Latest / CE Pro Podcast / CE Pro Podcast #171: The Dedicated Theater Room Isn't Going Anywhere Anytime Soon

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CE Pro Podcast #171: The Dedicated Theater Room Isn't Going Anywhere Anytime Soon · CE Pro Podcast

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Hey everyone, this is Eric Ricomo, the executive editor of CE Pro.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: And with me today is a very special guest, Richard Sarshan, um of Acoustic Smart.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: Richard, thanks for joining us.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_02: How are you doing?
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: Doing great.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: Richard, why don't you uh just introduce yourself, um, tell us a little bit about um Acoustic Smart and your background, home theaterology, which uh which came out a couple of years ago.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so my company is called Acoustic Smart Home Theater Interiors, and I work with integrators around the country to help educate them on home theater and to uh partner with them uh as a synergistic effort to help build these rooms around the country.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: Our company comes in and we uh the dealer brings us in on a job.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_02: We design it, we build it from the studs out, help them out with the noise reduction, the isolation, do the acoustical design and figure out uh if there's any questions, where to put the projector and the speakers to help them out, do the floor plans.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: We also manufacture on seating and the star ceilings.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: We do all that in-house and we take these rooms that are sometimes very complicated, and we try to uh make things easier so the A V dealer can concentrate uh just on his portion, which is hard enough.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: And we kind of come in there as, you know, as their team player uh to sort of go in there as a you know, as really as an extension of their company.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: So when we go in there, it's it's you know, we we kind of work as the OEM for the dealer to help them get get through this experience and make sure we have a great product at the end.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Great, great, great.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: So so it's fair to say that you are on the the uh the front lines of the uh the home theater market, uh you're on the ground seeing um you know these trends as they evolve.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um 100%.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: So how so what's going on with home theaters?
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: How how is that market evolving?
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, what's what's new?
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: Well, it's been an amazing uh, you know, so look when when we came into the market, uh nobody was doing theaters.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: It was like maybe uh one a year, you know, it was just like a part-time thing like 30 years ago, and it grew and it grew and it grew.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: And then with the uh, you know, since COVID, believe it or not, I'm sure you've heard this, but uh because the movie theater business uh kind of was stagnant uh for a while, uh, you know, everybody was streaming and staying in.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: So they all wanted to have that theater experience that they were getting in the movie theater in their house.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: So uh the other thing is because uh streaming happens so quickly now, uh, more and more people want their home theater experience, and less people are going to the movie theater.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: Also, you know, to be fair, a lot of the movies come out in the movie theater are not great movies, and a lot of the streaming stuff is better than what's in the movie theater.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: And uh Netflix and all these other uh companies, uh all the other studios are now making it so it's more of a cinematic approach in the home.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_02: If you look at some of the TV shows like Fallout, and you know, you'll see those are in aspect ratios of 2.0 or 2.35, which is more of a cinema type feel.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: It's not it's not that 185 anymore that you used to see on HBO.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: So they realize people are doing more theaters at home.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: But uh we also uh came out with that book two years ago, Home Theaterology, which the the covers in back of me.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: And we since then we've uh you know what the the I the idea was we we were on a mission to make sure that home theaters uh were in front of architects, interior designers around the country to help to promote more uh home theater to A V dealers around the world that's struggling.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: And because what happens is the architects and the interior designers aren't really educated, and they get I think that they get scared a little bit and they don't want to push home theater.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: They'll rather do something like a big TV and a and a couch and talk out of it.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_02: And we we wanted to sort of fight against that and help our dealers.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_02: So we came up with this book, and the money that we made from the book, which we sold about 12 to 1300 of them, uh, was used to give out about 400 to 500 bucks, architecture designers around the country.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that really created um a lift uh in the industry, uh, like it did 20 years ago for Theo Calamaracas, who's like he's the father of film theater.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: He started the whole thing before I even came into it.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: We were his fixed guy when he first started out.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: So I I saw what his books did, and uh I wanted to do the same, you know, for our industry, you know, 20 years later.