The Baddest Home Theater In Temecula
Home Theater and custom builds
Our Client wanted a One of A Kind Home Theater That paid Homage to his Favorite Football team, The Las Vegas Raiders
The Following is a story about how we made a dream come to life using our unique design process and out of the box thinking
Back in 2019 our client Mr. Meeker approached us about converting a few spare bedrooms in his home into the ultimate man cave home theater. He had a few requests but the main thing he wanted was for the theater room to represent his favorite football team, The Las Vegas Raiders. Other than the requirement to incorporate the Raider’s into the theater we were given free rein to design the theater however we wanted. Below is the story about how we designed and built the baddest home theater in all of Temecula Wine Country.Â
Front View of the Death Star Theater RoomÂ
So it all started with a few measurements and a vision. From there we were able to figure out how much space was available for our build out. Once we knew the exact dimensions that the theater had to be confined to we started to design. It took about 2 months and 3 different renditions to land on the final design. The final design we landed on would theme the theater room after the Raider’s new stadium in Las Vegas dubbed the Death Star. The concept behind this design was to give the occupants the feeling that they were inside Allegiant Stadium while watching a football game on the 140″ projection screen. We knew that we wanted to introduce the raiders theme in a way that didn’t clog the space with cheap memorabilia and i’d say that we nailed it.Â
For those who don’t know what Allegiant Stadium looks like, it is all black with swooping lines lit by LED rope lighting. It would appear to be something that George Lucas himself would have designed, hence the nickname Death Star.Â
Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, NV
The way we were able to give this Theater Room the Death Star treatment was to cover the walls with textured 3D panels laced by color changing LED rope lights. The walls were then treated with custom made, custom shaped black acoustic paneling to add even more dimension and acoustic quality to the theater room. Beyond that, a flat color scheme of Black and Silver was used to really drive home the Raiders theme.Â
Video showcasing the Death Star Theater Room in All its Glory. Photography Credit to Jon BloomÂ
This may be obvious to some people but building a home theater takes much more than just coming up with a pretty design. Tho the design does make it pleasant to look at and is an essential part of the build, many other aspects do exist and they are all equally important when designing a dedicated home theater. For starters, every theater room needs two key systems; a sound system and a video system. When choosing an audio/video system for a home theater there are thousands of options and they all vary in price. For this theater we knew that we had to match the quality of the build out with an equally high quality audio video system.Â
The Video System
Every theater needs an awesome picture and our death star theater is no different. We paired a Sony VPL-VW715ES 4K Projector (Retail $7999) with a Screen Innovations Zero Edge 133″ projection screen. We opted for a screen with ALR screen material to allow for leaving the LED rope lighting on while watching a movie. The ALR (ambient light rejecting) screen material rejects light from sources other than the projector.Â
The Audio System
When we decided on an audio system we looked no further than our friends at Tekton Design out of Layton, UT. Tekton makes some of the best speakers for home theaters and media rooms and our client knew he wanted an awesome set of speakers for his dream theater. When I called Eric from Tekton Design and explained to him the theater we were building he immediately jumped into action and started designing us a custom set of front tower speakers to fit in the space allocated by the cabinet maker. We told him that we needed an all in one tower speaker that would also house a dedicated 15″ subwoofer in each tower. Let me just say that he did not disappoint. These one-off speakers look and sound incredible. But we didn’t stop there, Tekton made us (6) Double Impact In-Wall Speakers ($2300/Pair) that they then painted in Raider’s grey to match our wall paneling. To finish out their part of the surround sound system, Tekton provided us with one last speaker, the center channel. We opted for the Double Impact Wide center channel speaker. After all of Tekton’s great additions, the death star was still missing one key speaker element. We needed to find the perfect set of In-ceiling speakers to make a true Dobly Atmos surround sound. After a bit of research and sampling of in-ceiling speakers we decided to install (4) KEF CI200RR-THX 8″ In-ceiling THX certified speakers ($899/Ea). With a total speaker count of 13 plus 2 Subwoofers this theater was definitely going to be bad ass!
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The Sony VPL-VW715ES Projector is a Native 4K Projector with 1800 Lumens and 350,000:1 Contrast Ratio
We typically stay away from Netgear’s Orbi and the Amazon-owned Eero mesh Wi-Fi systems. The Orbi AX4200 ($549 for a router-and-node pair) Because of their lack of processing and routing power. They also do not make for very reliable wifi speeds because meshing wifi only amplifies a weaker signal. The further you get down the line the slower the speeds you’ll experience. That is why we strongly recommend using hard wired access points instead of mesh type systems. With a hard wired connection to each access point you are able to send out the entire 1gbps+ internet speed from each WAP giving you a superior wifi experience throughout your home.Â
Araknis has two WAP product that we love: The AN-510-AP-IW-ACÂ (an In-wall WAP Perfect for fitting over an existing CAT5/6 Wall Plate) or the Araknis AN-810-AP-I-ACÂ (an extremely high speed WAP for Large areas supporting multiple users simultaneously)
Araknis Wireless Access Points install cleanly to the ceiling of your home or office and provide super fast wifi speeds with incredible reliability.
Araknis has an App called OVRC Home which allows for the control and monitoring of your home’s network. The OVRC Network automatically recognizes connected devices on your network and allows for troubleshooting and monitoring, as well as remote rebooting.Â
The OVRC App is a convenient and easy tool to help watch and manage the devices that are connected to your network.Â
The placement of the main router is often confined to a closet or garage, where service providers often install the optical network terminal. If you are getting fiber installed, ask your technician if the terminal can be in a more central location.
Routers and Wireless Access Points Should be located:
- At least Three to 4 feet above the floor
- Out in the open, not in a cabinet
- Away from electronic equipment, metal or major appliances
- Ideally separated by a couple of rooms or different floors for multiple access point setups
Additionally if the router has antennas, they must be aligned in a certain manner to provide the best coverage, so follow the manufacturer’s directions.
If things are still slow, follow tech support’s golden rule: Turn everything off and on again.Â
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Write to Nathan Goldstein at nate@theatermonster.com
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