Extreme Home Theaters: Features That Make Them Cool

Over my long and varied work history, I’ve done a lot of different things. For just over 4 years, I worked at an electronics store. My main job was to deliver and install appliances, satellite systems, TVs, and especially home theater systems. While people seldom got too excited about having a new washer delivered (although I am one of the weirdoes that would), they always loved to get new toys. That was my job, and it was a lot of fun. The best part was right after everything was in place and all of the connections were checked, and I could turn it up somewhat past the point of sensibility and show the customer just what it could do.

At the store where I was employed, we always prided ourselves on having access to the best technology available. While we installed a few remote control mechanisms, most of them were limited to in-wall sensors that could control a receiver, amp, or CD player in another part of the house. However, times have changed and so has home theater automation.

For example, it is now possible to install speaker lifts which will lower speakers less than 70 pounds down from the ceiling on demand, with just the flip of a switch. They can even be controlled with a remote! (I’m getting giddy just thinking about it!) Another possibility would be to install a projector lift, which would do the same thing with (you guessed it) a projector.

An additional over-the-top-cool option would be to build your flat panel TV into a hidden panel in the wall. This way, you could maintain the aesthetic integrity of the room until you’re ready to crank up the theater system and put it through its paces.

So, how would this work here in the real world? Well, if having your entire home theater system connected to some form of home theater automation seems like overkill, how about this? Maybe the center channel speaker could be mounted right above the TV, in a panel in the wall.

The left and right front speakers could lower down from the ceiling with remote control mechanisms; your subwoofer could be built into the floor. The rear channel surround speakers could be either built into the back wall of the room, or built into the ceiling. This way, you have just enough automation, but not too much.

Here I go getting giddy again.