Born-Again Basement | May 01, 2007 | by Rachel Cericola

AWARD: Runner-Up - Home Theater $50,001-$100,000

The goal of this home theater was to keep everything hidden - and out of the way.

After a referral from their interior designer, this homeowner contacted the Audio Video Pros to transform their basement, which was hardly being used, into the most envied area of the house.

There were three goals: To have an easy-to-use control system; to manage the homeowner’s growing DVD collection; and to keep all of the equipment hidden from sight.

In keeping with the “hidden” philosophy, most of the equipment was located in the back of the room. A radio-frequency touchscreen controller was custom programmed so that all members of the family could easily operate the audio and video system, as well as the lighting, from any seat in the room.

As for audio, the center-channel speaker was placed behind the Screen Research screen. The left and right speakers and subwoofers were installed behind fabric-covered acoustic panels on each side of the screen. The surround speakers are in the columns located around the two rows of seating. The acoustical wall absorption panels were integrated into the millwork to improve the room’s overall sound characteristics. An additional acoustic panel was installed on the ceiling in order to keep sound reflections to a minimun and to maintain clean and clear dialog.

The solid cherry base molding, column trim, riser trim, door casing and crown molding were the perfect accent color the rooms calm “grassy” feel.

The installer was pleased how smooth the entire installation was, and it helped that his clients allowed him to do his job.

Hidden Home Theater
An RF-based touchscreen is used to control all of the A/V equipment, which is hidden in the back of the room.

Details, Details
The solid cherry base molding, column trim, riser trim, door casing and crown molding were the perfect accent color to the rooms calm "grassy" feel.

EQUIPMENT LIST

Audio/Video
• Atlantic Technology 8200LR THX LCR Speakers (3)
• Atlantic Technology 4200LR THX Surround Speakers (6)
• Atlantic Technology 642SBe THX 12-Inch Subwoofers (2)
• Runco CL-610 High Definition DLP Projector
• Runco RUHK-004725 Ceiling Mount
• Screen Research ClearPix2 THX 110-Inch Screen
• Marantz SR-8001 THX Surround Receiver
• Escient SE-D1 Music/Movie Manager
• Sony DVP-CX7777ES 400 Disc DVD/CD Changer
• Toshiba HD-A2 HD-DVD Player
• Motorola 5000 HD Cable Box

Cables
• AudioQuest HDMI-1 HDMI Cable
• AudioQuest NRG-2 Power Cord
• AudioQuest YIQ-1 Component Video Cable
• Liberty Wire Digiflex Subwoofer Cables and Y-cords
• Liberty Wire UltraCap 12/2 12ga THX Speaker Wire
• Liberty Wire UltraCap 14/2 14ga THX Speaker Wire
• Liberty Wire Z-500 THX Interconnect A/V Cables

Furniture
• Bass Ind. Celebrity Loungers (8)
• Bass Ind. Movie Reel Tables (2)
• Benchmark Metropolitan Popcorn Machine
• Custom-Built by AVP Riser, Woodwork, Base, Trim, Crown, Columns, Acoustic Panels & Frames

Home Control
• Universal Remote MX-3000 Touchscreen Remote
• Universal Remote MRF-300 RF Base Station
• Lutron Grafik Eye 4-Zone Controller

Power Protection/Conditioning
• Furman Elite 15PF Power/Surge/Conditioner
• Furman PWRKIT-TL Power Kit