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: So now that the book has been out, um we're starting to see architects call us, ask us questions.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and we've been going around the country also educating, doing um uh a lot of uh you know uh you know, credit type courses with architects trying to educate them on home theater, uh and teaching them.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's really, you know, it's not a big deal if you're with the right partners.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_02: You know, getting a fine, you know, finding out about the CD channel, you know, how to find a good AV dealer and all that stuff.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: That's all in our book, actually.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: You know, so it it it kind of helps them locate the dealers around the country.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: You you'd be surprised, you know, very uh shocked how many architects they don't even know how to find a good AV dealer.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_02: They didn't they know what CD is, but they didn't really understand it.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: So now they can when they get our book, they can see that they can actually uh go online, put down their zip code, and find somebody to talk to that's that's educated.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but to answer your question, because I'm going like in a circle, uh I I see things.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um we're doing some of the biggest work of our career right now, and I'm seeing uh the markets changing.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: It's either the ultra, ultra high end, uh there's no middle of the road anymore, or it's like real low budget.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: So it's and I'm hearing that from a lot of dealers.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_02: It's like either either you're on the very ultra high end or you're on the very low budget type of theater.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_02: So they might have like uh a less expensive version, you know, where they have just a couple of panels floating around the room and a couch and and maybe even a big TV and call it a home theater.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: And then you have the kind of stuff that we do, which is more of like a real uh real theater, like a dedicated cinema uh that meets the Doby standards in somebody's house, and it's this very immersive experience.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: And we're getting opportunities that are just really, really interesting right now.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh also with uh OLED and all the big TVs coming out, uh, we are starting to see uh if they have the money to really do it right, uh movie, you know, like a private cinema with an OLED in there, you know, with the video wall is the best way to say it.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, in which case you have to know how to put the speakers because now you have a video wall on the front wall, and where do you put the speakers so that it you still get that immersiveness?
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: And all these companies now are coming out with cool stuff like JBL and and uh you know some other companies on trying to figure out the algorithm uh for the processing so you can get that immersive type of you know type of experience by having a big TV right on a projector on a screen.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I think everybody is we're we're still trying to figure that out, but it is starting to happen.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_02: And it's really cool.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, I think another point about video walls is just cost, but that cost is and will come down.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: You have all these cool companies coming out, like just video walls and uh AWOL and uh the guys in California.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_02: I'm trying to think of what they're called.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_02: Their video wall was really amazing too.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Barco's got a great video wall.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um you know, there's so many videos.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, then from the big TV companies like Samsung and LGE, and I mean they all have they all have similar solutions, yeah.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we actually uh our first video wall theater was with Samsung, actually.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we did I think the first one in the country, we did one in uh uh outside of San Diego, and we did one for Clive Davis, believe it or not.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um it was um he had a documentary that was on uh TV and he changed around his room that was done by an old company uh called Cello back in the day, which was owned by Mark Levinson.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_02: Who uh I'm if you ever got a Lexus car, you would see the Levinson audio system, Mark Levinson.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and uh he actually used him to do his uh he created his own speakers back then and it was his own system, so he didn't want to mess with it because he loves it so much.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: He ended up just redoing the video wall, I think.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, so you know what's what what what's the reception been um from architects and interior designers about you know the home theaterology and and seeing is it is it like a shock to them that like wow like home theaters can like be as beautiful as they are, you know, um an immersive A V experience?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think you know a lot of them really didn't get it, and a lot of them still don't get it.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_02: You know, they don't understand how you can be in the dark, you know, and watch a a movie in a space.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: Their thinking is make it more like a living room uh and where you're open to all the elements, but that's not an immersive experience, then you're more of a spectator.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_02: So it's very important to teach them, and it's really up to the A V dealers around the country to educate these designers like I'm trying to do, and architects, and just say, well, one's a TV in a living room where you're not going to be in a controlled environment and it won't be immersive, and one is an actual very immersive experience where you're actually escaping, you know, for two hours.