 Filed Under: $ Reader Interiors 
Posted Mon Dec 21, 2009, 8:35 PM ET — By Ron Malcolm
Shortly after my last child went off to college my wife made an unexpected comment: “You can have your home theater in the guest room as long as you move all that stereo junk out of the family room”. My dream had finally come true! I had been planning for a dedicated home theater room since I purchased my first stereo VCR back in 1983. Filed Under: Equipment $
Posted Wed Oct 14, 2009, 11:59 PM ET — By Kim Wilson
Whole-house music need not be expensive or require extensive integration. Moreover, it can be easily controlled with something you may already own. Enter the new Sonos Zone Player S5. This wireless, zone player with built-in speakers will stream music from your PC or Mac and is easily controlled with an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch. The Sonos S5 will be available in late October for $399 each and the iPhone app that controls it is free. Filed Under: $ Equipment
Posted Thu Sep 3, 2009, 1:00 PM ET — By Kim Wilson
Apple's iPhone and iTouch have certainly been game changers when it comes to touch screen control. Logitech has updated their Squeezebox WiFi music player with a color touch screen and called it the Squeezebox Touch. Of course, there is much more to this new model than just a fancy screen. Not all homeowner's, especially DIYers, want or require a complex multizone system. The Logitech Squeezebox Touch is a wonderful low-cost, alternative method for providing simple and intuitive access to a wide variety of music choices including free Internet radio, personal digital music files and music subscription services such as Pandora, Rhapsody, and Sirius. Filed Under: Equipment $
Posted Fri Aug 7, 2009, 1:21 PM ET — By Kim Wilson
Digeo, makers of the Moxi HD-DVR set-top box (only available to digital cable subscribers) has released the Moxi Mate, as a companion piece. The Moxi Mate enables multi-room access to video content from a connected Moxi HD-DVR as well as PCs and other devices connected on a wired or wireless in-home network. The unit will carry an MSRP of $399, though for a limited time you can purchase it for $199. Filed Under: $ Furniture Contemporary
Posted Thu May 21, 2009, 2:09 PM ET — By Kim Wilson
A perfect solution for a secondary AV system or for tight quarters, the Modena Series from Omnimount offers a convenient and inexpensive solution for mounting flat panel TV's and holding AV equipment. The three models (37FP, 47FP and 55FP) range in price from $199.95 to $329.95, depending on the size of your TV. The Modena series offers clean lines, smoky black glass shelves and a striking high gloss finish. OmniMount's Lift n Lock system allows for easy attachment of a flat panel TV and locks it securely in place. The supporting back post doubles as a cable management system, to neatly route and organize cables. Filed Under: $ Equipment
Posted Thu Apr 16, 2009, 12:45 PM ET — By Kim Wilson
In today's economy, everyone is looking for high value equipment, especially do-it-yourselvers. Aperion Audio is a direct-to-consumer manufacturer. This business model allows them to cut the mighty costs of distribution and dealer support. So, what you buy is the product and not a huge chunk of the associated costs to market it. The new Intimus 4B Harmony SA system is a complete 5.1 speaker system for only $999. This is the company's most affordable system complete with center channel speaker and subwoofer. The surround speakers can be mounted virtually anywhere - ceiling, on-wall, on stands, or placed on a shelf. They are available in real cherry wood (pictured) or high-gloss piano black. If you are on a budget you'll love how Aperion sweetens the deal even more with free shipping, lifetime customer support, a ten-year warranty, and a special customer care kit that includes a SPL meter for speaker calibration, plus a polishing cloth and handling gloves. Best yet, Aperion wants to guarantee your complete and total satisfaction with a 30-day in-home audition since your home is a far better environment to determine the suitability of a speaker system than any showroom floor. Filed Under: Furniture $ Contemporary
Posted Tue Feb 3, 2009, 5:50 PM ET — By Kim Wilson
Reinforcing the brand’s commitment to provide the utmost elegance and functionality to décor-conscious home theater furniture, OmniMount launched its new Karim Collection line of lifestyle furniture with the Prism 50. The new collection is in partnership with industrial and interior designer Karim Rashid. The trapazoidal shape accommodates TV displays up to 50 inches on the top shelf along with a center-channel speaker or sound bar. There is also plenty of space underneath for additional AV components. it is available in a highly polished black or white finish. The Prism 50 not only looks great but it sells for a reasonable $349.95. Filed Under: Equipment $
Posted Tue Feb 3, 2009, 5:09 PM ET — By Kim Wilson
If you are looking for an unusual speaker that will fit anywhere, including unconventional spaces, and still be decorative, you should check out the JBL Control NOW indoor and outdoor loudspeakers. The quarter-round shape allows for the uniquely versatile speaker to be installed in a wide variety of places including areas where other speakers can no be installed. Priced between $249 and $279, these guys won't break the bank either. Filed Under: Equipment $
