A Speaker-driven Home Theater Design
Aug 6, 2007 12:00 PM
The following information is courtesy of the 2006 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.
2006 CEDIA Electronic Lifestyles Winner
Designers' Awards: Large Home Theater
Gold Technical Design, Level IV ($160,000-210,000)
This performance theater was designed into a new home-construction project that did not have a basement or crawl space. The house sits on a concrete slab, and when Electronics Design Group (EDG) first joined the project, the theater risers had already been poured incorrectly. EDG's first challenge was to determine the right size screen for the room, and then layout the proper riser configuration. All viewers now have great sight lines. Secondly, when in use, the room could not interfere with the master suite above or the family room adjoining one wall. Designing the room with isonene insulation, resilient channel, and dual layers of sheetrock aided in eliminating the noise that would disturb other spaces.
EDG's biggest challenge in the development of this room was educating the trades that were building the room. None had ever worked on a large-scale performance room, and there was a learning curve in getting them up to speed on how the room would be constructed to meet audio and video requirements. They were able to place all equipment for the room in the plan, and construction worked to that layout. The projector was located at the very rear of the room, and the racks are in an adjoining closet. The TFT display on the surround processor allows easy management of video sources, as one cannot see the screen from the equipment rack. The control system is a Crestron system with a 5.7in. color wireless touchpanel. Operation is intuitive for all sources, which includes management of HVAC and lights.
Equipment and speaker placement drove the design of the room. As the client wanted the best performance video, EDG did not employ a perforated screen. The center channel was placed above the screen, with an angle down toward the seats. The left, right, side, and rear channels are all hidden behind acoustically transparent fabrics. The treatment product produced terrific results, with the best audio control for the space. The proper absorption, reflection, and diffraction made this room dynamic for both high- and low-level sound passages. Audio is calibrated to 85dB, with a maximum of 105dB.
HVAC was designed to minimize distracting noise in the room, and a remotely located radon fan has a register located right over the projector’s exhaust, pulling the heat from the unit. When shutting the system off, the remote fan is timed to run for as long as the projector’s cooling fan operates.
Calibration of the theater was completed by an ISF- and HAA-certified technician, bringing the system to industry standards, and presenting a very film-like image. EDG did not experience any issues in performing the calibration, as it had complete and discrete control of lights, and ws able to trim both subwoofers to the proper level.
Equipment list
| Time and Expertise Worksheet | |
| Task | Hours |
| Client Interviews | 12 |
| Electronic Design and Engineering: | 32 |
| Proposal and System Documentation Preparation: | 6 |
| Project Management: | 32 |
| Pre-wire/Rough-in: | 14 |
| Trim-out: | 8 |
| Shop Time for Racking and Testing: | 12 |
| Programming: | 24 |
| Final Installation and Calibration: | 64 |
| Client Instruction: | 4 |
| Interior Design and/or Architecture by your Company: | 8 |
| Interior Design and/or Architecture by Others: | 12 |
| Project Management by Others: | 12 |
| Other time: builder's interior designs, drawings done on paper: | 4 |
| Total Hours to Complete: | 244 |
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