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: Uh some of the people in our industry call it an escape room.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_02: They don't even call it like a theater room.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: It's a way to get away, you know, like with Superman goes to get to get out of the criminals, you know, to get away from the criminals of the world.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's like his fortress of solitude.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: So that's kind of what a theater does.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_02: Like I have a house by the beach, and it's uh, you know, it's it's not like a, you know, I mean, it's a nice home, but it's not like over the top.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: So people aren't expecting much.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_02: And then, you know, and then they they come into the theater and they're they're wowed first by the look of it, but then when they listen to the experience and and they're feeling that that whole experience of the immersiveness and just getting lost in the moment on that screen.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_02: And then when the experience is done, and then they get out and they realize they're just in a normal house, like not in this crazy mansion, they're they're kind of shaken up a little bit because they realize that they they were just, you know, you know, we gave them like a little bit of Willy Wonka, you know, when you open up that door to the chocolate factory and they saw the oompa loompas for a little bit and they came out.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: But that's that's really um that's really what you want to have happen.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: If you're not getting those goosebumps and if you're not creating that immersiveness, then you're really not doing home theater right.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_02: And the more people who do that, you know, the more home theater will grow because once people get a taste of that experience, man, they're they don't they don't want anything else.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: Now listen, I love me a home theater demo.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um I don't have a dedicated space in my home, but I you know have the surround sound in the in the living room.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I gotta say, last time I was at the movie theater, I was underwhelmed.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um it was just like not just uh the uh it just wasn't as immersive as I was hoping.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: But let me let me um absolutely before before I lose this thought, um C Pro's own uh research into um you know the home theater market has found that that in and uh and this just kind of like drives to something you were just saying, but that that um the dedicated theater room isn't as popular as it once was, and that this this idea of the multi-purpose room, which is essentially um a home theater environment, not in a dedicated theater room, uh maybe in like uh I don't know, uh uh living room, maybe uh basement that's not just a dedicated room.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um I've seen um there's an integrator up here in the Boston area that has a little showroom attached to his house.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um with uh it's like a pergola with um you know retracting walls.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: So he has a uh you know uh TV uh up there, but he can also um you know essentially you know put the walls down, the projector screen comes down, he's got a projector up there.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know is that uh I don't know what are your what are your thoughts on that?
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: Because you're saying that the only way to do it right is with this kind of dedicated space.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um you can certainly do both, but it's a different experience.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, look, I've been hearing home theaters are dead from the time I gave birth to my company.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and that's that's no joke, and it's always been an uphill battle.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: Even when I started my company, everybody thought I was nuts.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, but look, you know, when you talk to some acousticians, and it depends on who you're working with.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_02: If you're working with somebody really well, you can make a family room sound good, you can do acoustics on the ceiling and on the front wall and hide it in such a way and and do curtains and all that stuff, but nothing beats a dedicated room because what happens is here's a perfect example.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_02: And they actually teach this at Cedia in one of their courses, you know, and it's and it's so true.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, did you ever notice, you know, uh your wife's in the kitchen with the kids and and you're trying to watch something on the TV, and you're hearing everything perfectly, and then all of a sudden, you know, she starts to like, you know, you know, starts cooking and you hear the rattling of the dishes, or she takes a pot, and and your and your head kind of goes to that because humans, you know, they they don't like to be disrupted and they, you know, they kind of want to be focused on on what they're doing, and they get a little bit of sensory neural loss, is what it's called.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: And what happens is they get very distracted.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_02: So what do they do?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_02: They make the volume on the on the on the TV louder.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: And and then what happens is, you know, an action scene comes on and they make it even louder, and then it gets quiet, and then all of a sudden the voices are very, very loud, and you realize you just made this act, you know, this, you know, the volume so loud that you know that you look like a 99-year-old person who can't hear because the you know, the volume so loud that it's it's kind of getting annoying.