Cinema. In Your Home.
Purpose-built home theaters with Dolby Atmos immersive audio, Sony QD-OLED reference displays, and Anthem ARC Genesis room correction — every system calibrated to your specific space.
The Difference
A Big TV Is Not a Theater
A 75-inch TV in a living room delivers maybe a fraction of what a properly designed theater room can. The room itself is the problem: reflections muddy the sound, ambient light kills picture contrast, and a pair of soundbar speakers can't recreate the three-dimensional soundfield that Dolby Atmos was built for.
A dedicated theater room eliminates all of it. Acoustic treatment, blackout shading, calibrated speaker placement, and Anthem ARC Genesis room correction — tuned specifically to your space to deliver exactly what the director intended.
What Goes Into a Theater Build
The components we specify for dedicated cinema rooms — selected for performance, not price point.
AV Receiver
Anthem MRX Series
8K-capable processing with 140W+ per channel. ARC Genesis room correction built in. MRX 540 for compact rooms, MRX 740 for mid-size theaters, MRX 1140 for flagship builds. Supports Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, and IMAX Enhanced.
Display
Sony BRAVIA XR QD-OLED
QD-OLED panels combine quantum dot color with organic LED contrast — perfect blacks, infinite contrast ratio, and color accuracy that LED cannot match. 77" to 85" reference displays for flat-panel builds. 4K laser projection with acoustically transparent screens for larger rooms.
Speakers
Triad Speaker Systems
In-wall LCR speakers, in-ceiling surrounds and Atmos height channels, and architectural subwoofers. Timbre-matched across every position for seamless panning. Triad builds in Portland, Oregon — carbon fiber and Kevlar drivers that disappear into your walls.
Sources
Apple TV 4K + 4K Blu-ray
Apple TV 4K for streaming with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision. Panasonic UB820 for 4K Blu-ray with HDR10+ support. All sources switch seamlessly through Control4 — no input juggling.
Lighting
Lutron + Ketra Tunable
Dedicated theater lighting scenes — full bright for cleaning, dim pathway for entry, complete blackout for viewing. Ketra tunable light can shift color temperature to match content on screen. Integrated with Control4 for one-touch operation.
Automation
Control4
One remote, one app. "Movie Night" dims lights, drops shades, powers on the system, and selects your source. "Lights Up" reverses everything instantly. No learning curve — the system learns the behavior you want and executes it.
Immersive Audio
Dolby Atmos: Sound That Moves Around You
Traditional surround sound places audio in a horizontal plane — left, center, right, surround. Dolby Atmos adds height. Sound is treated as a three-dimensional object: a helicopter doesn't just pan left-to-right, it tracks overhead. Rain falls from above. The experience is completely different from conventional 5.1 or 7.1.
We configure 5.1.2, 5.2.2, 7.1.4, and larger Atmos layouts based on room dimensions, ceiling height, and seating position. Height channel placement is the most critical — and the most often done wrong. We measure and model before a single hole is cut.
5.1.2 Atmos
Entry-level immersive audio. Five traditional channels, one subwoofer, two ceiling height channels. Dramatic improvement over flat 5.1 in smaller rooms.
7.1.4 Atmos
Our most common specification for dedicated rooms. Seven traditional channels, one subwoofer, four ceiling channels. Full three-dimensional sound field — standard for reference performance.
ARC Genesis Room Correction
Every room has acoustic problems — standing waves that amplify certain frequencies, reflections that smear transients, dead spots where bass disappears. These problems are invisible until you measure them, and they make even great equipment sound worse than it should.
Anthem's ARC Genesis uses a precision measurement microphone at multiple seating positions. The software builds a complete acoustic model of your room and applies advanced DSP correction — not just basic EQ curves. The result: you hear the content as it was mixed, not as your room distorts it.
This is what separates a room with good equipment from a room that genuinely performs at reference level.
Our Process
How a Theater Gets Built
From room assessment to final calibration — every step is measured, not guessed.
