Okay, folks, time for a little of that old fashioned brutal honesty. Not everyone will have a perfect rectangular or square room to put their home theater hardware in. In fact, more than likely, most will have to deal with some unusual shaping, which means figuring out ways to deal with horrendous acoustics.
And in the case of today’s sweet home theater, they had a whole lot of weird nooks and crannies to work around. I’d say the room was at least partially hexagonal with some…odd lumps. So to work around that, they added various wood features to the room to give it a sort of defining feature, like a proscenium. Then they added the hardware.
And oh, what hardware it was–they put in a Marantz projector, an SMX screen, Triad speakers and a Denon DVD player. Plus, because the homeowner in question had a large family, they’ve got seating for eight.
The huge handicap that was the oddly shaped room becoming an incredible home theater setup definitely qualifies this for sweet home theater status.
Ah, the multipurpose basement. Sometimes called the playroom in times past, it represents a great, truly sort of American utility in which families troop down into the basement to do most of their playing. The kids have their friends over, the folks might have a party, family game night usually goes on down there. But sometimes, the multipurpose basement takes on a whole new life as a home theater setup.
Considering that this particular multipurpose basement had about twenty five hundred square feet of space to work with, there was more than enough for lots of accoutrements like a bar, an exercise area, and of course a home theater. It seats a dozen people, for crying out loud. It’s also right in the middle of everything, so it’s almost a focal point of the room.
Plus, there’s plenty of fantastic media goodies in here too, like a Sony projector, a Stewart filmscreen, Sonus speakers, a Sony Blu-ray player, and plenty more.
You add up the sheer utility found in this room, considering that it’s only a very small part of the whole, and you come to one inescapable conclusion–it’s one sweet home theater setup.
It may be retro but this projector is indeed a classic. Taken out of the pages of 1950s’ gadgets, the Stereo Realist Model 81 3D slide projector looks every inch like Darth Vader’s head of the Star Wars fame. Made by Davie White Sales Company of Milwaukee, it features dual lenses and operate on 500-watt bulbs cooled by two separate heater fans. Now if you are a collector of old school stuff, this classic projector is available at eBay. There is one bid at the moment but the reserve price has not been met yet so you can still take a crack at it!
Remember how I was talking about slow and steady winning the home theater race? How great it was that some people took their time and learned everything they could about home theater before they installed theirs? Well…for Audiovisual Concepts And Solutions’ Andy Caraballo, that means less than nothing.
This guy actually had a two month deadline, start to finish, and he was working under a handicap that would balk most of us–the client in question was an interior designer.
Yeah. Basically, this is the equivalent of trying to remove a doctor’s appendix, or trying a lawyer’s tax case. But as you can see from the picture at right, Caraballo definitely came through. And what did he put in there? Well, there’s a lot of sweet gear in there–he’s got Acoustic Innovations home theater seating, a SIM2 projector, a Da-Lite projector screen and speakers from James Loudspeakers.
For putting together a home theater setup that made an interior designer happy, well, that can only be called sweet.
Epson has been known to deliver a wide variety of projectors but for the coming Holidays, here is one offering that should be a multi-functional addition. The Epson MovieMate 60 is not only a projector but a CD/DVD player which features a microphone input along with stereo speakers. The Epson MovieMate 60 should be a neat addition to the home for family entertainment options like gaming, movie viewing or even displaying various pictures on a wider display.
I know that headline’s something of a puzzler to you, because I really hadn’t heard of something like this either. A floating screen isn’t exactly the kind of thing you run into every day, you know
See, the centerpiece of this sweet home theater setup is that “floating screen” I mentioned. A floating screen is actually what it sounds like, a screenwall based around an optical illusion in which a one hundred ten inch Stewart screen appears to be floating in the middle of that wall. It isn’t actually floating, of course, it only just looks like it.
It’s not just the screen that brings people in for this one, though–there’s also a Runco projector, Paradigm speakers, and an Xbox 360 doing double duty on DVDs and games.
Between the unusual centerpiece and the array of quality hardware to back it up, there’s no doubt that this is a sweet home theater setup no matter how you look at it.
