Hidden Gem
A home with historic heritage goes high tech. Old-world charm and modern-day technology are balanced in just the right proportion in this Montclair, New Jersey home. For this 3,500-square-foot Cotswold-style home the task, recalls architect John Reimnitz, “was to create a much larger, modern space for them that still had the same sort of quality and details of the existing house.”  Filed Under: Equipment How To Posted Mon Aug 25, 2008, 8:40 PM ET — By Barbara Gonzalez
Simple ways to set free your photo, music, and video libraries for the “10-foot” home theater experience. Like most people, I have a digital camera, and I also recently bought a high-definition camcorder. They take detailed, gorgeous pictures that I upload onto my computer. And that’s where they’ve been locked up—in hard drive prison. I’ve also started downloading movies and TV shows that I’ve missed from the Internet. I sit at my desk and watch them on my relatively small computer monitor. But it’s not very comfortable or satisfying. And it’s particularly difficult for friends and family to crowd around my computer to see photos of my last vacation or watch the video of my son’s graduation. I transfer my favorite tunes from my computer to my iPod. But when I relax, I want to curl up on the couch cushions and listen to music on my full-range speakers so I can hear the details of the music. I also want to have slide shows for my friends and family (like we did when we had slide projectors) in the comfort of my living room. And the only place I ever want to watch movies is on my 1080p plasma. Filed Under: Equipment Posted Mon Aug 25, 2008, 5:55 PM ET — By Kim Wilson, Photos Randall Cordero
Bringing high-performance home theater to the masses. Home theater is a term that seems to mean different things to different people. However, its true meaning is pretty simple: A home theater is a theater in your home. Technically speaking, a home theater should also re-create an immersive cinematic experience, complete with a large-screen image and a full surround sound system. Filed Under: Pro Interiors $$$ Traditional Posted Wed Feb 20, 2008, 4:25 PM ET — By Blake Jochum
An installer tackles his own home, including the attic. I get control over all the electronics, and she gets control of everything else. That's the deal we made with each other at the beginning of the project. After all, being the manager of the residential systems division and lead residential systems designer at All Pro Sound, would you expect me to not do something special in my own home? After 17 plus years of doing it for everyone else, I was getting to do it for me . . . and Laura, my wife. Filed Under: $$$ Installer Profiles Staff Picks Posted Tue Feb 5, 2008, 5:07 PM ET — By Steve Guttenberg
Kipnis' outer limits theater, or what $6 million will buy. When it comes to home theaters, I thought I'd seen it all. But nothing's come close to this. First, I'm going to try to describe the sheer magnitude of Jeremy Kipnis' theater. His Stewart Snowmatte laboratory-grade screen is the biggest I've ever seen in a home, and in the back of the theater, there's a Sony ultra-high-resolution (4,096-by-2,160) SRX-S110 digital projector. I'm looking everywhere, jotting down questions, and Kipnis sounds almost giddy talking about his theater's capabilities. He refers to his baby, the Kipnis Studio Standard (KSS), as "The Greatest Show on Earth." And from the looks of it, he may be right. Filed Under: Casual $$ Reader Interiors Posted Mon Feb 4, 2008, 5:04 PM ET — By Ray Coronado
We wired the room, installed the equipment, and calibrated the system ourselves—and we couldn't be prouder. My home theater desire started in 1994 when I went to a friend's home theater to watch Jurassic Park on laserdisc. All I could say that day was, "Wow. . .that was amazing." For the next 10 years, my living room was my theater, but my wife suggested that we do a room addition to the house and make it my dedicated home theater. I was all in favor. Filed Under: How To Posted Thu Jan 31, 2008, 10:17 AM ET — By Steve Faber
Lighting, acoustic treatment, and other details to really make your theater your own. Home theater interiors are like fingerprints; it's kind of trite, but it's true. No two are identical. There are dozens of styles and hundreds of variations within them. If you're going for a true dedicated-theater look, you can choose from a traditional design, art deco, or even a theme (such as Star Wars or the Old West). Within the general theater concept, there is a staggering variety of color treatments, acoustic panels, fabrics, flooring, seating, columns, cabinetry, lighting, trim, curtains, speakers (yes, they can be a design consideration), stages, prosceniums, and paint to choose from. Here again, you can consult a professional designer for varying levels of assistance or go it alone. Filed Under: How To Posted Thu Jan 31, 2008, 10:15 AM ET — By Mark Elson
