Electronic House crowns 2010 Home of the Year award winners
By Donald Melanson 
posted May 4th 2010 7:58AM
posted May 4th 2010 7:58AM
It's that time of the year again, when the folks from Electronic House recognize the most impressive and downright jaw-dropping homes and home theaters they've seen since the last awards were handed out. While the categories cover everything from more modest home theaters to the best kitchens and outdoor spaces, the standout has to be the award for best home theater over $250,000, which this year went to the theater pictured above put together by First Impressions Theme Theaters. While the exact price doesn't appear to have been disclosed, the home theater was apparently four and half months in the making, and centers around a 174-inch screen (which can be adjusted for scope ratio) and a TITAN 1080p-250 Pro Series projector that itself weighs in at 200 pounds. That, of course, is just the beginning -- the room also includes a Crestron automation system that automatically adjusts the lighting and changes the sky on the ceiling when folks enter, sound-proofing that lets you "hear your heartbeat," a completely concealed Genelec surround sound system, a custom dog bed, and Italian leather CineLounger seats complete with LED-lit glowing cup holders, to name just a few standout features. Hit up the source link below for the complete details, and the rest of the award winners.
Mine should be on that list!
@Stevenk I'll take two of those thank you very much!
Amazing, but a bit hard to take that with you on the bus.
@CRA1G
why would you want a home theater on a bus? and do you spend more time at home or on buses?
@ravissimo Are you kidding? Who *wouldn't* want a home theater on a bus? Talk about making the most of your commute.
we can all now sleep soundly at night knowing someone out there has it all
@Zylam
Or we could get their address and rob them blind, your choice.
@Professor Hubert J Farnsworth
Yeah, really, you grab the 200pound projector and I'll take the 174inch screen. It'll be a cinch.
@AdamSpruijt
Sounds like a plan to me. *smiles before putting on balaclava*
Looks like Electronic House wasn't ready to handle traffic from a link in Engadget
I always thought Electronic House was a show about a really talented (but broken) robot that was really good at fixing other mysteriously broken robots?
What?
@stridermt2k Haha!! +1
Electronic House's System seems offline.
slobber slobber.... i want one
Either that picture doesn't do it justice, or it's not really that good.
Me want, ME WANT!!! *Jaw Drops*
Website is currently down/offline. :(
The pictures on the website showed what looked like Golden Globes or some kinda award in the very back of the room.
No center seat?
@kukrisna
no 3D?
More pics I got just before the sit went down:
http://i39.tinypic.com/4gp26a.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/neet90.jpg
It’s difficult to decide what’s most impressive about this stunning theater.
(Click here for additional photos.)
The 174-inch screen?
The dusk-to-dawn time lapsed constellation-filled sky ceiling?
The 200-pound, ultrahigh-performance projector?
The airtight 350-pound custom door that seals the room like Fort Knox?
The chairs’ frosted glass cupholders that glow with LED lights?
The answer is easy: all of the above. But one factor that Jeffrey Smith of theater designer First Impressions Theme Theatres doesn’t want to understate is how utterly quiet the room is before the sound comes on, and how that impacts the impending home cinema experience.
“The first thing you do is bring guests in and go, ‘Shhh … what do you hear?’ Nothing,” Smith says. “Then we know we’ve done our job. You literally hear your heartbeat — no HVAC, footfall, electronics or projector noise — we really work hard at that.”
As guests are settling in, other aspects feed their anticipation. A walk-in mode programmed into the Crestron control system keeps the room well lit and fills the sky ceiling with daytime blue and “happy clouds,” Smith jokes.
Then show time begins. A programmed 7-minute delay lowers the lights and fades the sky into coral, magenta and finally a midnight blue. Fiber-optic LED constellations appear, and shooting stars streak overhead. When the homeowner presses play on the Crestron touchpanel’s Blu-ray page, the room fades to black and the projector and screen take over. After the film, the homeowner presses a button to trigger the effects in reverse.
Open Sesame
The entry to this theater is certainly not your average door.
To suppress and isolate sound as much as possible, designer First Impressions Theme Theatres installed a 350-pound, 3.5-inch thick door that effectively locks down into a threshold. Its sides and top are pushed against rubber gaskets for sealing, and the door opens and closes automatically after being pushed or pulled. Five cam-lift hinges allow the door to lift slightly out of the threshold and open.
@Sammy3 Thanks for the ninja-quick copy/paste.
Would love to know how they got that ceiling made, the first thing I thought when I saw the pictures was "looks rendered, wonder if it animates?". I guess it does.
I'm guessing rear projector?
I mean, it's cool....but it seems like a small screen for $250k...I'd want at least a 300in screen for that size of a room. I mean, I have a 200in screen in a room half that size
@tkuhl87
Then you have a field of vision greater than 30 degrees and that cause eye fatique.
@Gary J That would be assuming that you must see 100% of the screen actively at all times. Most of the stuff on the edges is just junk anyways. I've had it for well over a year and have experienced 0 eye strain even after 6-8hrs of straight movie watching/game playing.
Either I have superior eyes, or that's bogus.
And even if it did cause strain...I'd take a little to improve the experience. The only time I've gotten strain in my entire life was from my 17in Monitor.
@tkuhl87
The issue is that 1080p isn't good enough. I sit 4 feet away from my 120" screen and can see it all, but there are times when you can see pixels. I would think that at 174", if they were sitting closer, it would be an issue. And if it was 300", you would see individual pixels and it would be distracting. There are some technologies that blur the pixels though.
For some reason, I am the only person that sits in the 2nd or 3rd row at IMAX movies, and I don't get eye strain.
@rcappo
4 feet away? wow...I think I'm like 10-14 feet away watching a 720p projector and I can't see any pixels.
@rcappo 4 feet! Are you joking or for real? I'm at 12 feet viewing distance and can't decide if I should go 110" or 120". I would get whiplash at 4 feet!
@tkuhl87 "Most of the stuff on the edges is just junk anyways."
Most of us would rather perceive everything on the screen at once without constant eye movement and strain. For that the accepted standard is a 30 degree field of vision which also does not lose big screen impact.
To bad it has a nasty Crestron system
Who said money can't make you happy?
@BrokenBird
An idiot.
lol
Design-wise I actually prefer the silver one, just seems more natural and home-like, built for an enthusiast and family rather than just an enthusiast.
Tell me the "custom dog bed" is not what it sounds like...
TIA :D
@F C
I was wondering if they subject their poor animal to the dB's...
Yes, but can it play Avatar 3D?
Actually, if you check their website, that projector only weighs 59.5 pounds, not 200.
http://www.digitalprojection.com/BrowseProjectors/SeriesList/ProjectorList/ProjectorDetail/tabid/87/ProjectorId/51/MarketTypeId/11/Default.aspx
There's more to what's being called "projector" that's bring in the 200 lbs. The total hang weight including, cables, frame, additional lenses, weight to the suspension from ceiling itself, etc.
Well done job really, but honestly I'd almost rather just sit and stare at the sky listening to some pink floyd and get baked.
Nothing like pictures of somebody's over-the-top home theater to make you feel completely inadequate. Thanks for that Engadget.
It kind of looks like a theme from the Roxio 10 DVD Creator software.