A Theater Retrofit is the Life of the Party

This was a retrofit project where the homeowner's existing 300 sq.ft. theater was upgraded with all new equipment, which included a six-zone distributed audio system for entertaining. The theater went from a 5.1 to a 7.2 audio system and outfitted with a top-of-the-line JVC DLA-RS35U projector outputting 1080P resolution at 120Hz. The original 92” screen was replaced with a 115” Stewart Luxus Deluxe Screenwall, creating a far more immersive environment. A single RTI T4 remote controls everything.

There were a couple challenges that the integrator, Central Coast AV, encountered along the way. For instance, the existing equipment rack was only 30-rack spaces tall and framed into the wall of the theater. The wall had to be cut open to accommodate a new 42-rack space Middle Atlantic unit. To prevent the equipment’s LED lights from interfering with the viewing experience, a 3/8” smoked glass door was placed in front of the equipment. The door also eliminates fan noise from entering the main viewing area. Due to the age of the theater, only component cables had been run to the projector. It was necessary to pull Cat5 cable from the rack to the projector through an extremely tight conduit and add a Gefen HDMI Baluns to convert the signal.

All the wall mounted volume controls were removed and now the homeowner selects each zone with his T4 touch panel. He’s able to adjust volume and source independently of each zone as well. A Party button on the remote turns on/off all zones and sets them to the same source for entertaining. There is also an iPort dock hidden behind the in-wall shelving, where he stores his optical disks. He’s able to use the T4 to display all the iPod’s metadata and have his playlists available at the touch of a button.

Since the homeowner entertains a good deal, an extra Pioneer 12” Subwoofer was hidden below the bar and is triggered “on” using a wireless transmitter/receiver to get the audio signal to this location because there was no prewiring. The extra bass really gets the party started. Due to the constant entertaining of friends and family it was equally important that the T4 was simple and intuitive to use, allowing guests to easily control the music, too.

Partial Equipment List
Atlantic Technology In-Ceiling Speakers (8" woofers)
Jamo In-Ceiling Concert Series Speaker (6.5" woofers)
Pioneer Elite S-W1EX Subwoofer, 12" woofer
Atlantic Technology Subwoofer, 10" powered woofer
B&K CT600.1 Multizone Receiver
Yamaha RXV3900 Receiver 140W x 7 Channel
Yamaha BD-S2900 Blu-ray Disc Player
JVC DLA-RS35U Video Projector
Stewart FilmScreens GreyHawk RS G3 Luxus Deluxe Screenwall
RTI T4 Touch Panel
RTI T2C Remote Controls (8)
Middle Atlantic Sliding Equipment Rack

Integrator Contact Info
Central Coast Audio Visual
4491 Vieja Dr. Santa Barbara, CA 93110
805 669-8885
cwilson@centralcoastav.com
www.centralcoast.com

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