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_02: So then you make it lower again, and then all of a sudden you hear some noise around you a little bit, you get a little bit more distracted, then you raise it again.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_02: You don't have that in in a home theater.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_02: It's basically you can keep it at that one level and you can hear everything because the rest of the world is gone.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: And there's there's like a little bit of that peace when you go into a home theater where it's quiet, it's very meditative.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we're actually doing uh now um a lot of wellness rooms that are acoustic, which is a huge thing right now, where they'll set up a big TV and they'll do their Peloton and the exercising, and we'll do like a really cool design, and you'll be able to do your yoga uh right in these uh acoustically uh uh done rooms.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_02: And it's just it's again like being in a theater, but you're using it for yoga and and for meditation and for working out.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_02: And it's gonna be, I think that's gonna be the next big wave, you know.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: And we're we're working on some really cool stuff with that.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but the theaters give you that.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_02: And what happens is uh when you work as many hours as we do, Zach, and I know we were just talking about this, how hard we're working right now, you need to get a little bit of that escapism.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: You need to escape.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_02: And sitting in front of a TV is not gonna do that because you're gonna be interrupted, you're gonna be losing focus, you're not gonna be in that really relaxed state that a home theater gives you.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_02: It's really uh that's what makes it so special.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_02: But somebody who's never experienced that will say, Well, let's not do that because that's you know, you're sitting in the dark, you know, you can be in a TV, get cozy and comfy with your kids, but you have plenty of rooms in the house for that.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: You know, this is more of like a place to go to and really experience something and to get lost for two hours.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's almost like going into a sauna.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you go into a sauna, you go in there, you know, it's very quiet, you're relaxing, and then you're sweating, and then you take your shower and you're ready to face the whole world again.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_02: It's the same thing in a in a in a theater, but instead you're watching a cool action movie or you're watching a musical or a rock concert and you're having a glass of wine.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's just another way of winding down from this crazy world that we're in of constantly being texted and emailed, and you you I mean, really, nobody has peace anymore.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just a way of getting back down to reality, is really all it is.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, so we always hear, um, we're hearing more and more um every day, just about uh the uh collaboration with interior designers and architects and and this this design community.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, it's all it's obviously now an important part of like really every part of the custom integration industry.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: We're seeing um a lot of products on the show floor at CDIA and ISC just like you know are clearly done designed with with that um that's segment in mind.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, so so how does that translate to the home theater?
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um obviously a lot of the theaters um you know on on the acoustic smart website are are beautiful, a lot of the ones in home theaterology are beautiful.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, can you just go ahead and answer that question?
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so the the days of the old movie theaters with the red velvet curtains and all the architectural mill work, it's it's there, but uh you don't see it that much.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_02: And that's because of what you just said.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: It's from the interior designers and the architects.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: And what they want to do is yeah, they want it, they still have it in their mind because that's what the way that they were brought up, and that's the way that they were educated.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_02: They want it to be more lifestyle, is what they call it.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_02: So we actually developed a new line of seating about uh I mean it's been a while already, it's been almost uh 15 to 20 years, that did not have the high backs anymore that look like um like a low back, almost like a European piece of furniture.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_02: And then when you want to watch the movie, and then then the headrest will actually convert and open up.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: And it gives that it gives the interior designers more of that like the feeling of a living room that they want.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, if I mean we lost so much business and in one year, I remember one time before we had this particular type of seating, uh, because every interior designer would look at all of our seating and say, that's hideous.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: I want it to look like a living room, I don't want it to look like a theater.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, they they would look at it and literally like make like an ugh sound, like they just had a bad piece of cheesecakers, you know.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_02: So I said to my team, I'm like, we need to do something.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: Because what they wanted to do is we had we had a very tall client, he was a celebrity client, and the uh interior designer wanted to put him in this tiny club chair with no head support.