Audio Video Interiors Visits "The Viagra"

Creative solutions for a theater's, er, shortcomings.
By Adrienne Maxwell

Every high-end home theater installation presents its share of obstacles, but incorporating a theater into a family or living room, as opposed to a dedicated theater room, is often particularly challenging. Homeowners are usually more sensitive to the equipments visibility and less willing—or able—to rearrange the room to accommodate ideal gear placement. The more unique the home design, the more challenging the install becomes, and it's up to the installer to do some creative problem solving.

Ambiance Systems (www.ambiancesystems.com), based in upper New York state, has spent the last 20 years figuring out creative ways to meet the needs of their clientele. The company has received several CEDIA Lifestyle Awards recognizing their ability to subtly integrate home theater systems into challenging environments. Ambiance president Marc leidig recently told us about one partcularly memorable job in a home on the shore of Long Island Sound.

"The client didn't have a dedicated theater room," Leidig explains. "He wanted to put theater in the family room, which was the primary relaxation area." This space presented a number of challenges, not the least of which was its size. The room had a long, open design, with the large family room flowing directly into the dining room. The right wall consisted almost entirely of glass windows and door for gazing at the waterfront—an accoustic challenge to be sure. These are common issues for the custom installer, but there was one obstacle that required some truly innovative thinking: where to mount the Sony VPH-50 CRT projector.

The room's vaulted wood ceilings were off limits, as the homeowner absolutely did not want to drill into them. He also didn't want to interfere with the open floor plan with a table-top or floor-lift solution. That left the dining room as the only option; however, mounting the projector on the available wall in the dining room would create an image too large for the 120-inch Stewart screen. . .and for the entire wall on which it resided!

After some brainstorming, the Ambiance team decided that a telescopic projector mount was the best solution. They asked their fabricator, Electro-Kinetics (www.ElectroKinetics.com), to build a motorized mechanism that would extend 13 feet into the room. During the 12 weeks it took to build the mechanism, which would perfectly accommodate the Sony projector's dimensions, the Ambiance team embarked on the task of installing a soffit at the front of the room in which to house the retractable screen and front speakers. An existing soffit along the right wall allowed them to run the necessary wiring around the rooms perimeter. Since the adjacent dining room had a flat ceiling, a perfect attic space was available to house the projector mechanism on the side of the living room opposite the screen area.

Needless to say, installing the mount was a challenge in and of itself. "It's a mechanism nested within a mechanism nested within a cage," Leidig says. "this thing was about 10 feet long and made of steel." That meant they first had to reinforce the solitary beam that provides the ceiling support in the dining area.

"Our carpenter had to reinforce it because there would be a lot of torgue on [the beam] where the mount was installed." Step two involved bolting the mount's sleeve into the attics space above, then putting the mechanism into place. It took four ladders and six or seven guys raise the mount up to the 9-foot-high ceiling level. "Let's just say it was a long day," Marc laughs.

It's hard to believe you can actually hide such a huge piece of machinery, but the Ambiance team did just that. When retracted, the entire mechanism resides behind a white, rectangular door. A high-torque, rack-and-pinion motor pushes the projector/mount through that door and slowly moves it to its desired position. The low-speed motor doesn't generate much noise, and it takes between one and two minutes for the projector to get from rest to full extension. Ambiance incorporated the into the automated Crestron control system that also lowers the screen and shades and cues up the gear. "For the sake of pure sexiness, we went back and made sure that everything hits its end point at the same exact time," Leidig says.

And what was the clients reaction to the team's creative solution? "He was absolutely thrilled," Leidig answers. "He's an innovative thinker who marches to the beat of his own drum, so this was great for him." He even gave his new home theater an apt name: The Viagra.

As memorable as this installation was, it's just one of many that Leidig has been involved with over his career. "I'd say five percent of our jobs throw us a real zinger and make things really fun and refreshing. I no longer say, 'We'll never top that,' Every year, someone has a request that tops the last one. That's what I love about this industry."