Great news! InFocus Corporation has announced about the shipping of its latest premium business projector models- the IN5534 and IN5504 that stands in the line of InFocus IN5500 series. The maintenance free design and innovative features make the IN5534 and IN5504, the most cost-effective high performance projectors available.
Both the IN5534 and IN5504 projectors offer picture reliability of DLP technology from Texas Instruments and BrilliantColor. They support native WUXGA (1920 x 1200) resolution, automatic sensors for ceiling detection and long-life lamps. The projectors are ideal for boardrooms, training rooms, auditoriums as well as public environments where 24 x 7 operations are a must.
Besides, both the IN5534 and IN5504 CLP projectors offer unique customizable skins and cable management, allowing you to blend the projector seamlessly into any environment.
Oh yes, we all know the fervor of the day you decide to get started building a home theater setup. Especially if you want to build a really sweet one. You crave nothing so much as to get started, because deep in the back of your mind, all you can think is: “Sooner started, sooner done”.
But for Steve Caesare, that temptation was one he fought down, because his home theater projected lasted an awe-inspiring three years. And that’s why we call it the three year home theater.
What went into this, besides a lot of time and, naturally, cash? Good question–let’s get you an answer. This home theater setup includes a Da-Lite one hundred thirty three inch screen, a Pioneer receiver, JBL speakers, Samsung Blu-ray player, and a Sony projector.
Between three years of careful handcrafting, research, and consideration of the perfect product for every available slot, well, it’s clear enough that this is one sweet home theater setup.
A lot of people aren’t fond of widescreen. I heard the moaning often enough during my video store clerk days about letterboxing and suchlike, and I doubt it’s improved much sense. But for guys like Wayne Hanson, widescreen isn’t a format–it’s a challenge.
While most home theater owners dream about 16:9, Hanson went for the brass ring that is 2:35.
And get it he did–you can see it at right. But this isn’t just about the monstrous girth of Hanson’s screen, no sir! This is about plenty of other choice gear included in the setup, like a BenQ front projector in DLP (probably better given the screen he’s on), M&K speakers, a Da-Lite hundred and thirty three inch screen, a PS3 straight out of Sony and plenty more.
Just managing to get a 2:35 screen makes for a pretty sweet setup, but when you’ve got all that other stuff in there too, you end up with something that’s almost past sweet.
Anyone else remember that scene from Get Smart where Max Smart has to walk through a series of corridors and passageways before finally being able to access the phone booth that provides access to CONTROL? Well, today’s sweet home theater setup is a lot like that, except not quite so convoluted.
Today’s sweet home theater setup owner, you see, installed–get this!–a FINGERPRINT LOCK on his home theater. You literally cannot get in without the man’s fingerprint or the willingness to tear hell out of locked doors.
And it’s probably a good idea he’s got that lock on there, because there’s a panoply of high-powered hardware in there. Just for example, he’s got a homemade hundred and ten inch screen, a Panasonic projector, Polk speakers, Denon receiver and an Xbox 360 with HD DVD add on. In retrospect, the owner jokes, it was a bad move. He’s actually planning to bring in a PS3 for the Blu-ray capabilities.
But between the lock and the choice gear, it’s definitely a sweet home theater setup.
The phrase “they don’t make ‘em like that any more” applies to a whole lot of items that we’re nostalgic for. For me, it applies to old-school RPG gaming, a lot of horror movies, and Jolly Ranchers in the bar form. Yeah, they weren’t always little chunks–sometimes they came in these long thin bars that you could either treat like lollipops or bite off, gumming your teeth up so hard they could scarcely move.
But for one home theater buff, the phrase best applies to his JBL home theater speakers, which were made back in 1972 and were part of his stereo system for years. He keeps them as part of the system essentially because they work as well as they do.
And it’s not just retro tech driving this system either–he’s also got a Sony receiver, Advent surround and center channel speakers to back up his JBLs, a Panasonic projector, and more. There’s even a little more retro tech in the form of a Samsung VCR.
A little of the old and plenty of the new helps make one sweet home theater setup.
