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10 Manliest Man Caves
Rachel Cericola
— last modified November 12, 2009 09:32
Some guys love power tools. Some love cars. Some are happy with a comfy chair, a remote and something to nosh on. Then there are those who need to go above and beyond—to create a space that most men only dream about. Today, we call these spaces "man caves." In these caves, though, the only things being fired up are amps, Blu-ray movies, video games and gigantic TVs (sometimes multiple ones). They are places where a guy can play with his toys without worrying about prying eyes or greasy kid fingerprints.
Oddly Shaped Room is Just Right for Home Theater
Arlen Schweiger
— last modified October 12, 2009 11:25
These homeowners had an odd shaped room, one that wasn’t built to be a dedicated theater like a basement ... but an old entertainment system that really needed an upgrade. After finding custom electronics pro Union Place, of Excelsior, Minn., they turned it into a gem of a theater, complete with constant image height screen setup for really immersing in CinemaScope aspect ratio films. The challenge was to create a room that functioned as a cohesive theater, without giving up space and in needed to blend with the other rooms of the home it was open to.
Control4 Demos v2.0 at CEDIA
Clint DeBoer
— last modified September 11, 2009 16:07
Control4 is probably most well known as the company that woke up the industry and said "Um, why are you guys killing yourselves over this horrendous AMX/Crestron programming lnguage?" Serious, in an industry where time is money and competition is fierce, Control4 has brought the Apple computer to the Windows convention. And you can see it, While the booth may not be as big as Crestron, the attitude and makeup of the people are different. Control4 installers are curious, excited and energetic... Crestron's booth seem filled with beaten down old-timers who are so entrenched in an outdated obsolete system that they have no choiuce but to cntinue to pay exobitant pricing and allow the gaint freighter to turn slowly towards a future that Control4 brought several years ago.
Like a lot of installations we see, the homeowner in this case wanted the technology hidden. In this case, though, there’s a fantastic light show that does often take center stage, so who would want to see other technology? Well, OK, that might be saying a bit much, seeing as how there’s a 61-inch Runco plasma TV in this great room ... but it only pops up when called upon to deliver its great images. The team at Ohio-based Audio Video Interiors made sure that this elegant open-floor great room itself was the center of attention. The artistic LED lighting on the ceiling and framing the centerpiece cabinetry only enhances its design showcase.
Converting a Storage Space into Home Theater
Lisa Montgomery
— last modified July 20, 2009 09:19
Unless you can build your home theater from scratch, it’s likely that you’ll have to jump a few hurdles to get a room into shape. Often, it’s a choice of the lesser of two evils. The owners of this theater had originally planned on converting a lower-level guest bedroom into their media area, but after a chat with the custom electronics pros at Audio Video Interiors in Medina, Ohio, they decided that the larger storage area was a better choice.
2009 Home of the Year is all Hollywood
Arlen Schweiger
— last modified June 01, 2009 12:56
Electronic House's 2009 Home of the Year sits among the Hollywood Hills, where the stars shine as brightly inside the homes as they do in the night sky. We’re familiar with some of the A-list technologies here—CinemaScope theater, 7.1-channel surround-sound, intricate TV concealment, extensive automation—but we don’t often see them shine together in such a spectacular location, with equally stunning results. This home can't settle for anything less than red-carpet treatment.
Terminator Home Theater
Clint DeBoer
— last modified May 21, 2009 08:45
When Mortensen first thought about creating his own home theater, he wasn’t working as a Christmas elf; he was a respiratory therapist, specializing in acute cardio-pulmonary support and trauma. A noble profession is no match for the home theater bug, however. Soon Mortensen found himself designing a nice room with a built-in CRT TV, A/V cabinets and a hidden door for access to A/V components. As the project progressed, so did Mortensen’s plan.
Renovated Loft Home Theater
Arlen Schweiger
— last modified May 01, 2009 08:29
In this Cleveland-area loft, the more people, the bigger the party. And what a party it is: Along with the usual nightclub suspects, like a bar, billiards table and blaring music, the loft has a TV around every turn and two theater areas. Yup, this 1,800-square-foot space packs ’em in and packs a punch. The loft truly wows visitors upon entering, especially because the exterior landing area is so unassuming. While the ground level probably will not change much, there’s a good chance the interior craziness will migrate to the rooftop.
The “Guiltless Green Home Theater,” which has a 100-inch screen and 5.1 channels of surround sound, uses energy collected from four roof-mounted solar panels. The 175-watt Sharp solar panels collect up to 700 watts per hour during the day, which the HTSA says provides about 22,000 watts per week, enough for 19 hours of off-the-grid home entertainment per week. (The figures are based on an average of 4.5 hours of sunlight per day in the Northeast and the theater’s 1,150-watt-per-hour draw, at full capacity.)
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