Back in 2001, James Hollingsworth got the home theater bug when a sales consultant asked a very simple question: "Do you want a TV, or do you want a home theater?"
During what he thought would be a routine new-TV purchase, James was introduced to possibilities he never imagined. He thought the 65-inch TV he was watching looked impressive until the sales guy dropped down a 100-plus-inch projection screen.
Penn Jillette's home theater is, like his entire house, not what you'd expect. The Slammer, a 6,000-square-foot monument to eccentricity and a macabre sense of humor, sprouts out of the Nevada desert a few miles from Las Vegas, where Penn & Teller perform their remarkable feats of illusion nightly at the Rio Hotel & Casino. From the outside, behind a chain-link fence, it looks like a Frank Gehry vision of Blade Runner in pastel. "Frank Lloyd Wrong," someone comments as we drive up to the gate. Within the courtyard, which has seemingly endless new additions under construction to accommodate an 8-month-old daughter and another on the way, multicolored astroturf and red and yellow concrete patios add to the sense that this is as much an adult playground as it is a residence-a very adult playground, given Jillette's well-known affinity for the scatological and the salacious.
This master craftsman incorporates unique woodworking designs with the homeowner's personal tastes and decor preference for extraordinary one-of-a kind home theaters.
The first DVD recorder we ever reviewed, back in December 2000, was a Pioneer, and the company has followed that by a series of ever more versatile and easy-to-use models.
Photos by Tony Cordoza Modern consumer electronics is so modular in design and construction that you could almost invent a new component category using the old Chinese-restaurant formula: choose one technology from column A and another from column B.
Wouldn't it be great if you could just go out and buy the surround sound music titles you're interested in without having to worry about whether they're on DVD-Audio or Super Audio CD (SACD)?
When progressive-scan DVD players first emerged almost two years ago, the already excellent picture quality we'd come to expect from standard players suddenly got a whole lot better. That's because the new models could convert video signals to a progressive-scan format for display on a TV or monitor with progressive-scan capabilities.
Offering up one of the more unique solutions for concealing a projection screen, Beamax has introduced the X-series Dellegno, which allows an 80-inch screen to ascend vertically from the stylish and contemporary cabinet, transforming a room-friendly piece of furniture into a large screen experience.
As we've demonstrated so many times, Home Theater isn’t just about the A/V products; it's about the entire design. This month's theater is an example of a project starting from the interior design and worked its way out from there. The homeowner hired renowned Robyn Clark from Toronto, Canada, to handle the classic-contemporary décor throughout the house, which was then translated into the design of the home theater and a special music lounge.