Questions to ask before you sign on the dotted line. I consider myself an experienced gardener. But I recently came across a situation that was just too much, even for my green thumb. Five men and two days later, I realized I just didn't have the expertise to conquer a particularly troublesome planter. I knew when I was licked. Face it; you may encounter things in life that are just beyond your abilities. Not that you couldn't do a yeoman's job installing a home theater, but you might not have the tools, time, or experience. If you find yourself in such a situation, this article and sample contracts should provide some guidelines that will help guarantee a happy result. Filed Under: How To Posted Mon Jan 28, 2008, 4:05 PM ET — By Gary Altunian
Like many homeowners, you probably enjoy home theater, but you'd prefer not to have five speakers and a subwoofer on your living-room floor. Then consider in-wall speakers as a solution. The question is, can you install them yourself, or should you call a professional? The answer is, yes you can install in-walls yourself, with some planning, a few basic tools, and a little patience. Here's a step-by-step overview of the process of installing in-wall (or in-ceiling) speakers, as well as the parts and tools you'll need to complete the job like a pro. Filed Under: Reader Interiors $ Casual Posted Mon Jan 21, 2008, 12:44 PM ET — By Russ Klass
How I got a great basement home theater—without breaking the bank. I love to read about the great, inspirational dedicated theaters in the pages of Audio Video Interiors magazine. However, not everyone, including myself, can afford these sometimes expensive theaters. I thought AVI readers might like to see what a determined homeowner could do on a modest budget. We built our theater for the primary users, our three-person family, but we can add extra seating as needed. Filed Under: Furniture Equipment News Posted Mon Jan 21, 2008, 12:41 PM ET
New bed features loudspeakers by Anthony Gallo Acoustics The fully custom Transport was designed by Alberto Frias following years of research in perceptual psychology and optical illusions. The Transport's integrated high-end audio system features Anthony Gallo Acoustics' four-inch Nucleus Micro speakers, as well as the company's 240-watt MPS subwoofer. Filed Under: Equipment Posted Tue Jan 15, 2008, 11:41 AM ET — By Dan Daley
Seale Moorer's life|ware product makes home automation more accessible, affordable, and sophisticated. Stretching out on the comfortable, wood-trimmed, beige sofa in the hearth room of the Woodland Hall house, it's hard not to get a glimmer of what omnipotence feels like. A few deft touches on a life|point 12.1-inch touchscreen controller transport you throughout this 12,000-square-foot contemporary home in the Columbus, Ohio, suburb of Westerville. The HP 50-inch plasma in the imposing walnut armoire is one of 15 displays throughout the year-old home that can monitor any of the residence's 36 audio zones, 120 DSC Maxsys security zones with 22 cameras, 19 distinct HVAC climates, and 295 Insteon and Vantage lighting zones. After a few minutes of virtually roaming and commanding the architectural equivalent of the USS Enterprise, you could be forgiven for thinking, "What, there are only three Xbox 360s?" Filed Under: $ Reader Interiors Casual Posted Fri Jan 4, 2008, 11:26 AM ET — By Robert Barbiero
The Robelle: my labor of love. The dream of one day having a movie theater in my home was born in the summer of 1976. I was impressed by my friend Brian's dad's theater. It had a dozen or so of those old wooden seats that you'd find in a school auditorium. It had a separate projection booth for the Bell & Howell 16mm projector, and it had an actual stage, with speakers built into the walls. Filed Under: How To Posted Fri Dec 28, 2007, 10:59 AM ET — By J. Makin
Your home theater could hold the key. Alex Martinez knows what prospective home buyers want, even in a tough real-estate market. Alex, a Los Angeles–based real-estate entrepreneur, enjoys continued success, even though the L.A. real-estate segment, like those of most of the United States, is in a sluggish period. He derives his inside knowledge not only from his work, but also because he and partner designer Chris Ewen are new homeowners themselves. Filed Under: $$$ Contemporary Pro Interiors Installer Profiles Posted Fri Dec 21, 2007, 3:04 PM ET — By Darryl Wilkinson
