Discovery Channel's Home Theater Show.

[Kam]

Flipping through the channels caught this show on the Discover Channel where the designer Theo K(something greek sounding, his designs have been in all the home theater mags) made one families home theater room for 15K (in materials and equipment, not sure if that included the design expertise). They didnt exactly say what all the equipment was, but from what i gathered:

Yamaha receiver (unnamed)
Infocus Screenplay projector (DLP Hi def)
Screen Goo Painted
"Centra" Speakers? That was the name on the box 6 foot front towers that looked kinda like infinity's with a thin tower aray of tweeters/woofers. long thin front and long surrounds in that same kind of straight array of tweeters/woofers.
Monster Power Center
Monster Cabling
M1? Subwoofers (2 500watt subs)
Acoustic room treatments, false walls, paint, raised stage, raised seating, curtains, columns to block out 3 windows, ceiling mount and...
Two Special couch's that rock/move/shake synchronized with the movement on screen. Now these werent tactile transducers, but the couch's actually moved and shifted as the motion shifts on screen. Not sure how they did it, but sure seemed like it could be either really cool or really distracting.

And, before the show started, there was about a 3 minute commercial from Bose advertising their 3-2-1 system as being superior to a 'traditiona' 5.1 system. As far as that other thread goes for advertising, this was a key spot for a company to advertise in, and they did and gobbled up a huge chunk of ad space to push their product. They made claims about how two sattelites and the subwoofer with the bose patented technology can create a soundstage more enveloping that 6 speakers. AND they are very inobstrusive, easy to set up.... It's easy to see why people pick Bose and think of Bose products as "high end" when a commercial like this precedes a show like this.

They also had the family visit two other theaters to get an idea of what they wanted and one of the houses they visited... The CEO of monster cable. They showed his mansion and his three media rooms. A family media room, his master bedroom media room/ including bathroom with a plasma built in behind a mirror (that was waaay cool), and the dedicated media/theater room. Of course, monster power centers and monster cabling everywhere. The master bedroom had Mcintosh front end equipment though, that was nice to see. couldnt see any other brandnames other than monster in the ceo's house. the other theater designed by theo was this silicon valley dude's million dollar theater that looked verrrry kick butt. Only piece of equipment there i caught was a proceed preamp.

interesting show, the focus was definitely more on the aesthetics of how the theater looked than the tech side that went in behind it, other than the basic construction tech of wiring but very cool overall. did anyone else catch it?

peace
k2

[eisforelectronic]

I'm sure Noel Lee has some kind of Cinema Forte setup. CAT speakers, Mcintosh amps, Runco video, Acoustic Innovations seating and Monster cable everywhere.

I'm recording that show right now.

[robert393]

....made one families home theater room for 15K.....
Screen Goo Painted

.....It's easy to see why people pick Bose and think of Bose products as "high end" when a commercial like this precedes a show like this.
Bose is a master at marketing their product, but the informed buyer would pretty much "see-through" the B/S. ;) But, I can see where a person that would "grey-paint" their wall and use it as a screen, may "buy-into" the whole Bose "theory" too. :confused: They obviously ran out of funds and couldn't afford a real screen, so they went with the painted wall theory :o
So, Kodo's to Bose for their marketing! I'm sure their were LOT'S of Bose systems (& Grey-Paint for screens) sold since the show aired and IMO Bose made a very wise business decision by buying that air-time.


They also had the family visit two other theaters to get an idea of what they wanted and one of the houses they visited... The CEO of monster cable. They showed his mansion and his three media rooms. A family media room, his master bedroom media room..., and the dedicated media/theater room.
............the other theater designed by theo was this silicon valley dude's million dollar theater that looked verrrry kick butt.

peace
k2 Bet you didn't see any Bose 3-2-1 systems :rolleyes: (or "grey-painted" walls used as screens) in these set-ups. Quaility usually comes with a price. :cool:

Robert

[shokhead]

Been watching it,pretty high end stuff and he said bigger cables are better,like a signal lane freeway and a 6 lane freeway,more lanes,signal is faster or something to that effect.

