OTHER TECH

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THE GEAR

•Knoll Systems HD282 DLP projector ($7,400) •Screen Research 92-inch screen ($3,400) •5 Klipsch KL-525-THX speakers ($1,000 each) •2 Klipsch KS-525-THX dipole surrounds ($1,250 a pair) •4 Klipsch KW-120-THX subwoofers ($1,250 each) •Denon AVR-4806 receiver ($3,500) •Denon DVD-2910 DVD player ($740) •Elan Z661 six-channel amplifier ($820) •2 Furman Elite 15PF power conditioners ($600 each) •Harmony 890 remote control ($400)

John told Nick the perfect seating arrangement for the theater would be eight chairs in two rows of four, but Nick had other ideas. "We're a family of four, so I figured if another family comes over, we'd already fill eight chairs," Nick says. "I went with 10 to be on the safe side. I don't know if I'll ever have 10 screaming maniacs watching a football game down here, but I like having that option."

But John had reservations. "Some of the chairs are against the back wall, which acoustically isn't the best thing to do. But you can't be too theoretical with this stuff; you have to be flexible."

The Excalibur theater recliners ($2,200 in a group of four, $1,800 in a group of three) have tactical transducers, or bass shakers, which run off two Klipsch sub amps (housed in the room behind the theater), which in turn are connected to the Denon receiver's subwoofer output. This transfers the low bass to the chairs, making them vibrate. The rumble of a tidal wave or earthquake in a movie like The Day After Tomorrow puts viewers right in the action.

While the room's gray-and-black colors might strike some as somber, John chose them to minimize light reflections from the screen and the projector. Unobtrusively adorning the walls are eight white sconces with fan-style shades that provide low lighting before and after a movie. And the Lutron infrared lighting-control system lets the Trainas use either a wall plate or the remote control to set the lights at any level.