Trying to build the perfect home theater isn't easy, but it sure is worth it. After 42 years in the business, ListenUp's Steven Weiner is still learning how to put together the perfect home theater—and the more he learns, the more he sees how much more there is to know. But don't hold that against him. So far, he's spent nearly half a million dollars building the ultimate demo room as part of his mission to find out. Filed Under: Casual $$ Pro Interiors Posted Thu Dec 20, 2007, 12:24 PM ET — By Krissy Rushing
Actor Donnie Wahlberg is not opposed to bringing his work home with him to this sleek, simple, high-performance home theater. If it weren't for Hollywood, we wouldn't have home theater. It is not only the old movie theaters that today's homeowners find inspiration in—it is also the film community that pushes the envelope for high-tech theater at home. In fact, many early home theaters were film theaters, with directors installing full film-projection systems in their homes in order to watch the dailies. Of course, this type of theater usually required a special staff, such as a professional projectionist, to make the image look right. Filed Under: Casual Reader Interiors $ Posted Fri Dec 14, 2007, 12:03 PM ET — By Ron Wiechmann
How to start from scratch and achieve glory. The seeds for our home theater were planted in the mid-1980s, when the sun would shine through the curtains and put an incessant glare on the TV. I said on many occasions, "When I have a home built, I will have a TV room in the basement with no windows." In 1994, the idea of a home theater sprouted after I went to a home show in the Dayton, Ohio, area and saw a home theater with tiered seating, a 104-inch screen, a front projector, and a laserdisc player. As the idea grew, I was able to design the right-size room into the plans for our new home. Filed Under: $$$ Pro Interiors Casual Posted Mon Dec 10, 2007, 12:08 PM ET — By Krissy Rushing
A theater in Birmingham, Michigan, straddles the line between professional digital cinema and home theater. When we talk about home theater, we normally talk about equipment that is readily available and relatively affordable, as well as brand names that are somewhat recognizable to the mainstream consumer. Bradford Wells, owner of Bradford Wells + Associates in Los Angeles, takes a slightly different approach. Because his business is half home installation and half professional A/V installation, Wells takes some of the best concepts he creates in his professional digital-cinema installations and incorporates them into his home theater business. Filed Under: How To Posted Fri Dec 7, 2007, 5:41 PM ET — By Adrienne Maxwell
Technology and green living converge in the LivingHome. Do you drive a Prius? Shop at Whole Foods Market? Donate to the Natural Resources Defense Council? If so, I have some bad news: You've been labeled. Like the soccer moms and NASCAR dads of yesteryear, you're no longer an individual but a target demographic. From here on out, you shall be known as a "cultural creative"—someone who values products and services that promote design, health, and ecological sustainability. Filed Under: How To Posted Mon Dec 3, 2007, 12:13 PM ET — By Mark Elson
A pair of real-world theaters get a makeover. Back in July 2005, I visited the homes of several families with the common condition that their home entertainment systems were shoehorned into somewhat cozy quarters. The theme of that article was, with proper design, you don't need to reside in Hearst Castle to enjoy the pleasures of a great audio/video system. Sure, the word "theater" can conjure up a veritable Radio City Music Hall. But it's not the size of the screen that matters. Rather, it's your proximity to it and the screen's ability to capture as much of your peripheral vision as possible. In other words, it's about becoming enveloped within the audio and video images. An entertainment system properly crafted for an intimate environment can be fully enjoyable. One of the clear benefits to placing an entertainment system in a cozy environment is the efficient use of space. There is simply no room for clutter. These well-designed systems in our redux rooms provide maximum enjoyment and contribute to happy lives. One of our systems was installed by its owners, who also supplied the design brains and construction brawn. The other system required a professional custom installer, primarily because of lath-and-plaster walls, as well as layout challenges. 1 2 3 4 5 Older Posts >
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