Two kinds of rooms
The dedicated theater is a room that exists for watching: controlled light, treated walls, a projector or very large display, tiered seating and speakers placed exactly where the format wants them. In lake houses this is often the lower level, where the sound stays out of the bedrooms and the room is dark anyway.
The media room or great room is a living space that has to be good at movies and good at everything else. Speakers go in the walls and ceiling and get painted to match, the subwoofer hides in a cabinet or the wall, and the display is sized to the seating distance rather than the wall. Most of our theater work is this kind of room.
What goes into a theater we build
- Display. OLED or mini-LED displays up to 98", or a 4K laser projector and acoustically transparent screen for dedicated rooms. Sony, Samsung and LG.
- Speakers. Triad in-wall and in-ceiling speakers, passive soundbars behind the screen, and in-wall subwoofers, all paintable and nearly invisible.
- Electronics. Marantz Cinema or Denon receivers and processors with Dolby Atmos and room correction, racked out of sight.
- Acoustics. Absorption and diffusion panels wrapped in the fabric your designer picks, bass trapping where the room needs it, and door seals so the rest of the house stays quiet.
- Seating and light. Coordination with your furniture and Lutron lighting, so the room dims in stages as the film starts.
- Control. One RTI remote or panel. "Movie" dims the lights, drops the shades, turns on the display and receiver, picks the input, mutes the house audio and starts the source.
Calibration is half the job
Good equipment installed badly sounds worse than modest equipment installed well. We measure every room, set speaker distances, levels and crossovers, run the receiver's room correction and then correct the correction by ear. We also calibrate the display to the room's light level so black is black and skin looks like skin.
New construction and remodels
If the walls are open, this is the moment. We provide speaker and wiring plans, specify blocking for displays and screens, run conduit for anything that might change later, and coordinate with the electrician and framer. The FIG. 2 speaker plan on our homepage is the kind of drawing your builder receives.
Where we build theaters
Greater Boston and the Lake Winnipesaukee region of New Hampshire, including Alton, Alton Bay, Wolfeboro, Tuftonboro, Moultonborough, Meredith.
