From Dream to Reality: Bringing a Client's Home Theater to Life

The Birth of a Theater:

My name is Scott Wallace, and I have been a sales consultant here at Definitive Audio for over 23 years. With technology always evolving, the trends that grab the public's attention come and go. One of these trends made a roaring comeback at a time when the world seemed to be slowing down.

The early spring of 2020 and the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic presented personal and professional challenges to us all. With many people working from home or going to school online, Definitive Audio found itself on the receiving end of a lot of new project inquiries. People were taking a hard look at what they could do inside the safe confines of their home to make it a true sanctuary with the world outside an uncertain place. I responded to an inquiry from one prospective client wanting to turn their unused media room space into the home theater they'd been dreaming about for years.

New projects always begin with a rough idea of what the finished room could be. Where clients need help is how to turn that rough idea into a finished room. This part of the process has always been my favorite. Concepts and ideas are presented, and clients begin to get excited about the possibilities. Often, in a project, the performance objectives are balanced against aesthetic or practical considerations. This client was, to my delight, committed to a pure performance-oriented audio/video space and eager to learn how best to achieve that. To gauge if I was on the right track, I suggested that we each seek out a picture of a media room that met as many of the desired criteria as possible, and then we'd compare notes. As improbable as it may sound, of all the photos of media rooms and dedicated home theaters out there on the big bad interwebs…. we sent each other a picture of the same room.

That room happened to be a design from Cinematech, a longtime partner of Definitive. With a clear path toward the style we were after, I arranged a video conference with their design team to begin the process of tailoring the room to the client's desired aesthetic and function. After the client and I fleshed out the key components that will comprise the system, Cinematech works in conjunction with Definitive engineers to note all the details required to give the project a complete blueprint for how to successfully reach the finish line. Color renderings of the room intended to reflect what the finished room will look like are presented to the client for final approval before work begins. I believe that the pictures here show that we achieved the look and performance we were after.

This project was particularly rewarding as I look back at how initial ideas and concepts organically led to product and design decisions all meant to achieve the ideal home theater environment. The client's desired seating location served as the nexus for determining what became the 163" cinemascope Stewart Filmscreen masking screen. It also served as the measuring point from which to detail the optimal locations for the fully concealed 7.4.4 Bowers & Wilkins speaker system. Another fun fact is that because the acoustic treatments are all hidden behind black acoustic fabric, areas with flat black paint are this theater room's most visually reflective surface. The lighting system illuminating those surfaces is controlled by the programmed universal remote control or the Savant control system's mobile app. LED strip lighting integrated into a series of columns along the side walls, the cove of the room's soffits, and within the risers hosting the back row of motorized theater seats can dim to any level and set to any color within the RGB spectrum. This makes for an impressive entrance into the room or during breaks in the action. Perhaps the room's most eye-catching feature is the starry night ceiling, which is also fully customizable to create a visually captivating environment. But when the lights go down, and Sony's flagship projector lights up the screen, sound emerges from the Dolby Atmos speaker system, and a film starts on Kaleidescape, the room falls away, and the client, his family, and guests are transported into the world of their favorite films.

If you find yourself wondering what you might be able to do with your own underutilized space, one of my associates or myself at the Seattle Experience Center in Bellevue are here to help turn your ideas into the home theater of your dreams.