Recently Filed in Media Room

We love it when homeowners express their passions or hobbies in their home theaters. We’d already seen Harley-Davidson show up in one cool theater environment, and here it is again in a completely different context. For one thing, this New Jersey theater is a dedicated room, and for another it’s not your typical basement project. It’s in the home’s attic space. That in itself was a bit of an unusual challenge faced by custom electronics pro Premier Home Theater of Newton, N.J. “We were contacted… View this story
Front Projection • Video Screen • Media Room • Home of the Year Awards 2009 • Home Theater • Cool Homes

For years San Francisco-based Dolby Laboratories has defined the way people hear movies and television. The company’s influence on electronic media is arguably so strong, a case could be made that home theater would not be the multi-million dollar pastime it is today without the developments it has introduced to the consumer electronics market. Dolby’s TrueHD format is one of the company’s latest audio formats and since its introduction a few years ago it has been caught in the middle of the high-def optical disc… View this story
AV Components • Blu-ray • HD DVD • Receivers • Cables, Wires and Tools • Audio Cables • HDMI • Living Room • Media Room • Rec/Play Room • Info and Answers

Most people head to the nearest sports bar when they want to watch more than one football game at once. The owners of this 12,000-square-foot home in San Diego, Calif., just walk upstairs to their newly constructed game room. High-level sports viewing was the impetus for building the space, says custom electronics professional Ryan Lipkovicius of Audio Impact in San Diego, Calif. “One of the owners is a football fanatic, so a top priority when building the house was to have a room dedicated to… View this story
Displays • Flat Panel • HDTV • Plasma • Gaming • Media Room • Home of the Year Awards 2009 • Cool Homes

The man of this house may have asked for a “man cave,” but this audio/video hunter-gatherer has been perfectly happy to share the benefits of this bar and media room addition. “This project was part of a larger renovation/addition project. He somewhat jokingly requested a ‘man cave,’ but honestly, both husband and wife were very interested and involved in the concept and design of the space,” says Bryant Moore of North Carolina-based custom electronics installation firm Moore Audio Design. “It is used, equally, both as… View this story
Family Room • Media Room • Home of the Year Awards 2009 • Cool Homes

Q. I need help on how to pick the right color for a theater room. Where do I begin? -Rosio, Maryland A. This is a common question we hear, and wall color can definitely make a difference in the room’s performance. If at all possible, look to use darker colors for the wall that will be behind your television/projection screen. Also think about color of the ceiling and if it’s possible to use a darker color on that surface too. These colors will help the… View this story
Furniture • Media Room • Home Theater • Ask a Pro

Q. I have a 14x16 ft room which I plan to set up as a media room. If I want to do a 7.1 system, what is the largest size TV/Screen that should be used? How many 30-inch chairs could you fit that would allow for reasonably good balance with two rows of seating? Dave, Fla. A. I’d start by getting a copy of Carlton Bale’s home theater calculator. This Excel spreadsheet is a great place to start when roughly planning out a media room.… View this story
Displays • HDTV • Video Screen • Location • Media Room • Ask a Pro

I just had a home theater system installed by MyerEmco in my great room – an open contemporary room with vaulted ceilings. I want to take up the old wall-to-wall rugs and install hardwood floors. A large sectional Persian rug will be put down. How will it affect the sound bounce and what alternatives are available to capture the perfect sound from the new system? By the way, I have leather furniture. - Mike, Lorton, VA A. Mike, this question is right up my alley.… View this story
Acoustics • Media Room • Audio • Ask a Pro

Everyone is cutting back these days. According to a recent survey by Parks Associates, about 66 percent of American consumers have tweaked spending habits to adjust to the current economic climate. The study says that those consumers are whooping it up a lot less outside the home. Inside though, it’s one big home entertainment party. After all, staying home and staring at the wall doesn’t cushion the blow of not going out to dinner, right? “For household services such as Internet and pay TV, recessionary… View this story
Media Room • Installers • Retailers • Home Theater • Audio • Networking • Product News

Home theater. Yeah. We get it. As exciting as a big screen and comfy seats can be, we have pretty much seen it all. Of course, some of that “all” includes some pretty crazy stuff. Don’t even get us started on all of the “Star Trek”-themed theaters (like this one, this one, and this one) we’ve seen. Each one of those homes has a special place in our hearts, as well as our web archives. However, there are some homeowners that went a little wild… View this story
Media Room • Weird Stuff • Home Theater • Cool Homes • Slideshows

It may look like a contemporary family room with a surround-sound system. But this “Texas industrial deco” space doubles as a recording studio for homeowner David Ronn’s rock band, Plastic Farm Animals. Oh, and there’s the plastic and fiberglass Silver Surfer hanging on the wall. The Silver Surfer has always been one of David’s favorite comic book characters, so when the “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” came out, David went to eBay and got his hands on the item used to promote the… View this story
Family Room • Media Room • Themed Theaters • Home Theater • Audio • Cool Homes • Slideshows

Sometimes it’s tough to squeeze enough seats into your home theater space. There are a couple of ways you can make room for more chairs and couches. The first is to build risers on the floor to create a stadium-style seating effect. Each level gets progressively higher, which allows people in the back rows to see clearly over the heads of people in the front rows of seats. In the past, home theater designers simply placed the last row of seats against the back wall—not… View this story
Cabinets • Media Room • Home Theater • Info and Answers

We often hear questions about soundproofing your home theater system and how to keep noise levels from reaching your baby’s room and not blasting the whole house while you watch that “Pirates of the Caribbean” Blu-ray you just picked up. Well, it can start by closing the door—at least one from Cascade Audio Engineering, which has debuted its new SB-Model 3D soundproof oak door. The new product was designed to keep the sound inside your home theater and not have it flood the rest of… View this story
Furniture • Acoustics • Location • Media Room • Home Theater • Product News