[westcott]

Flipping through the channels caught this show on the Discover Channel where the designer Theo K(something greek sounding, his designs have been in all the home theater mags) made one families home theater room for 15K (in materials and equipment, not sure if that included the design expertise). They didnt exactly say what all the equipment was, but from what i gathered:

Yamaha receiver (unnamed)
Infocus Screenplay projector (DLP Hi def)
Screen Goo Painted
"Centra" Speakers? That was the name on the box 6 foot front towers that looked kinda like infinity's with a thin tower aray of tweeters/woofers. long thin front and long surrounds in that same kind of straight array of tweeters/woofers.
Monster Power Center
Monster Cabling
M1? Subwoofers (2 500watt subs)
Acoustic room treatments, false walls, paint, raised stage, raised seating, curtains, columns to block out 3 windows, ceiling mount and...
Two Special couch's that rock/move/shake synchronized with the movement on screen. Now these werent tactile transducers, but the couch's actually moved and shifted as the motion shifts on screen. Not sure how they did it, but sure seemed like it could be either really cool or really distracting.

And, before the show started, there was about a 3 minute commercial from Bose advertising their 3-2-1 system as being superior to a 'traditiona' 5.1 system. As far as that other thread goes for advertising, this was a key spot for a company to advertise in, and they did and gobbled up a huge chunk of ad space to push their product. They made claims about how two sattelites and the subwoofer with the bose patented technology can create a soundstage more enveloping that 6 speakers. AND they are very inobstrusive, easy to set up.... It's easy to see why people pick Bose and think of Bose products as "high end" when a commercial like this precedes a show like this.

They also had the family visit two other theaters to get an idea of what they wanted and one of the houses they visited... The CEO of monster cable. They showed his mansion and his three media rooms. A family media room, his master bedroom media room/ including bathroom with a plasma built in behind a mirror (that was waaay cool), and the dedicated media/theater room. Of course, monster power centers and monster cabling everywhere. The master bedroom had Mcintosh front end equipment though, that was nice to see. couldnt see any other brandnames other than monster in the ceo's house. the other theater designed by theo was this silicon valley dude's million dollar theater that looked verrrry kick butt. Only piece of equipment there i caught was a proceed preamp.

interesting show, the focus was definitely more on the aesthetics of how the theater looked than the tech side that went in behind it, other than the basic construction tech of wiring but very cool overall. did anyone else catch it?

peace
k2

I have seen the show and I thought it was a great idea but the setup they did was pretty bad.

I can not belive that this system could have been built for $15K.

1) The speakers looked like junk.
2) The Monster Cables, interconnects, and power conditioner were all overkill for such a tiny system with only a receiver, projector, and dvd player.
3) They spent way to much for the Pronto remote solution when a Harmony could have done the same job for a tenth the price.
4) A goo screen was used then they spend all this money for an automated drape over the screen, put a logo and lights over the front door into the theater, and a fortune on seating for four that shakes the occupant. A total misallocation of funds, IMO.
5) They never did show the other half of the room that they walled off to make the theater half the size of the initial room. (I believe it was done to provide symetry for the panels used to cover the windows.)
6) I figure having 5 men for 10 work days costs about 9K in labor alone. This does not include materials like the sheetrock laminated with metal to reduce sound transmission into the next room. Im glad my bedroom is not next door.

There is no way this system could have been built for $15K by you or me.

It really turned my stomach because the man was supposedly involved in the sound\recording industry and wanted a good sounding system. I can't imagine those tiny satellite speakers creating anything close to quality sound.

And the last thing was the total lack of of an HD source.

[jamison162]

I saw most of this show also last night. I can't say 100%, but I thought I heard "da da da da da all for under $50k" - as in $50,000 not $15,000. I may be mistaken though, that's just what I heard.

[Kam]

I have seen the show and I thought it was a great idea but the setup they did was pretty bad.

I can not belive that this system could have been built for $15K.

1) The speakers looked like junk.
2) The Monster Cables, interconnects, and power conditioner were all overkill for such a tiny system with only a receiver, projector, and dvd player.
3) They spent way to much for the Pronto remote solution when a Harmony could have done the same job for a tenth the price.
4) A goo screen was used then they spend all this money for an automated drape over the screen, put a logo and lights over the front door into the theater, and a fortune on seating for four that shakes the occupant. A total misallocation of funds, IMO.
5) They never did show the other half of the room that they walled off to make the theater half the size of the initial room. (I believe it was done to provide symetry for the panels used to cover the windows.)
6) I figure having 5 men for 10 work days costs about 9K in labor alone. This does not include materials like the sheetrock laminated with metal to reduce sound transmission into the next room. Im glad my bedroom is not next door.