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I felt so bad for the client, but I can't really say anything because we have to make nice with everybody.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I said, what can we do that can have this look that they want that looks like a club chair, but then when they want to watch a movie, have it transform into a theater seat.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: So at least you know you get that when the lights are off.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_02: And that's kind of what we did, and that put us back on the map.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_02: And now everybody's doing it, but we actually wanted to work for it at CES because it was so unique.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_02: But I I think we we had to do it and and pivot because uh that's where the industry was going.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: And the interior designers, they dictate the look of theaters all across the country, so you have to listen to them because they're the ones guiding all these clients, yeah, and they want it to flow with the rest of the house.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_02: The other thing is uh all of the uh fabrics are very um, they want a very soft palette, and they want to use, they're now incorporating a lot of lighting.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: So you're seeing all these really cool lighting products coming out now, uh, where everything is hidden lighting that's uh very offset lighting that looks really nice, cozy.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_02: So the whole look of the room has changed 180 degrees.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_02: So it's no longer these red cinemas, you know, with the mill work and and the and the velvet curtains.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's very rare that we do a job with the motorized curtains.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we used to do that all day long.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, we're it's it's more like you know, very, very clean and sophisticated.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: The other thing that people are doing now is there's this um uh the uh wood uh that's like strips with like uh with an acoustic treatment and Between.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: You have to be careful how you design with it because you don't want to put that over speakers.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_02: But a lot of interior designers want to incorporate those wood slats into the design because it has like almost like a meditation room vibe to it.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: They want to they want to go towards that wellness zen kind of a feel.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: So we've been doing a lot of rooms with that lately, especially in Arizona.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: In different parts of the country, you're starting to see it more and more.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_02: It usually starts in California and then it usually translates into New York about two or three years later.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: Oh interesting.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: What about audio?
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: What's new in the audio world in the home theater market?
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_02: So a lot of the companies like Storm Audio, Trenoff, you know, Pro Audio.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, everybody's got their own way of doing things, wisdom.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_02: But the uh companies um with the processors, they're they're trying to get uh more and more closer to the real movie experience.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_02: So Storm Audio uh just did a huge upgrade on their processor.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: And what's smart about them is that if you already own a processor, you can literally keep the processor and and they'll just sell you the upgrade part so you don't have to buy a whole processor.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: And they added a lot more surround sound formats.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_02: I think one is a new one, you know, there's Dolby Atmos, which everybody knows, right?
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_02: But there's also D the DTSX, which you're starting to see more of.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I think there's a new one from um uh Sony that's a new surround sound format.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, there's like two or three new ones that I've never heard of, and I don't really know uh which movies have those, but they all add a little bit of you know their thing to it.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: So you're gonna see all these new surround sound formats come into play because again, they want to bring you closer to the movie experience into the home.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_02: So that's really exciting.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_02: And I actually got my upgrade, so I'm I'm looking to uh I'm looking to check that out.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: Uh on the projector side, um, the projectors are getting better and better for less money.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we just installed a Barco Heimdale in our showroom.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_02: And uh we had a Braggie in there before, which was phenomenal, like unbelievable.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_02: But then when we installed this monster, uh we put on the right way to put it.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's a monster.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_02: It was just what's what's really interesting about it is that when you look at all the movies, like if the quality of the of the print is not that great, you see all the imperfections because the lens is so good.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: But when you put on like a 4K thing, and anything that is 4K, the depth, it's like you're looking through a window now.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_02: It looks like you're looking at an LED wall on a screen.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: It I mean, me and the AV dealer were looking at this thing and going like, oh my god, like this is like how can we get any better than this?