InFocus continues its development of projectors for private and business use. The latest InFocus projector series are made for conference rooms and classrooms. The InFocus IN3900 series should be a useful projector which allows users to annotate, append and highlight projected content wirelessly through an optional LifeBoard Wand which is certainly something that can make gatherings and meetings informative and precise. And as most projectors in the market, the new IN3900 series don’t need a PC. A USB will do for this projector that boasts of 3,000 lumens and WXGA native resolutions.
There are two models under the InFocus IN3900 series. They are the IN3902 (XGA, 1024×768) and the IN3904 (WXGA, 12800×800). Both are currently available.
Okay, just in case that headline threw you a bit, what it actually means is a home theater setup with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 for less than fifteen thousand dollars. Yeah, I know it read like a Japanese real estate listing, but still, in the end it works.
And it’s also terribly important, because most home theaters do NOT have a 2.35:1 ratio. It just doesn’t happen in home theaters that cost less than fifteen grand because it’s actually pretty difficult to achieve without specialized equipment.
But this one did exactly that. And what did it pull this little wonder off with? Adjustable side masking panels. But that’s just a start–they’ve also got a Denon receiver, Home Theater Direct bookshelf speakers, JBL subwoofer, Oppo DVD player, Optoma projector, and a homemade one hundred and three inch screen.
It achieved the nearly impossible and did it for a shockingly low amount of cash as home theaters go. So when you consider them all together, there’s no other choice but to count this one as a sweet home theater setup.
A new projector is available in the UK. Samsung has released the A600B today and if you are looking for a new toy in your life you should definitely inspect it. The projector features 1,000 ANSI lumens, HD resolution, a 3,000:1 contrast ratio and a lamp capable of offering you 4,000 hours of life in eco mode. The projector measures only 13.5 x 6.4 x 13.7 inches and weighs just 10.3 pounds. The price for the device hasn’t been announced yet but the A600B sells for $1,795 in the USA.
How would you like to own an iPhone/iPod dock that was capable of projecting stuff on your walls whenever you need it to? Well there is one available for you and it’s coming from Sparkz. Besides doing all the regular things you expect from a dock, the device packs a pico projector inside that is able to offer you a 640 x 480 resolution, a 60-inch viewing area, stereo speakers and A/V and VGA inputs. As you can see, the device can connect to various other gadgets and it can be yours for just $495. What do you say?
Okay, experts in the audience, I’m sorry, because by now you’ve probably already made this decision so I”m not giving you anything new. This one’s for the new folks in the audience. But I’d appreciate it if you went down to the comments section and kicked in for their sake!
All right, if you haven’t already bought a projector yet, you might be puzzling over the lists of available models and wondering, just what exactly do I need? I’m going to try and help you with that by explaining some of the ups and downs of each type of projector to help you make that decision.
In general, LCD projectors are commonly believed to offer “richer colors”, and are said ot have “excellent contrast” which in turn makes dark scenes show better details, as well as making outdoor scenes look brighter. Plus, LCD projectors tend to operate cooler and have quieter fans, giving you possibly a longer life span (less risk of overheat) as well as a quieter experience in which to watch your movies.
Sounds good, I know, but DLP projectors love to talk about their “rich and deep contrast levels” that will actually make pretty awesome looking images even in a brightly lit room. And, there’s less clipping involved in fast-paced action scenes. Perhaps the strongest point in their favor is that they can be built without air filters, meaning that dust is less of an issue and maintenance is simpler, less often required, and less problematic when it is.
Based on that, an easy rule of thumb would be, if you watch mostly horror flicks, go LCD. There’s better detail in the dark, and brighter outdoor scenes, and that’s where most horror takes place–in the dark, outdoors. DLP users should be action buffs, especially martial arts action fans, because they can keep up with all the flips and jumps and wire-fu.
So hopefully, that’ll help give you an idea of what to buy as far as projectors go.
We’ve talked about some really sweet home theater setups up and down the dial, from bargain basement theaters to the spectacularly extravagant. But very few home theaters breach that seven figure mark, and today, we’ve got one that did.
