When this Indiana family peers up at the ceiling of their basement home theater, they see a fiber-optic star field. When they look down, they see a rainbow of colors woven through the carpet. When they sit in the cinema chairs and look straight ahead, they see images that just about jump off a 110-inch screen.

There’s no need for these parents to load the minivan with their four kids and drive to the theater. Everything they were looking for can be found in their basement. “This room gets used as much if not more than any theater we’ve ever installed,” says system designer Tom Wilburn of TriPhase Technologies. “We had to go back and fix something with the projector after about a month, and we needed to move a row of seating to get to it, and what looked to be about three years’ [worth] of popcorn and candy was underneath the chairs.”

The homeowners wanted a combination of edginess and coziness in the theater that would echo the contemporary design throughout the house. The rest of the lower level, which includes a family room, gym, wet bar and sports bar, was outfitted in a bluish silver metallic to evoke modern chic. TriPhase worked with Indianapolis-based Auralex Acoustics to incorporate that design element.

The silver metallic fabric wave that spans the theater walls serves as an acoustical treatment and decorative modern art. “I’d seen what they selected for the sconces and the bar, and it was very funky for a basement. I wanted to bring some of that funk into the theater,” Wilburn says.

The A/V punch more than complements the creativity in this 24-by-18-foot room. A Runco VX-4000d DLP projector and Stewart Filmscreen screen provide the visuals, and B&K electronics and Triad Gold and Silver Monitor speakers blast the sounds. All the family needs now is an industrial-grade vacuum.

About the Author:
Arlen Schweiger - Managing editor of Electronic House Magazine

Arlen contributes product news items to electronichouse.com along with his role on the print publication. Got a tip? Send it along!