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_02: Because just three years ago, I thought that was great, but this is like this is like a revelation.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_02: And the the blacks are not just deep blacks, but they're crisp.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_02: And then in the the dark scenes, you can actually see what's going on.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: And the reds and the uh blues, you know, the reds and the blues, you know, the red, green, and blues are the hardest thing to get.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_02: And when you see that reproduced like film in your own, you know, theater like that, especially if you're watching a Tectacolor movie, which those movies had a lot of pop, like all the Elvis movies and you know, Ben Ben Her and movies like that, it is like it leaps off the screen.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, it's and it's so seeing stuff like that when they're remastering it and it's really done right, it's just startling.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_02: I freaking love that.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: So those are some of the really cool things that are that are happening.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_02: Sony's coming up with some really cool stuff too.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_02: Sony has some new projectors where they learn how to get their contrast better for darker scenes.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_02: So now when it's a dark scene, it's no longer blurry.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_02: You actually uh, you know, see what's what's happening in those dark scenes, which it was was harder about two years ago.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_02: If the scene was really dark, you really couldn't make out what was happening.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_02: Now they figure that out, and uh they have they have a new chip that they have in it, and that's really great.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, so you know, there's a lot of really cool things going on, you know, for sure.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_02: And Epson also, Epson has a projector now that we've used on a couple of theaters.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, well, we have used them, the EV dealers use them, uh, with 6,000 lumens, and it's got an amazing price point.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_02: And uh the picture was so good, I was shocked.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, oh my god, you know, and uh, you know, so the prices are coming down, and the value is like it was never we've never had value like this before.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_02: And speakers, you know, you have all these active speaker companies coming out with uh where where they use these uh small amps and uh and the sound is just like it's just incredible.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um let's see.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: What do you what is overhyped in uh in you know home theaters right now?
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um maybe I don't know, uh see if you have an answer for that.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, is there anything that that people keep hyping up that just isn't sticking or just isn't working?
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, you know, the main thing that bothers me is that, you know, I I guess you know, you you can say, oh, well, you know, you have to use an LED wall that you shouldn't be using a screen, you know, because the LED walls are so much better than a projector.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_02: And that's not the case.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I think uh the projector companies realizing that they're in a war now and they need to really get their act together, and they're coming to the table with some incredible stuff.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the other thing is, you know, telling people that you can get the same experience in a living room than you can in a private cinema.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh that is definitely not true, you know.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so that is definitely uh that's the wrong message.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_02: They're two totally different experiences, two totally different things.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_02: And if somebody tells you that, correct them right away, because that is not the way it is at all.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um how would you quantify that that war, and you're the way you put it, uh, between um, you know, uh video wall manufacturers and and projectors is you know uh put it in put a percentage on it.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, how many pro how many home theater projects these days have video walls versus versus projectors?
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I'd say uh 80% of them are probably with uh with the projector.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: Very few of them are with the video wall.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: So 20% video wall, that's more than I would have um Yeah.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry, probably probably less than that.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: I I'd say let me correct that.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_02: Uh because I haven't had enough coffee yet.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_02: I would say probably 90 10 is probably more than okay, okay.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's still is it, but you know, how quickly is that growing?
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: The the the video wall segment?
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's really it's based on different parts of the country.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_02: Uh in California, we're seeing more opportunities for that because uh the market they can spend that kind of money.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you're talking about people buying video walls that are 400 grand.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, um, you know, in places where you don't have that kind of budget, you're gonna see a projector most of the time.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: Very few people want to lay out that kind of money.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: And also, what is the lifespan on it?
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_02: You know, then what happens when things go bad?
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: That's a lot of money to spend, you know.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_02: You can buy a small house for that, you know.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me about it.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: But when they have the money, I mean, honestly,$400,000 is nothing for them.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: So it it depends on if it's worth their while.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_02: Like to me, a video wall works really great when you have a situation where they want a theater experience and they have a beautiful view of the ocean and they don't want to lose that view and they want to keep the windows open.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_02: It works great for that.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_02: You know, uh, to me, that's that's when it comes into play where they want to watch a lot of sports and they want to leave all the lights on, but then they want to have as close to a theater experience as possible.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_02: You know, that's that's really what it seems for less.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like a lot of athletes, you'll see them want to do a video wall because they're watching lots of games on it.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_02: And uh games look amazing on a video wall.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, but um, but I think a video wall is probably better off in a in a family room, uh, having a gigantic area, whole playroom area, have it all open, and you're hanging out.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_02: I think it looks super freaking cool, and it's just it's awesome.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um but when you're in a dedicated theater, I think you want to get as close to the cinema experience as possible.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_02: And feel like you're you know, you're watching, you know, drawers the way it was meant to be in the real movie theater.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: And um, here's a good question.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, then uh that's a good way to wrap it up.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um what would you differ what would you do differently if you were designing a theater um for yourself today uh versus five years ago?