Posted Tue Oct 21, 2008, 6:19 PM ET — By Kim Wilson
The remarkably low-priced $1099 InFocus X9 makes high definition projection a no brainer. This latest DLP projector offers native 720p resolution, 1800 lumens, and 2500:1 contrast ratio with a maximum image of almost 30 feet. The projector also features DLP's BrilliantColor™ image processing technology to improve optical efficiency and provide a wider color gamut. Filed Under: Reader Interiors $ Casual
Posted Mon Jan 21, 2008, 12:44 PM ET — By Russ Klass
How I got a great basement home theater—without breaking the bank. I love to read about the great, inspirational dedicated theaters in the pages of Audio Video Interiors magazine. However, not everyone, including myself, can afford these sometimes expensive theaters. I thought AVI readers might like to see what a determined homeowner could do on a modest budget. We built our theater for the primary users, our three-person family, but we can add extra seating as needed. Filed Under: $ Reader Interiors Casual
Posted Fri Jan 4, 2008, 11:26 AM ET — By Robert Barbiero
The Robelle: my labor of love. The dream of one day having a movie theater in my home was born in the summer of 1976. I was impressed by my friend Brian's dad's theater. It had a dozen or so of those old wooden seats that you'd find in a school auditorium. It had a separate projection booth for the Bell & Howell 16mm projector, and it had an actual stage, with speakers built into the walls. Filed Under: Casual Reader Interiors $
Posted Fri Dec 14, 2007, 12:03 PM ET — By Ron Wiechmann
How to start from scratch and achieve glory. The seeds for our home theater were planted in the mid-1980s, when the sun would shine through the curtains and put an incessant glare on the TV. I said on many occasions, "When I have a home built, I will have a TV room in the basement with no windows." In 1994, the idea of a home theater sprouted after I went to a home show in the Dayton, Ohio, area and saw a home theater with tiered seating, a 104-inch screen, a front projector, and a laserdisc player. As the idea grew, I was able to design the right-size room into the plans for our new home. Filed Under: Reader Interiors $
Posted Thu Oct 25, 2007, 12:11 PM ET — By Neil Chatani
This humble installation shows how far you can go with a little craftiness and some hand tools. Like any loyal Home Theater magazine reader, I've spent hours drooling over the kind of six-figure, floor-to-ceiling home theater installations that put many commercial movie theaters to shame. Such ultra-high-end equipment and installations are wonderful eye candy—and something to aspire to—but, for a 20-year-old college student, a more modest installation can still be a real treat. That's why this past Christmas, instead of getting my parents a store-bought gift, I designed and built this custom home theater installation in the family room of our house in Portland, Oregon. And the total cost was less than $4,500! Filed Under: Reader Interiors $ Contemporary
Posted Fri Aug 31, 2007, 11:43 AM ET — By James Reedy
How I turned my passion for audio into my own theater. Ever since I can remember, I've always had a passion for music, and I've since become an audio enthusiast. When I was 12, my next-door neighbor introduced me to his Fisher stereo system. Then, several years later, I befriended another neighbor who used to work at a local radio station and had hundreds of records and 12-inch singles, as well as a high-end audio system. From there, it has been a constant hobby of mine. My desire for having a dedicated room for audio and video started when I met someone who'd built a dedicated home theater in his house. I bought my first home in 2002, and the work was set to begin. Filed Under: Reader Interiors $ Casual
Posted Wed Aug 29, 2007, 2:08 AM ET — By Steve Barnard
How I did my homework and saved. When we moved into our first home a few years ago, I couldn't wait to get started finishing the basement. I told my wife I would wait a while before starting, but I was so excited that I could only hold out for a few weeks. The space is approximately 1,800 square feet, so I had plenty of room to let my imagination run. There were several things we wanted to put down there, like a workout room and a billiard room, but the one thing that really excited me was a dedicated home theater. I have been an avid reader of Audio Video Interiors for the past several years, so I had plenty of ideas about the experience I wanted to create. Filed Under: Reader Interiors $ Casual Staff Picks
Posted Tue Aug 28, 2007, 4:54 PM ET — By Dave Curlee
The Beginning
Filed Under: Reader Interiors $ Traditional
Posted Tue Aug 28, 2007, 4:45 PM ET — By Tom J. Slager, Homeowner
After several years of reading about the home theater experience, my family and I finally decided to convert some unused basement space into our own dedicated theater. Since I enjoy doing home-improvement projects, I chose to do most of the construction myself and to hire a reliable company to provide and integrate the audio/video components. I had constructed a small, built-in entertainment center a few years before in our home in Cincinnati, Ohio, but had never done a project as large as this. 1
|
Sponsored Technology Center
|
