Family Friendly Home Theater

The room’s 65-inch Panasonic plasma wows friends, family, and even the occasional client.

A cathedral ceiling, mahogany woodwork, and hand-painted Parisian street scenes makes this home theater feel like a modern country manor.

The first thing you notice is the decor. There’s the soaring cedar cathedral ceiling supported by exposed beams, the rich mahogany woodwork all around, the hardwood floors. Lining one side are four built-in wine cabinets, and on the other side are colorful hand-painted Parisian street scenes. It’s an instantly inviting space, warmly lit by two iron chandeliers, recessed ceiling cans, table lamps and wall sconces. The woodwork, warm tones and old-world elegance evoke the simple pleasures of a refined country manor. But this 18-by-34-foot home theater and bar area in Upper Westchester, NY, conjures up some modernist entertainment as well.

A 65-inch Panasonic plasma TV with “Full HD” resolution and a 7.1-channel surround-sound system fire up big-screen entertainment to the tune of 100 watts per channel. That suits homeowners Ira and Cheryl Bernstein and their growing list of friends just fine.

“We wanted to make sure we had the largest big screen we could have in there,” says Cheryl. “My husband is in the entertainment business and brings back clients, and we have to wow them. That room really has to run like clockwork. It has to sound great and be simple to use, and he had to be able to work the remote.”

Home systems contractor Audio Video Excellence of Thornwood, NY, made it user-friendly with a wireless Crestron touchpanel and control system that operates the audio/video, lighting and even the motorized shading for each window. In fact, every lighting circuit and shade can be independently controlled, but many scenes are on macros that can dim the lights, lower the shades and start the home theater system at the touch of a button or two. Ira’s clients are suitably wowed, and his television show distribution company, Debmar-Mercury Entertainment, is looking good.

The room also serves as a showpiece of sorts for Cheryl’s company, Murals & Faux Finish of Bedford Corners, NY. Cheryl hand painted the murals and applied the Venetian plaster in the room. The murals cover doors for storage closets, and the mural nearest the TV houses the pullout and swiveling audio/video rack.

The rack contains a Marantz SR-7001 audio/video receiver, as well as a Marantz DVD player, 5-disc CD carousel, Crestron electronics and Panamax power protection.

Installer Frank Palazzetti likes the Marantz receiver because it upconverts everything, including VCR and iPod video, to high definition. “And it sounds nice, with a lot of headroom,” he says.

Paradigm AMS-350 in-wall speakers were used for the three fronts, with the center positioned below the plasma screen and the left and rights in the corners oriented vertically. Palazzetti says that Paradigm’s solid aluminum baffles, rigid construction, exceptional drivers and crossovers make these high-performing in-wall speakers.

Four in-ceiling Paradigm AMS-150 speakers are mounted in the sloping ceiling. It may make acousticians cringe to mount speakers at such angles, but Palazzetti says it has worked out fine. “We found when you put speakers on a cathedral or vaulted ceiling, it usually works better because the speakers are actually angled toward you. The rear and side channels are sound-effect tracks anyway, so they don’t sound that directional.”

A Velodyne subwoofer with a built-in amplifier is built into the window seat between the plasma screen and the mural. This worked out well, because the Bernsteins also wanted to keep their bay windows in the room. Two frame the plasma screen, and two more bisect the sides. Ductwork and condensers for the wine racks are all behind the woodwork.

All in all, it’s a great place to entertain business associates or family and friends.

“Ira can sit on that couch and feel like he’s in control. I love the fact that the music, the TV and all the electronics can be done with one remote,” says Cheryl.

“That room ends up being like a weekend retreat for us,” Cheryl continues. “And it’s become much more family friendly” for family movie nights with teens Justin and Kimberly.

System Design and Installation
Audio Video Excellence
Thornwood, NY
www.audiovideoex.com

Woodworking Quaker Road Associates
Chappaqua, NY
www.quakerroad.com

Interior Design
Hubley Bath Interiors
New York, NY, 212-861-5188

Murals & Faux Finish
Bedford Corners, NY
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