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_02: Well, one of the things when I did my theater, um I lived by the beach, so I couldn't, you know, I I I don't have a basement, so I didn't really have a choice.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_02: I had to do it in my garage.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_02: I was one of the first people in the country to do a theater in their garage, and it was very painful because the clean out valve for the house is in my platform.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_02: There was a pole supporting the second floor that's usually in a garage.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: And this is not a six-car garage, this is a normal two-car garage that most people have.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I had of I had to create a uh flush header and support the second floor and get rid of a beam in the middle of of the room that would have been directly in the middle of my viewing for the you know for the for the screen.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um but uh yeah, I mean I'm sorry, my my brain is dead.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_01: No worries.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_02: What was the question again?
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh what would you what would you do differently um for your film theater today versus five years ago?
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so yeah, it's been a long day.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_02: So what I had it so back then, um I was doing a design for Grant Stewart from Stewart Film Screen, and he came out with the Cinecurve screen, and then I was working with um Sam Runko, who did the first cinema scope type of projector.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_02: So we're excited to have that.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_02: And back then you really couldn't do a woven screen because you would get like a Moray effect, like this weird effect uh uh from uh uh from the actual image showing on the screen, and you you see this weird pattern.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_02: So a lot of people did uh you know like a regular screen.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_02: And whenever I see you know the EV dealers that are old school and they don't want to do a woven screen, uh I talk them into a woven screen because now with the woven screens, you don't have the more effect anymore.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody's worried about the light output.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_02: There's plenty of lumens and light output in the new projectors.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_02: You get much better sound when all the speakers are on back of the screen.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_02: The way I have the way I have it set up, my room sounds unbelievable.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_02: But the first row is the only row that gets all the good sound because I have the center channel underneath the screen, and then I have the other speakers on the floor.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I have like floor standing speakers, you know.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_02: So uh, you know, so if I was in a room, like if I was to do anything different, I would always say do a woven screen.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_02: Like everything is so good at this point.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_02: Don't be afraid to do a woven screen.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm having this issue on a job right now with with with an A V dealer and they're real old timers and they do amazing work, but they never want to use a woven screen.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_02: They want to keep these fixed screens because they say, Oh, it's gonna ruin the picture, you're gonna get this weird effect on the screen.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_02: I've done it in the past and it's awful.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, that's not so anymore.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you can take a breath now.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_02: And the good thing about having the speakers in the back of the screen is that both rows now get all the same sound because all the speakers are on the same level, and that's the way they do it in commercial theaters.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's the same thing.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_02: You know, so why not do it in the home, right?
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_02: Right, and everybody has the same sweet spot.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_02: That's the beauty of it.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_02: So that's what I would do differently, you know, in my own theater.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_01: Excellent.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Richard, uh, any any uh any last thoughts before we uh let you go?
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the only thing I would say is that support home theater, uh, educate people on it, educate architects, interior designers on how to do it correctly, and don't be afraid to get your hands dirty and to uh to to build one of these things because once you build one, it's very addictive and you'll you'll want to do more of them.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_02: You know, don't be be afraid of the work because it's one of the most rewarding things that any AV integrator can can do in their in their craft.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_02: So enjoy the ride because uh when the client is selling that room back to you, it's the best experience that they've ever had, and they'll thank you for it again and again and again.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_01: I I'll I'll agree with you that it is addictive.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_01: The uh, you know, back when I first started with CE pro um a handful of years ago, the first uh home theater demo I got to sit in on, I was like, oh, that's yep, that's it's pretty cool.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so yeah, you're 100% right.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's uh yeah.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_01: If you think you know, going to a theater, like a commercial theater is immersive, um, yeah, you you gotta you gotta see uh you gotta experience a home theater for sure.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, 100%, man.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_01: Richard, thanks very much, man.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_01: Have a good weekend.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_02: You too.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for the opportunity.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_02: I appreciate it.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_01: Of course.