Builder Aaron Vitale of Vital Building & Enterprises had seen enough home theaters, and he wanted a state-of-the-art one in his own residence. Only this wouldn’t be any ordinary high-end theater. Vitale likes watching several football games at once, and he wanted to be able to view the video feeds from multiple security cameras on his property. The solution: multiple screens, what else?

To the sides of the plasma screens and behind large fabric grilles are two Paradigm Signature S8 tower speakers and two Paradigm 15-inch subwoofers. A Paradigm center-channel speaker fires from beneath the screen, and four in-wall Paradigm speakers provide the surround sound at the sides and rear.

Home theater designer Glenn Drummond of Valley Home Theater and Automation designed the theater so sound from any of the screens can play over the audio system. Aaron just has to make that selection on the 10-inch Control4 touchpanel. Each screen also has its own DirecTV high-def receiver with DVR, and something recorded from one screen can be played on any other one in the theater—or throughout the house—courtesy of an Extron switcher.

One might think a theater this large would require a rack of power amplifiers, but Valley Home Theater & Automation relied on one B&K AVR507 S2 audio/video receiver that pumps out 150 watts per channel.

The Control4 system operates all the gear on a weblike network and is extended to the rest of the house in 10 audio zones. Vitale uses the system to browse and listen to his music collection stored on a computer, eliminating the need for more costly media servers. All of his DVDs were stored in a Sony 400-disc changer, also accessible via the Control4 interface.

Surfing the Internet is possible on any plasma or big screen with a wireless keyboard, as well as through an Xbox function on any plasma or big screen. “Our networking capabilities allow the homeowner to see who is at the front door or keep an eye on the children at play while at home through any TV in the house. [He can even monitor these things] away from home via the Internet,” says Drummond.

Automated scenes are triggered by custom-engraved keypads at the light switch locations programmed to a movie scene, a sports bar scene, an intermission scene and so on. “For example, at one touch of a button, all TVs turn on, the lights dim, the room temperature adjusts and TV channels are selected,” says Drummond.

“Aaron wanted to do a lot of different things, and for the money and flexibility, Control 4 was a good choice,” says Glenn Vanderbrugge of Valley Home Theater & Automation.

[Electronic House]