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Price: US $105 000
When most people talk about home theater, they usually mean a flat-screen TV, a few speakers, and a comfy chair. Not so for those who possess the means and the space to create a true domestic cinema experience.
NERVE CENTER
This rack of high-end equipment includes an HDTV satellite receiver, a DVR, a DVD player, and a digital VHS player.
Companies such as the Electronics Design Group Inc. (EDG), in Piscataway, N.J., can install electronics and furnishings that would put your local multiplex to shame, so Ken Nodes hired EDG to build a home theater in his basement. His cinema [see photo, " A Night In"], which seats 12, boasts a 100-inch-diagonal screen illuminated by a ceiling-mounted digital light processing (DLP) projector. Nodes can choose the audio-video signal from a rack-mounted high-definition satellite TV receiver, a DVR, a DVD player, or a digital VHS tape player. Sound arrives through freestanding and wall-mounted speakers powered by a seven-channel amplifier. Nodes says the picture and sound quality are "flawless."
In addition, the lighting and curtains are computer controlled. The viewer can command the entire theater using a remote control with a touch screen. Tapping "DVD," for example, will automatically dim the lights, close the window curtains, turn on the projector, and switch to the DVD player's feed. Nodes is especially pleased with the seamlessness of the remote-control integration. He had used a different contractor to install home-automation equipment some years previously, only to find it plagued with malfunctions.
Nodes estimates the cost of the electronics at around US $75 000 and the basement conversion and furnishings at $30 000, but he says it's worth the price tag and his cinema is "better than going to a movie theater." If you're interested in a similar setup, the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association, an international trade group headquartered in Indianapolis, can help you find a reputable contractor at http://www.cedia.net.
