Home Theaters
BY BARBARA DALY
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In years past, the big comfy chair in front of the TV was relaxation’s hottest commodity. Today, the relaxation bar has been raised to impressive heights.
Big screens, high definition, Blu-ray, multimedia racks, surround sound, even dedicated theater rooms are now the way many Americans are choosing to kick back with family and friends.
Homes are becoming multi-media centers, with one remote operating all televisions, CD players and radios simultaneously throughout the interior and exterior of the home.
For those with the space and budget, the dedicated theater room is the ultimate in luxury and style. After all, why trudge out to the multiplex, when you can just saunter down the hall into your own magnificent theater room?
Clayton Phillips II of Home Theater Hi Fi has been designing and installing home theaters for 20 years. He says the idea of having a room just for watching movies always comes from the man of the house. However, when it’s time for furnishings and design, the woman usually takes over.
Theater rooms can be as elaborate and sophisticated as the homeowner desires. Costs generally range from $30,000 to $100,000. The goal is to create a room where you’ll be immersed in the sights and sounds of the movie. Essentials include a large screen, theater chairs on risers or graduated flooring and surround sound.
Pro-A/V and Home Theater Hi Fi, both premier home theater installers in the Central Valley, are THX® certified. Having a THX®-certified system means sound quality that meets movie director George Lucas’ standards.
From start to finish, the design team from Home Theater Hi Fi collaborates with homeowners on colors, fabrics and style. Once the building and installation is complete, the homeowner only has to “push a remote, the lights go down, the curtains part like the Red Sea and the movie starts,” says Clayton Phillips II.
However, the more common trend in Central Valley homes incorporates media systems in the family room, and sometimes even throughout the house. Screens pull down from the ceiling or flat-screen televisions rise up from custom cabinets.
Aesthetically incorporating high-tech needs with the warmth of a home is where custom cabinetry comes in. April Morse of Weber’s Cabinets says, “We build to suit the homeowner’s needs and desires. Usually the husband wants the big TV and the wife wants the nice cabinet to hide it away when it’s not in use.”
Pro A/V in Stockton sells top-of-the-line projectors, plasma and LCD TVs. Like Home Theater Hi Fi, they specialize in integrating audio and video needs throughout the house.
Former major league baseball player Ed Sprague, his wife Kristen and their four children enjoy what Pro A/V accomplished in their Stockton home. Large-screen plasmas are in their workout room, pool room and play room. When the family’s ready to settle down for a night of entertainment, the 100-inch screen pulls down for movies or sporting events. Kristen, an athlete in her own right, having earned the gold medal in synchronized swimming in the 1992 Olympics, says, “We were always traveling with our careers. Now that we have a family, we're homebodies and we like having all our entertainment needs here at home.”
From a central touch pad, fully integrated audio/video systems allow homeowners to turn on a movie in the kids’ room, play iPod tunes in the shower, turn on the TV in the kitchen, and listen to a favorite radio station outside.
This is total home automation – a long, luxurious way from the big comfy chair!
When hiring someone to build a theater room or install an integrated media system, make sure they:
1) Have a contractor’s license
2) Are a CEDIA member
3) Can do an ISF calibration
Big screens, high definition, Blu-ray, multimedia racks, surround sound, even dedicated theater rooms are now the way many Americans are choosing to kick back with family and friends.
Homes are becoming multi-media centers, with one remote operating all televisions, CD players and radios simultaneously throughout the interior and exterior of the home.
For those with the space and budget, the dedicated theater room is the ultimate in luxury and style. After all, why trudge out to the multiplex, when you can just saunter down the hall into your own magnificent theater room?
Clayton Phillips II of Home Theater Hi Fi has been designing and installing home theaters for 20 years. He says the idea of having a room just for watching movies always comes from the man of the house. However, when it’s time for furnishings and design, the woman usually takes over.
Theater rooms can be as elaborate and sophisticated as the homeowner desires. Costs generally range from $30,000 to $100,000. The goal is to create a room where you’ll be immersed in the sights and sounds of the movie. Essentials include a large screen, theater chairs on risers or graduated flooring and surround sound.
Pro-A/V and Home Theater Hi Fi, both premier home theater installers in the Central Valley, are THX® certified. Having a THX®-certified system means sound quality that meets movie director George Lucas’ standards.
From start to finish, the design team from Home Theater Hi Fi collaborates with homeowners on colors, fabrics and style. Once the building and installation is complete, the homeowner only has to “push a remote, the lights go down, the curtains part like the Red Sea and the movie starts,” says Clayton Phillips II.
However, the more common trend in Central Valley homes incorporates media systems in the family room, and sometimes even throughout the house. Screens pull down from the ceiling or flat-screen televisions rise up from custom cabinets.
Aesthetically incorporating high-tech needs with the warmth of a home is where custom cabinetry comes in. April Morse of Weber’s Cabinets says, “We build to suit the homeowner’s needs and desires. Usually the husband wants the big TV and the wife wants the nice cabinet to hide it away when it’s not in use.”
Pro A/V in Stockton sells top-of-the-line projectors, plasma and LCD TVs. Like Home Theater Hi Fi, they specialize in integrating audio and video needs throughout the house.
Former major league baseball player Ed Sprague, his wife Kristen and their four children enjoy what Pro A/V accomplished in their Stockton home. Large-screen plasmas are in their workout room, pool room and play room. When the family’s ready to settle down for a night of entertainment, the 100-inch screen pulls down for movies or sporting events. Kristen, an athlete in her own right, having earned the gold medal in synchronized swimming in the 1992 Olympics, says, “We were always traveling with our careers. Now that we have a family, we're homebodies and we like having all our entertainment needs here at home.”
From a central touch pad, fully integrated audio/video systems allow homeowners to turn on a movie in the kids’ room, play iPod tunes in the shower, turn on the TV in the kitchen, and listen to a favorite radio station outside.
This is total home automation – a long, luxurious way from the big comfy chair!
When hiring someone to build a theater room or install an integrated media system, make sure they:
1) Have a contractor’s license
2) Are a CEDIA member
3) Can do an ISF calibration