Home Theater

Home Theater Defined

Strictly defined, home theater is “a reduced size replica of a commercial cinema in your home.”  If this simple and straight forward definition is true, then how is it that you can buy a “Home theater in a box” from national big box retail stores for $99 and yet some wealthy and discerning homeowners will spend in excess of $1million on a personal cinema for their home?  The answer is two fold.

1. Completeness: The “Home theater in a box” is essentially an incomplete solution.  Systems like these are more accurately called “surround sound systems” because they lack multiple essential elements of a complete home theater system.  A complete home theater system by today’s standards must meet a minimum set of requirements including the following:

	At least 3 front and 2 surround speakers and a powered subwoofer A digital surround sound processor and amplifier with discrete channels per speaker above Adequate volume capability per channel for the room size and listener distance (105 decibels at peaks according to THX) A video display size to viewing distance ratio filling between 30 to 40 degrees field of view

2. Performance:  Once you have a system that can satisfy the basic minimum requirements above, you are good to go…….if meeting the minimum standard is your goal.  With some careful consideration for your personal tastes, the room we will be working with, and a budget, AV Automation’s  certified professional system designers and home theater installation crew can make sure that we maximize the performance of your new home theater system.  We can then maximize the performance per dollar at any budget through skilled manipulation of the items below:

Ideal seating location selection based on baseline room acoustic analysis Perfect projection screen size and ratio based on your seating location and personal taste Proper speaker placement relative to the listener Acoustic room treatments as needed to remove or reduce harmful room resonances Sound isolation techniques to keep the system’s sound in and the noise out Lighting control to maximize video performance and improve viewer immersion Audio system calibration ranging from standard embedded calibration sequences to full blown manual time delay and phase adjustments to produce absolute world class sonic results Video system calibration ranging up to full Imaging Science Foundation dual “day and night” calibration of D65 white color balance, brightness, contrast, and grayscale adjustment

Capabilities, Training, and Standards

There are many skills required to make this happen in rooms which are built to residential standards and for clients with different goals and budgets.  We are certified by THX, HAA, and ISF to  design, install, and calibrate your room and equipment for maximum performance, so you can rest assured that we are capable of whatever level of system you desire.  We also encourage you to read our Mission Vision and Values published on our About Us page to have confidence that we will manage your project from start to finish with the highest concern for the value that we are providing you regardless of budget.  It is all too often that we see clients over-spend on equipment just to get a mediocre result due to poor implementation or acoustic issues.  Let us advise you on the best way to maximize your system’s performance.  

Examples of Our Work

In the pictures below, we are installing custom built acoustic absorber, reflector, and scattering panels.  We also added free standing walls to this theater to isolate noise from the surrounding rooms.   After that, all the frame work is covered with acoustically transparent fabrics to hide the main speakers, four 12 inch carbon fiber subs, and acoustic panels. Yes… it rocks!  This family loves the way it sounds just as much as they loves the way it looks.  When they crank up an action flick, you better hang on!

Here is another example installation where an advanced acoustic panel system was employed to dramatically improve the sound of the room.  This system hides two 14″ subwoofers behind the fabric panels and all of the side and back walls are now covered with matching acoustically transparent drapes (shown with exposed acoustics prior to drapery install).