There is no way this system could have been built for $15K by you or me.

It really turned my stomach because the man was supposedly involved in the sound\recording industry and wanted a good sounding system. I can't imagine those tiny satellite speakers creating anything close to quality sound.

And the last thing was the total lack of of an HD source.


Yeah i got the impression that the 15K went in to the materials/equipment ONLY, not including the design and labor expertise. since the guy theo and his team got 'free' advertising for their work out of the show, they didnt charge the family for the installation/design/labor/etc, just the actual cost of materials. i found the speakers they used, Centra here:

http://www.mdesignlife.com/centra/

the 6ft tower $3,500 pair, center $800, surrounds $1,800 pair, subs $3,000 each. so the mfr price for the speakers was: $12,100.00. they had to have a discount o that.
i've never been a fan of the speaker types that exhibit the "wall of sound" configuration of tons of tweeters/woofers in this kind of design, but i havent heard any high end versions of the speakers either, just some lower end infinities and polks, and they both sounded extremely harsh, and heavy on the trebble.

this company, mdesign, also was where they got the subwoofers from. from what little i know (anyone jump in and correct me) these home theater designers have deals/arrangements with company's to use only their products in the systems they put together. the people who come to them generally say, here's xyz amount, give me a theater, and want as little to do with the micromanaging of purchases as possible. versus the type of people on this board, etc. who would probably say, build the aesthetics, I'll give you the equipment to put in. OR, if the budget is high enough (like the silicon valley guy with proceed front end equipment) they'll say what they want or what kind of theater they want to put together (saw a full meridian digital theater that was pretty kick ass too) rather than give over all control to the designer. there might have been more into it, but you're right, they didnt discuss source material, what kind of dvd player, hd reciver/sat, etc. or anything really techie about the system.

[3db]

Yeah i got the impression that the 15K went in to the materials/equipment ONLY, not including the design and labor expertise. since the guy theo and his team got 'free' advertising for their work out of the show, they didnt charge the family for the installation/design/labor/etc, just the actual cost of materials. i found the speakers they used, Centra here:

http://www.mdesignlife.com/centra/

the 6ft tower $3,500 pair, center $800, surrounds $1,800 pair, subs $3,000 each. so the mfr price for the speakers was: $12,100.00. they had to have a discount o that.
i've never been a fan of the speaker types that exhibit the "wall of sound" configuration of tons of tweeters/woofers in this kind of design, but i havent heard any high end versions of the speakers either, just some lower end infinities and polks, and they both sounded extremely harsh, and heavy on the trebble.

this company, mdesign, also was where they got the subwoofers from. from what little i know (anyone jump in and correct me) these home theater designers have deals/arrangements with company's to use only their products in the systems they put together. the people who come to them generally say, here's xyz amount, give me a theater, and want as little to do with the micromanaging of purchases as possible. versus the type of people on this board, etc. who would probably say, build the aesthetics, I'll give you the equipment to put in. OR, if the budget is high enough (like the silicon valley guy with proceed front end equipment) they'll say what they want or what kind of theater they want to put together (saw a full meridian digital theater that was pretty kick ass too) rather than give over all control to the designer. there might have been more into it, but you're right, they didnt discuss source material, what kind of dvd player, hd reciver/sat, etc. or anything really techie about the system.


Wouldn't mind watching a show dedicated to HT.

[Kam]

Wouldn't mind watching a show dedicated to HT.

not sure if it's weekly, but was on Monday on Discovery at 8PM EST (time warner cable) and then replayed again later (i think midnight or 11pm?).

[L.J.]

I recorded it but didn't get a chance to watch it yet. Yeah it does seem like a nice show to watch. Especially since I get it in HD. Might be able to pick up some nice ideas.

[westcott]

Unforutunately, it does not appear to be a weekly show. It has been repeated seveal times on Directv HD over the course of the last three weeks I have seen it.

I also saw a similar show on DIY or HGTV, I think.

They were very rudimentary and focused on flash, as well.