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Stealth Video & Audio Marvel
Fairbanks Ranch, CA
Designing a theater into a new home allows for the luxury of planning specifically
FOR a theater. However, when the home is already built - without a theater - challenges
abound. Integrating client needs with existing room dimensions and borders can
be daunting - but not for the experts at Modern Home Systems.
The owners of this fabulous 13,000 sq. foot home in the exclusive gated community
of Fairbanks Ranch, near San Diego, had very specific requirements and expectations,
all of which were exceeded by the MHS design and installation team.
You may wish to click
on the thumbnail pictures for a larger view:
Stealth Screen Theater
First and foremost was the conversion of a beautiful wood-paneled library, shown
here, into a high performance theater. With 13-foot high ceilings, the first
challenge was how to install the screen and projector so they would disappear
when not in use.
The Modern Home Systems team rose to the challenges, specifying a custom Vu-Tech
96" pop-up filmscreen that rises from the custom-crafted cabinet on one side
of the room, and a top-of-the-line Runco 9" CRT projector that lowers into
the room when the system is activated, by means of a Draper 11-foot projector
scissor lift.
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Pop-up Screen
With 13-foot ceilings a screen that drops down from above was not the answer. Instead a custom-modified screen rises to the occasion.
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Now you see it....
Although the picture on the left shows the system on with all of the cabinet doors open, system operation can take place with all of the doors closed, via use of infrared activation and control of components.
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Theater Components
Since the owners required ALL of the equipment to be hidden, that meant speakers and electronic components, too.
Modern Home Systems engineers were able to use
the custom cabinet to house all of the system electronics:
- Proceed AVP digital THX preamplifier / processor
- Proceed AMP 5 five-channel power amplifier
- Proceed PMDT DVD player
- Mitsubishi HS-U795 S-VHS VCR
- Hughes Dolby Digital satellite receiver
Loudspeakers were hidden behind acoustically transparent grille cloth in four
modified cabinet panels:
- Revel Ultima Gem speakers for left and right channels
- Revel Ultima Voice speaker for center channel
- Velodyne HGS-12 subwoofers
Sonance Cinema II in wall surround speakers were painted to match the wood paneling
and placed at the rear of the room for surround sound and effects.
Because of the size and shape of the room, Modern Home Systems' designers specified
approximately 350 sq. feet of 2" thick acoustic foam for the ceiling, to minimize room sound
reflections. That was then covered by Guilford of Maine fabric specified by the
owners.
The result? This fabulous theater / library sounds as great as it looks!
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Control
A Crestron wireless color touchscreen control puts the screen and lift in motion
with one touch. Simultaneously, the system turns on, the preselected volume level is attained, and room lights dim. However, one more very important aspect of the room, along with a specific client demand, provided one of the greatest challenges to the Modern Home Systems design team.
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Made in the Shade
Ambient light from outside had to be blocked out completely in order for the image on the screen to be seen properly, but absolutely no interior window treatments or coverings could be visible. The answer was exterior shutters that automatically lower over the windows when the system is activated. They effectively block light from the outside without altering the beautiful wood interior.
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Whole House Audio & Video
The Living Room contains a smaller separate theater system, featuring a Loewe 36"' ART TV and music source components that can be accessed from virtually anywhere in the home. Other rooms or areas connected into the system include the kitchen, bathrooms, patio, exercise room and a 2,000 sq. ft. guest house.
The Master Bedroom suite also has a separate small theater system with the 36" Loewe TV and separate source components for video and audio.
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Indoors & Outdoors
Throughout the home, discrete, wall-mounted Audioaccess keypads provide the family access to radio, TV sound, and the family's CD collection via the Sony CDP-CX300 300-disc CD changer and the Escient TuneBase CD management system.
Source and track selections are made using the keypads, which also allow independent volume settings for the Sonance in-ceiling speakers in each room wired for sound.
Outdoor areas are also wired for sound and control with Audioaccess keypads, Sonance speakers in covered areas, and rock landscape speakers by the pool and spa.
No matter where you are in this palatial architectural marvel, you are never far from great entertainment.
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Click
the button to view Modern Home Systems' latest Theater Installation
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Showroom:
- 7007
Carroll Road
San Diego, CA 92121
- Phone:
858-554-0404
- Fax:
858-554-0707
- E-mail: Click
Here
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