We at EPIC AVi love technology and home theaters. This is a gorgeous house in the Twin Creeks area of Allen, Texas. The client loves technology and wanted to implement it in his home. The best way to manage a home full of technology is with the best automation system out there... Crestron. The Crestron system controls all essential functions of the home such as security, HVAC, lighting, audio and video distribution, and security cameras. It also controls the functions of the theater palace. With strategically placed control touch-panels and remote controls around the home, the client will be able to access audio, video, and/or security cameras with a touch of the button. So, I am going to start in the theater room with this post and then we will move into other areas of the home and system in subsequent posts.
The theater room was designed and installed by our partners Cinema Design Group Int'l. They are an award winning designer, manufacturer, and installer of custom luxury home theater interiors. They have designed and installed luxury home theaters in Russia, Israel, Dubai, and of course here in the US. They did an impeccable job of helping the client out and worked hand in hand with the home builder. The room started as an extra space in the attic area and was built as a "room within a room". This means that the theater is isolated from the rest of the house and does not "connect" to the framing to transfer sound. This room is an acoustical heaven. CDGi's engineered the plans to make the room itself an instrument. Lots of people spend tens of thousands of dollars on audio equipment only to put it in a room that makes it sound like a hundred dollar home theater in a box from your local big box store. The room is key!!
After their installation of the room, the equipment started to go in... Runco VX22D projector Cinemawide with Autoscope, Stewart Cinecurve 2.4:1 filmscreen, Meridian 861v4 and HD621 with Meridian DSP speakers, Kaleidescape movie server, Sony PS3, Xbox360, Nintendo Wii, DirecTV HDDVR and a kick butt gaming PC. We also brought in our good friend, Danny Mann, to modify the fiber optic star ceiling to incorporate an Auton projector lift. The room will be controlled by Crestron and a TPS6X wireless control panel.
The room also has a Crestron DVPHDPRO. This will allow the client to watch up to 8 video sources on his screen in the theater. How about some Sunday football on 6 of those screens, ESPN.COM, and Madden 2K10 all at the same time!! Sounds like heaven on earth to me!
How about this for neat and green? The room's lights automatically turn on in the room when the client walks into the room. This is made possible by a Crestron Green light occupancy sensor connected to a Creston Green Light CLS-C6RF wireless infinet integrated light system. This controls the ceiling star-field, the sconces, can-lights, the floor step lighting, entrance lighting, and the drapes for the front of the theater. The system will have preset settings for different lighting scenes depending on what is being watched in the theater room... TV, computer, movies, or gaming will all have different light levels.
Here are some pictures of the progress in this room... take note... we are not quite done, but it already looks great! Can't wait to finish and crank this baby!!