Ivan Messer’s home theater setup contains fully one million dollars worth of audio products alone. In fact, most every single audio component installed in the array comes in multiples. What he’s got in there is downright shocking, and he built this setup mostly to prove that he could.
What does he have in there, you’re probably asking by now? It’s downright phenomenal–here’s the rundown: a one hundred twenty inch Stewart Filmscreen, a Sony projector, two Sony Bravia televisions (one forty inch and one fifty two inch), and two–yes, TWO–Sony HD receivers.
But here’s where it gets wild: he’s got fully twenty four McIntosh MC-1.2KW amplifiers. Your jaw might drop there, but hold it in–this home theater setup has a GRAND TOTAL of fully, unless I misread the spec sheet, thirty eight amplifiers. I had to do some MATH in there because there’s maybe eight different kinds of McIntosh amp in there. There are another eight McIntosh speaker systems on top of that, plus an additional nine regular McIntosh speakers.
It’s a sound system that might be classifiable as a weapon if you pick the right song, and for that reason, it’s definitely one sweet home theater setup.
Oh, sure, we all love reading about how some guy dropped a cool million putting home audio components by the busload into his setup. We love reading about home theater setups that cost six million bucks. But most of us will likely never SEE six million dollars in our lifetime unless we see it in a movie. So for the rest of us, there are great bargain theater setups like the kind Mike Falzon put in.
Mike Falzon’s home theater was relatively inexpensive because he did a lot of the work himself. Lots of design and even some construction was all on his own time, and therefore, reduced the amount of cash needed to go into the setup.
This in turn allowed him to stock it with plenty of choice amenities and features, including a snack bar, poster lightboxes, a Denon receiver and upscaling DVD player, Cambridge Soundworks speakers and subwoofer, and a Panasonic projector with a hundred and ten inch screen he built himself.
All things considered, that’s a pretty sweet setup, and just goes to show how much you can do when you’re willing to do some of it yourself.
When Michael Tarasenco was just thirteen years old, his father cosigned a loan for him to buy his first stereo system. That stereo weighed in at a whopping three and a half grand, but this was the starting point for Tarasenco’s love of audio. And this love of audio followed him into his sweet home theater setup.
This grew out of a longing for Tarasenco to consolidate and have an acoustically proper room in which he could listen to his thirty thousand dollar audio system.
He got a lot of help from friends and family, and as such, built a magnificent home theater setup in his basement. The components contained in that setup include an Onkyo 7.1 receiver, a Panasonic Blu-ray player, an Oppo upconverting DVD, Paradigm Reference Studio speakers with Polk rear surrounds, a Sanyo projector, a Da-Lite ninety two inch screen, and more.
While it does a bang up job on music, it also puts out a pretty mean movie soundtrack and still pays attention to the pictures. It’s a sweet home theater setup no matter how you look at it.
Now HERE is an awesome idea, folks–Tom Hetzel, who lives in a townhouse in Cleveland, has neighbors surrounding him in pretty close quarters.
So how’d he beat that? What he did was he built a room…in his basement. The “room within a room” concept provides a little extra dead air insulation so that he can have his sweet home theater setup and not bother the neighbors. He even showed the neighbors the construction process and how the various additions would be largely unnoticeable.
How sweet is this setup, you ask? Sweet like candy, I’ll tell you that much. He’s got Acoustic Research speakers, a ninety two inch Draper screen, a Pioneer receiver, a Samsung DVD player and a Sanyo projector. The Acoustic Research 910s he’s got, for example have two twelve inch woofers, and one liquid cooled titanium tweeter. They weigh a whopping one hundred forty seven pounds each.
Considering that the neighbors actually approve of this monster setup, you know it’s got to be pretty sweet to pump out that kind of force yet not wake the neighbors…or even the kids.
Okay, folks, time for a little of that old fashioned brutal honesty. Not everyone will have a perfect rectangular or square room to put their home theater hardware in. In fact, more than likely, most will have to deal with some unusual shaping, which means figuring out ways to deal with horrendous acoustics.
