Designer-inspired home theater

Nov 5, 2007 8:00 AM

The following information is courtesy of the 2007 CEDIA Electronic Lifestyles Designers' Choice Awards. For more information on how to become a member of CEDIA, or information on its awards program please visit www.cedia.org or call (800) 669-5329.

2007 CEDIA Electronic Lifestyles Entry
Best Large Home Theater
Level II ($98,500 – $115,000)

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Our client’s wish was to balance state-of-the-art sound and video within a designer-inspired environment without breaking the bank. This was accomplished by calculating modal frequencies based on the initial room dimensions. The builder accommodated slight changes to the envelope to insure that modal frequency overlap was minimized and seating placement was optimized. The room’s walls were constructed for sound attenuation to the adjacent family room. This construction provides a stiffing of the walls to enhance bass response. The end result was that our client was ecstatic with what turned out to be perfect balance between acoustic and aesthetic considerations.

The height of the room created a challenge for the projector offset. A floating soffit system created a visual break on the walls which allowed both proper projector offset and placement for 4 surround speakers. A Crestron MT-1000 remote was selected as the user interface which provides complete ease of use and reliability. With its ergonomic joystick and backlit buttons the MT-1000 is the ideal theater remote.

All speakers were located behind a baffle wall, literally a sound transparent fabric wall constructed of wood frames. This created a visual boundary to effectively hide reference quality speakers, yet audibly they were still part of the room. This theater is equipped with a 7.1 surround system. The front left and right speakers are Revel F12 towers that sit on a 6" high stage and are hidden behind an acoustically transparent baffle wall. The center speaker is a Revel C12 mounted on a shelf just below the 100"16:9 Stewart Firehawk SST Filmscreen (developed as a joint venture between Stewart and Sony specifically for the VPLVW- 50). The subwoofer is a B12 Revel that was placed on the floor under the center speaker. The side and rear surrounds are provided by four Revel S12 speakers which round out the 7.1 system and maximize the "theater experience."

Speaker placement was optimized by keeping the speakers as equidistant as possible from the main listening area. After completion of the basic installation all speakers were verified to be "in phase" and then a sound pressure level meter was used to tweak the decibel level at the main listening area. All channels were adjusted to within + 1dB of 75dB at normal listening levels. This allows the speakers to peak at approximately 105dB during peak output. Theater temperature and ventilation are maintained by a dedicated 1 1/2 ton air handling system with four incoming vents and one return air vent which were incorporated into the “Starlight” fiber optic ceiling panels.

Video calibration was performed using the Digital Video Essentials disc to optimize the viewing experience and the color temperature of the Sony VPL-VW50 projector.

Equipment list

1 Sony VPL-VW50 Home Theater Projector featuring resolution to 1080P

1 Stewart Filmscreen SNDQ100HFHSSTWEZX Luxus deluxe Screenwall HDTV format 100" diagonal

4 Revel S-12 Side/rear SS Speakers

1 Revel B12 10" Powered Subwoofer

1 Revel C12 3-way Center Channel Loudspeaker

2 Revel F12 3-way Loudspeaker

1 Arcam AVR300 7.1 Channel Digital Surround Receiver

1 DirecTV HR20-700 HDTV Digital Satellite Receiver with built in DVR

1 Sony BDPS1 Blu-ray 1080p Output

1 Sony RDRVX530 DVD-R

1 Escient FP-1 Music Manager with Universal Dock for iPod

1 Integra CDC-3.4, 6 disc CD-R/RW Changer with mp-3 Playback Support

1 Crestron MT-1000C Compact Wireless Touchscreen with 16 Programmable Buttons

2 Crestron CLW-DIM1RFW Infinite Wall Box Dimmer, 1 button

1 Crestron CLW -DIMS4RFW Infinite Wall Box Dimmer

1 Crestron CNTBLOCK 8 Terminal Hub

1 Crestron AES Adagio Entertainment System

1 Crestron CNPWS-75 External Power Supply

1 Crestron CNRFGWA-418 1-way Remote RF Receiver

1 APC S10 S-type Power Conditioner with Battery Output 1000/va/700w

1 Middle Atlantic AX-S43, 43 Space Equipment Access System

1 Middle Atlantic D-4, 4 Space Rack Drawer

1 Middle Atlantic FC-4-1C Progressive Thermostat Fan Control

1 Middle Atlantic PD-915R 9 outlet/ single 15 AMP circuit, surge/spike protected rack mount power

1 Middle Atlantic TRACK 50b Ax-s Service Tracks

1 Middle Atlantic TS 1640 AX-s Service Stand

Middle Atlantic Rack Shelves and Hardware

Tributaries Interconnect cables

Time and Expertise Worksheet
Task	Hours
Client Interviews	12
Electronic Design and Engineering:	20
Proposal and System Documentation Preparation:	10
Project Management:	20
Pre-wire/Rough-in:	16
Trim-out:	22
Shop Time for Racking and Testing:	16
Programming:	14
Final Installation and Calibration:	80
Client Instruction:	2
Interior Design and/or Architecture by your Company:	0
Interior Design and/or Architecture by Others:	6
Project Management by Others:	10
Other time: builder's interior designs, drawings done on paper:	0
Total Hours to Complete:	228