Part Theater, Part Family Room Equals Hybrid Fun
By Steven Castle
This all-encompassing space used a creative projection installation to create one killer audio/video system.

Check out this sprawling space, and tell us you don’t want to flop down on those nice couches and chairs and watch a movie or ball game. Want to be closer? Just amble down to the more formal home theater area where you can fire up some video game controllers for some real big-screen fun.

The custom-designed rear-projection system uses a three-chip Runco VX2Cx DLP projector and Stewart Filmscreen rear-projection display to provide a whopping 138 inches of high-def video. That makes it big enough to be enjoyed by anyone playing pool way in the back of the space.



This area has it all in audio as well. A rocking JBL Synthesis Two system—complete with powerful speakers, amps, a processor and equalizer—cranks out 160 watts per channel with speakers concealed behind fabric to the sides and below the screen, as well as dipole surround speakers in the columns and in the more casual family room area. Two JBL subwoofers that fire from below the screen make it a powerful and flexible 7.2-channel system.

“The family was looking for a theater, but didn’t want a dedicated theater space,” says Sean Weiner, president of electronics installer Starr Systems Design in Baltimore, Md. “They wanted to be able to watch movies, entertain guests and play games.”

The solution was a hybrid sort of media room, which includes formal home theater seating by the screen, and family-style seating and a billiards area in the back. There’s also a bar off to one side, making the entire space L-shaped. Light comes into the area from walkout doors in the back, so a rear-projection system was used to prevent the picture from washing out. And to make the screen visible from the back of the room, the theater area was dug down a couple of feet.

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