One would think that the luxury of having a condo in the ski mecca of Telluride Village, Colo., would be enough for most people. Not so for this condo owner. When faced with the decision on how to renovate an underutilized room, a home theater seemed the perfect option.

And why not? The area is host to a well-known film festival, and when he’s not using the condo himself, the owner rents it out, sometimes to people in the film industry. To make this plan a reality, the owner called in Sean Greer of Experience AV, Montrose, Colo., and got a lot more than just a big screen to satisfy his entertainment appetite.

What he got was a 12-seat theater with a 137-inch screen, mind-blowing automation and a star-studded ceiling to lift viewers right out of their seats.

This room gets revved up even before guests have settled into their seats. As people enter the room, a motion sensor trips, signaling a Control4 system to turn on the lights, warm up the Anthem video projector and boot up the Sony 400-disc Blu-ray changer. All that’s left to do is select a title from an iPad running a Control4 app.
Once the user picks a movie, the lights dim and the motion sensor switches modes. Now if someone gets up for a snack or someone else enters the room while the movie is playing, the only lights that come on are the floor-mounted LED strips.

While the ski trails and local movie houses may occasionally be filled with A-listers, this theater has its own stars built in. Above the seats is a 16-by-8-foot star ceiling made up of iSky panels—acoustic panels with twinkling LEDs built in. Greer says the iSky system is the easiest type of starfield to install, and it also is operated by the Control4 system. Surrounding the starfield is an illuminated blue border comprised of Nora LED light strips, which Greer says roll out like tape when they’re installed.

The condo owner appreciates the value of viewing movies as big as they can get and in the proper format, so Greer recommended an SMX 2.35:1 aspect ratio screen. Instead of going with an anamorphic lens on a motorized sled to allow for aspect ratio changes, Greer installed a Panamorph vertical compression lens on the Anthem projector.

Sticking with the Anthem, Greer installed Anthem amps and a preamp matched to nine speakers, plus subwoofers. The result is incredible audio and video performance.

Greer says that people truly can’t believe how he got all that space and performance from what was once such an awkward and ignored room. The picture, automation and lighting effects truly make this room bigger on the inside that it is on the outside. EH

Grant Clauser - Technology and Web Editor, Electronic House

Grant Clauser has been covering home electronics for more than 10 years with editorial roles in several consumer and trade magazines. He's done ISF-level damage to hundreds of reviewed products and has had audio training from Home Acoustics Alliance and Sencore. He's also the author of the book The Trouble with Rivers. Follow him on Twitter @geclauser.