack is housed. “For a special touch, our firm incorporated a custom sliding double barn door, designed to give whoever is entering the space the anticipatory feeling that they are about to experience something special,” says Casaplex’s Alex Kane. The Sony 4K projector sits enclosed behind non-reflective glass in the soffit, and is cooled by an Active Thermal Management Cool Cube device with its own duct work.
“The real challenge resulted from taking several rooms not intended to be an open media room and lounge area, and crafting a unique space to meet all of the client’s requirements,” says Kane. “The original layout was not conducive for the initial design, so we completed demolition and construction ourselves to remove several walls and fully renovate the entire space including the kitchen.”

Systems Design & Installation

Casaplex, Kensington, Md.

Equipment Highlights

Crestron controls
Sony 4K projector
Vutec projection screen
Pro Audio Technology, Sonance speakers
United Leather seating
Marantz, Oppo electronics
Middle Atlantic rack

Bronze Award: Home Theater, $75,000 and Less

Powerful Atmos Theater Answers Zen-Influenced Aesthetic Demands

For some home technology enthusiasts, home theaters stand out because of their performance; for others, it’s the aesthetics. This owner wanted a balance of both, and it took the synergy between installer SentimentHiFi (Shanghai, China) and designer MTGi Space to successfully take on the task.

On the A/V performance side, audio fills the room in a Dolby Atmos setup fueled by Marantz gear to front and surround speakers from RBH (SI-663, SI-740 and SI-744 models) and in-ceiling SpeakerCraft AIM Two speakers. “The noble Scan-Speak [driver] units are the guarantee of SI series. Regardless of high frequency or low frequency, it is real with lots of detail,” says SentimentHiFi CEO GuangYu Feng, adding that SpeakerCraft’s ability to adjust directionality aids the sonics. “This kind of technology creates more direct sound to viewers, clear and splendid.”
On the video side, Sentiment filled the front wall canvas with an acoustically transparent 168-inch screen from United Screen, while 4K imagery is provided by a Sony projector.

To address the aesthetics part of the home theater equation, SentimentHiFi worked with MTGi Space to complete the decoration portion of the project. “The theater design was inspired by the Eastern Zen, they used the wooden decorative surface and blocks, which not only could solve the sound absorption and the diffusion of the sound but also increased the sense of space,” says Feng.
The project was made a bit trickier by the homeowner’s request to have the theater completed within three days of renovation. Not easy to achieve, but MTGi used modular products, with the holes and wiring pre-installed leaving workers to do the connecting and labeling, according to Feng, which greatly reduced installation time and left the homeowner even more impressed.