DIY Theater Turns Homeowner Into Installer

The owner/creator of this DIY theater added tiered seating and a stage for that real theater feel.

Jeremy Hummer had so much fun turning his garage into a dedicated home theater, he decided to change careers.

The first films Jeremy Hummer saw as a child had a huge impact on what he wanted to do with his life. He was obsessed with the idea that multiple images captured on a strip of film could reproduce moving images. In the 1980s he began collecting 8mm and 16mm films and converted his bedroom into a theater, complete with actual film projectors, a screen, and a multi-speaker sound system. 

But film isn’t a cheap or low-maintenance date. The high cost of buying film prints and maintaining the delicate material caused Jeremy to move to Laserdisc and begin his massive video library, as well as purchase a video projector and a bona fide surround sound system.

When DVD came along, Jeremy’s hobby got even more serious, only now he had a house in Gulfport, Florida, with a 500-square-foot garage. That’s when he started thinking about turning the place that once housed cars and yard tools into a true, dedicated theater. “Remodeling the garage instead of using an existing room allowed me to design the entire project from the ground up and do it the right way architecturally, acoustically, and electrically,” says Jeremy. He hired subcontractors to do most of the construction labor, but handled the wiring and equipment installation himself, relying on a knowledge base acquired from a 10-year-long career in broadcast-television system integration.

Remodeling the garage proved to be one of the bigger challenges because the standards for a living space and a garage space are different in terms of building codes. “Homes in this area are not built at ground level but are raised off the ground a few feet,” says Jeremy. Therefore the garage, which was at ground level, had to be raised up two feet to qualify as a living space. The construction crew poured another slab of concrete atop the existing one to bring the garage closer to code. 

He began construction in 2004 and had a working room within the span of six months. However, after sitting with the room as he had designed it for a few months, he decided to make some changes, and thus began the remodel of the garage remodel. “At first, I had all the seats staggered and on the same level,” says Jeremy. “But I really wanted risers.” Hummer added tiered seating and a stage while he was at it, both filled with R-30 insulation to eliminate acoustic resonance.

When it comes to equipment, the room, Jeremy’s hobby, is constantly evolving. “I am definitely a gear head, and have researched and auditioned many brands and models over the years,” he says. “The equipment I use has changed almost constantly. I’ve had at least 11 projectors, seven surround processors, and numerous laserdisc and DVD players.” The one thing that Hummer never replaces, however, is his B&K Reference series amplifiers. “They’re powerful, gorgeous, and are built like tanks.”

The amplifiers are on their own dedicated 30-amp breaker, the subwoofers are on a dedicated 20-amp breaker, and the projector and other equipment is on a dedicated breaker with Tripp-Lite Smart Online power protection and battery backup. “When the power goes out, as it frequently does here in Florida, the theater will continue to run!” says Jeremy.

The most recent addition to his long list of gear is Monitor Audio’s Platinum series 7-channel speaker system. Three of the speakers stand front and center, not hidden, on the new stage. A Control4 system controls all the equipment in the room with a simple to use interface, and just so happened to fit into Hummer’s budget. “The room sounds amazing and the image is terrific,” says Jeremy. “I am so proud of how it turned out.”

Hummer’s theater chops have gotten so good, in fact, he recently made the switch from commercial to residential systems integration. Shortly after he remodeled his garage, and partly due to the success of that endeavor, Jeremy started Electronic Home Designers, and couldn’t be happier with the switch. “Commercial systems integration is very routine. You are dealing with the same types of installations and the same equipment, and I didn’t like the direction the industry was headed,” says Jeremy. “There is nothing routine about residential. Every room, every system, is unique.”

Now Jeremy has a fulfilling career and a fulfilling pastime with a wonderful place to enjoy it, not to mention a killer room that he can show off to potential clients. What more can one ask for? Answer: The new Marantz AV8003 pre/pro, which will arrive at his doorstep later this month.

Quick Hits:
Year Completed: 2005
Room Size: 23’ L X 16’ W X 9.5’ H
Cost: $71,890 (construction, labor, equipment, materials)
Length of Project: 1 year (includes second remodel)

JVC DLA-RS2 D-ILA 1080P projector
Vutec VuEasy 110² 16X9 BriteWhite screen
Integra Research RDC-7.1 pre/pro
B&K 7260 series II amps (2)
Monitor Audio PL300 mains bi-amped (2)
Monitor Audio PLC350 center bi-amped
Monitor Audio PL100 surrounds (4)
Velodyne F-1800R series II & 1 F-1500R series II subs with outboard Digital Drive processor
Earthquake Supernova 15” MKVI subs (2)
Control 4 w/10.4” touchpanel for theater
DVDO iScan VP50 PRO scaler/switcher
Oppo 981 DVD player
Marantz BD8002 Blu-ray player (coming this month)
Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD player
Acoustical Solutions acoustic panels and bass traps