Not every home owner wants or can afford a dedicated home cinema space with a marquee, motorized drapes, Italian molding and LED-lit risers, but a modest media room built around good electronics is within most people’s reach. The well-design, but unpretentious room profiled here combines quality equipment and integration to create an enjoyable retreat for the homeowners.  It also happens to be in the house of consumer electronics (CE) professional David Huse, owner of Theater Advice in Dallas, TX.

While the 112-inch Stewart projection screen will catch most people’s attention first, it’s the Martin Logan electrostat speakers that tell you this is a place for definitive music listening. The Velodyne 1,200 watt subwoofer provides the low end frequencies for music as well as the special effects critical for a home theater.

Huse says that designing an attractive and functional space is one of his big passions. In this case, he wanted to create distinction in a bland room without going overboard.  He added just a few simple accoutrements including four custom-built pillars painted to match the trim, and then a smooth brown color painted on the walls with a few decorative light sconces finish the look. For comfort, he added reclining home theater seats from Salamander rather than a plain-old sofa.

While some of the gear in this room puts it out of reach for many people (the Martin Logan Vista speakers are about $2,000 each), Huse says a decent home theater can be done for a lot less. He offers an affordable package that puts together an Epson projector, Onkyo receiver and Paradigm speakers, which he says is very popular with his clients.

Design and Installation by
David Huse
Theater Advice, Dallas, TX
http://www.theateradvice.com

Equipment list

Onkyo Receiver (pre amp)

Parasound Halo Amplifier

Stewart Filmscreen 112” screen

Mitsubishi 6800 1080P LCD projector

Martin Logan Vista Towers

Martin Logan Motif center speaker

Martin Logan Ticket in wall rear speakers

Velodyne DD12 1200watt subwoofer

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.