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High-rise A/V Heaven
San Diego, California
High above the streets of downtown San Diego is an exquisite example of design and integration of high-end audio and video equipment. Living on one of the upper floors of one of the most exclusive high-rises, the owner enjoys breathtaking views of the city, the new ballpark, Coronado Island and the bay, and vistas stretching to Mexico. Providing an exceptional theater system in this environment without obviously impacting the home's décor provided Modern Home Systems with several difficult design hurdles to be overcome.
You may wish to click
on the thumbnail pictures for a larger view:
Living Room Theater
The home's living room was to convert into an extremely high-performance theater. This room, open on two sides with huge ceiling high windows, had to be darkened for movie viewing. The movie screen, by the owner's request, had to be as large as possible. The screen is 11-1/2 feet wide and nearly 6-1/2 feet tall. The image is projected by a Runco premium 9" CRT video projector operating in conjunction with a Faroudja video line quadrupler. The speakers, equipment, window coverings, film screen and the video projector had to also be "invisible" when not in use.
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And the Magic Happens...
Modern Home Systems worked closely with the builder to achieve the results seen in the before and after photos. Sonance THX flush-mounted Cinema speakers were mounted in the front wall, fit into custom enclosures designed by MHS and constructed by the builder. The speakers were faux finished to disappear into the rich wood paneling. A soffit was designed to encircle the room, allowing full black-out shades to disappear while not in use, yet completely block exterior light when lowered by a motor mechanism. The multi-aspect ratio Stewart filmscreen is also installed in this soffit. The primary screen and the image blanking shades lower from a discrete slot in the ceiling when the system is activated.
As this time lapse photograph shows, one touch on a Crestron wireless remote touchscreen begins the "movie sequence" with the projector lowering from the ceiling, the blackout shades lowering over the windows and the screen lowering from a soffit. Electronics and source equipment are all selected and activated during this sequence.
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Theater Living Room
The large Runco projector is housed in a custom lift mechanism
that lowers the projector when the system is activated and retracts the unit
into the ceiling when it is powered off. The projector and cables are hidden
from sight with color coordinated accordion shades when the lift is lowered.
All of the equipment, including the two large powered subwoofers, is mounted
in a custom designed credenza at the side of the room. The cabinet, handcrafted
with exotic hardwoods and mother of pearl inlays, provides storage and equipment
concealment in an elegant manner.
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Master Bedroom
The master bedroom of the unit posed a similar challenge. The
owner wanted a secondary surround sound home theater system in this
room with the largest flat-screen television available. Of course, none of the
equipment could be visible when the system wasn't in use.
Again, as the time lapse photo shows, the plasma monitor was housed in a custom built cabinet at the foot of the bed. Modern Home Systems designed this custom footboard to
house a 50" Runco plasma monitor.
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