Custom Installation How-To

I'm the owner of a small cabinet shop and decided to built this attractive and highly functional entertainment center in my home. All the woodworking throughout the room is mine (except for the chairs). It's all made from Alder that is finished in honey stain with a sable glaze. While it may look like wall paper, the wall treatment is a faux finish.

With flat panel TV's getting so thin, speaker manufacturers are again challenged to create speakers that compliment them. Artison, a leading innovator and manufacturer of custom high-performance loudspeakers, recently introduced an incredibly thin speaker that attaches directly to your TV.

Lots can happen in the A/V world over a 3-year span, but that same length of time is an eternity in the computer world, where changes take place almost daily. Any new A/V gear that you buy is likely to remain up to date for at least a few years, but it’s not unusual for a state-of-the-art computer to become a paperweight in almost no time.

Meeting the client’s budget while providing the home theater of their dreams is often a balancing act that Barrett’s Home Theater of Naperville, Il. is used to. “Homeowners usually don’t realize what it takes to build out a room like this theater,” says John Wettlaufer, Barrett’s Custom Audio Video Manager. “In this instance, we were able to have an informed dialog with the client and make key decisions and compromises that made it possible for us to design a great home theater at a price they could live with.”

Nowadays an integrated home entertainment system is just as much, if not more, about the interior design as it is the technology. In fact, the most sophisticated custom installations reveal little to no technology to the naked eye, however, behind the walls and artwork, or hidden in the ceiling you just might find some amazing state-of the art sound and video gear.

<B>Sanus JFV60 ($540)</B><BR>
The versatile JFV60 can be mounted directly on the wall, appearing to float in midair, or it can be placed on the floor like any other cabinet. It provides a sleek, low-profile sophistication that blends right into the interior decor in either configuration. The unit can support up to 200lbs (all components and TV) when mounted on the wall, or 350 lbs when floor standing.

I have been an avid reader and subscriber to <i>Home Theater</i> magazine over the years, when the new issue comes in I thoroughly enjoy reading it and always refer to past issues. My favorite part of the magazine is the home installs, reading about what other people put into their homes and to what lengths they go. Crazy stuff!