Adam Feldman is a doctor by trade, but what his patients don’t know is that he moonlights as an A/V hobbyist, having orchestrated a high-tech DIY theater in his basement over the course of six months. He started out like so many DIYers do: as a teenager interested in music. “I got my first speaker system in college,” says Adam. “They were so big, they took up the entire room.”

Over the years, he moved from place to place, but his love for music and electronics never faded, especially considering that he and his wife both play musical instruments. Then, with the advent of DVD, video quality caught up to audio, and Adam knew a home theater was in his future.

About eight years ago, Adam and his wife moved into a new home that had an unfinished basement and started planning. He went online to absorb as much information as he could. On AVS Forum, he met Dennis Erskine of Design Cinema Privée —an expert on theater design. Adam wanted help on the design of the theater, but he didn’t want to hand over the project to an A/V consultant, preferring to stay involved and in control. He photographed the raw space and sent the images and dimensions to Erskine, who simply created a set of plans for the layout of the room. The entire collaboration was done remotely. “I had one chance to build this theater, and build it right. I didn’t want to mess up something as important as layout,” says Adam.

With a detailed set of blueprints in place, Adam found a local contractor to help build out the shell of the room. Occasionally there were issues that arose where Erskine offered advice (such as the contractor’s desire to put hat channel between two layers of drywall). But essentially, Adam took it from there.

One thing Adam had not thought about was how the contractor was going to get raw materials into the basement in the first place. “Access to the basement was via the stairway, which was insufficient,” says Adam. “The builder had almost 2,000 pounds of sand that was to be installed in the stage for sound-dampening, and we just didn’t know how we were going to get it down there.” Adam allowed the contractor to install Bilco basement doors on the outside of the house to allow workers to get in and out of the basement with ease.

While the shell of the room was being constructed, Adam picked out all of the equipment. “Again, I did a lot of research online to figure out what equipment would work well in my room,” says Adam. He chose a Sharp Z9000 projector, which he has since upgraded to a Sharp VX-Z20000, and a Stewart Firehawk screen. For audio, he installed B & W speakers in the columns around the side and back of the room, with the center channel and sub residing under the screen and front channel speakers to the side of it. A Pioneer Elite 94TXH receiver quarterbacks the system. Feldman purchased black leather Berkline chairs on the Internet, and used acoustically transparent Guilford of Main fabric on the walls. “My wife and I installed all the fabric and acoustical treatments and my buddy and I pulled much of the low-voltage wire,” says Adam.

Unfortunately, Adam had to live with the low 80-inch ceiling in the room, but made the most out of the situation. “We thought about other options, such as excavating the foundation to increase the room’s height, but when my wife heard the word, ‘blasting’ she vetoed that idea,” says Adam. To make the room appear taller, he painted the ceiling a nondescript gray to detract attention from it, installed rope lighting, and maximized seating locations. “I’m 6’1” and I feel comfortable in the room,” he says.

While Adam did get some help on this DIY theater, he never lost control of his role as project manager, directing the construction team and working closely with Erskine to come up with a great layout. “Even my wife was tossing out construction and A/V lingo toward the end,” says Feldman.

The result is an incredible room that is not just a retreat, but a gathering place for the entire family and even other families on the block. The theater has become a popular spot for the neighborhood kids, and the place to watch the Super Bowl. “It’s now a joke in the neighborhood that the wives don’t want their husbands to see the room, or else they are going to want a home theater of their own,” says Adam. And with results like these, is that really such a bad thing?

Quick Hits:
Year Completed: 2002 (with equipment upgrades since)
Room Size: 17x21
Length of Project: 6 months (design, construction, and installation)
Total Cost: approximately $40,000
Original Budget: $20,000