Room Assessment
Dimensions measured. Ceiling height, seating position, and viewing distance calculated. Acoustic challenges identified — parallel walls, hard surfaces, HVAC locations. Display size and projection feasibility confirmed.
System Design
Speaker layout modeled for your room. Atmos configuration specified. Display or projection system selected. Equipment rack location determined. Electrical and network requirements documented.
Acoustic Planning
Absorption panels, bass traps, and diffusers specified by position. We don't over-treat — the goal is controlled reflection, not a dead room. Treatment locations coordinated with your interior designer.
Installation
Speakers mounted and wired. Display or screen installed and leveled. Equipment rack built, wired, and dressed. Projector aligned to screen. Acoustic panels installed. Shading installed for blackout.
ARC Calibration
Anthem ARC Genesis measurement performed at multiple seating positions. DSP correction applied. Level calibration completed per THX and Dolby specifications. Subwoofer integration verified.
Control4 Programming
Theater scenes programmed: Movie, Intermission, Lights Up. Sources assigned and labeled. Remote and app control confirmed. We walk through every function with you before handover.
Theater Connects To
Multi-Room Audio →
The same Sonos system that powers your whole-home audio can bridge sound into adjacent spaces outside the theater.
Control4 →
One remote controls the entire theater — display, receiver, sources, lights, shades, and climate in a single press.
Motorized Shading →
Blackout roller shades for total light elimination during viewing. Integrated with your theater scenes.
Lighting Control →
Lutron scenes for every theater mode — pathway lighting, full bright, and complete blackout for viewing.
Common Questions
Home Theater Answers
What room size is needed for a dedicated home theater?
A dedicated theater works well from around 12' x 16' and up. Smaller rooms can still deliver excellent performance — they just shape the configuration. Below 10' x 14', a media room approach with a large flat panel often outperforms a projector setup. We model every room before designing — dimensions, ceiling height, and seating position determine the speaker layout and display recommendations. Start with a room assessment →
What is Dolby Atmos and how is it different from traditional surround sound?
Traditional surround sound (5.1, 7.1) places audio in a horizontal plane around your seating position. Dolby Atmos adds height — sound is positioned in three-dimensional space. Overhead speakers recreate rain falling, aircraft passing above, or the ceiling creaking in a horror scene. The result isn't just more speakers — it's a fundamentally different listening experience. With a proper 7.1.4 Atmos installation, the distinction from conventional surround is immediately obvious.
What is ARC Genesis room correction and do I really need it?
ARC Genesis is Anthem's acoustic room correction system — a precision microphone measurement at multiple seating positions followed by advanced DSP correction that compensates for your room's acoustic problems. Every room has standing waves, reflection problems, and frequency imbalances that make audio sound worse than it should. Without correction, even great speakers underperform in a typical residential room. ARC Genesis is one of the most effective room correction systems available and is one of the primary reasons we specify Anthem MRX receivers.
Should I choose a projector or a flat panel display for my theater?
For rooms with controllable lighting (which all dedicated theaters should have), a 4K laser projector with an acoustically transparent screen delivers a more cinematic experience at larger screen sizes — 110" to 150"+. For rooms below 100" screen size, or where a projection throw isn't possible, Sony QD-OLED delivers reference picture quality in a flat panel that's hard to beat. We spec both based on room geometry and screen size requirements — often projectors for purpose-built theaters, flat panels for converted rooms.
How long does a complete home theater installation take?
For a purpose-built room in new construction: rough-in takes one day (during framing), installation and equipment takes 2–3 days, acoustic treatment and finishing takes 1–2 days, and ARC calibration takes a half-day. Total: roughly a week of working time spread over the construction schedule. For a basement conversion in an existing home: plan 5–7 working days from start to calibration. Timeline varies based on room finish complexity and custom acoustic treatment requirements.
Build Your Theater
Whether it's a basement conversion or a purpose-built cinema, we design it around your room and your expectations.
Get a Theater Quote →