Home Theaters

Star Wars and George Lucas play a heavy role in many young men’s lives. Most of them have movies, toys and an endless arsenal of jargon and quotes to prove their love. Not Johann Peters, co-founder of Longview, Wash.-based custom installation firm Charisma Productions. He took his love to a whole other level.

Lucas, creator of the Star Wars franchise, has a 300-seat home theater at his Skywalker Ranch in California, dubbed “The Stag”.

To pay ultimate homage to one of his childhood heroes, Peters spent $100,000 to build a 16-seat replica of “The Stag”, including some of its best amenities such as a dozen speakers, 12,740 watts of amplification and a JVC DLA Projector.

Peters stuffed more into this 18′W x 30′L room than you could cram in an Imperial trash compactor, and shows it all off on a 150″ screen.

After 8 months of work and numerous squabbles with his business partner, he finally had his long-dreamed of replica and a place to relive his childhood fascination with all things Star Wars.

For more pictures and information on this Ultimate Home Theater and a comprehensive list of equipment included in it, check out the articles here and here.

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Not everyone, including myself, can afford to buy their way to the ultimate home theater. Oftentimes, it’s far more feasible to build your own and save a bit of cash. Conversely, doing things yourself can look amateurish or otherwise leave something to be desired.

While looking for more home theaters to be jealous of, I came across this great theater built entirely by a man and his father.

I gotta hand it to these guys, they really did a terrific job. Included in their setup is a V2500 Dolby Digital 7.1 Channel Surround Sound receiver, Infinity Satellite Speakers, a 96″ Optoma Silver Screen and DLP Projector, step down theater seating and some great movie posters.

Really goes to show how much you can get done in three weeks if you put your mind to it.

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I’m always inspired by people that build their own home theaters. Not only are they gung-ho about it, the elation they have when they finally finish is seldom seen in life.

Take this guy for example. He couldn’t wait to tell the world about his new home cinema and quickly uploaded his film to the internet upon completion. I can’t say I blame him. If I had a room dedicated to housing a Stewart Firehawk 110″ screen, a Tannoy 7.2 surround sound speaker system, an Arcam A/V Reveiver AVR250, an Arcam DVD player DV78, a Panasonic AE1000 HD projector, AppleTV, all controlled by a MX900 remote, I’d be singing in the rain.

Shoot, I’d just be happy with the vintage Pacman/Galaga standup in his waiting room.

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I come across some pretty awesome home theaters in my search for uncovering the best products, at the best prices. While I try to restrict my posts to things normal people like us can actually buy, every now and then I feel the need to fantasize about what if…

Since I can’t help my envious nature, I decided to dedicate Friday’s posts to the most magnificent hedonistic home theaters I can find. Maybe if we see the things we don’t have and want them bad enough, some day, err, never mind. Let’s just get started with a look at the first Ultimate Envy home theater.

Some of the absolute best home theaters I have seen are featured at Electronic House, a web magazine that focuses on inspiring technological transformations. They recently released their awards for home of the year, and all I can really say is WOW.

First up is this 12,000 square foot Dallas, Texas home, complete with one of the coolest home theaters I’ve seen to date.

Simple, yet sophisticated, it features a 110-inch viewing screen to capture the Runco 1080p DLP projector’s impeccable picture quality.

One can only imagine watching the latest Hollywood blockbuster under the moon and stars of the beautifully-crafted vaulted ceiling. Polished wood poles give this theater even more cinema authenticity.

Be to sure to check out the slideshow of the rest of this breathtaking house on the Electric House site.

home theaters