Millions of people have watched videos and read our articles about home theater installs. One request we kept getting was to do a video or article on how to upgrade an existing theater. In this article, we will walk you through some of the steps we took to upgrade a theater. However, we highly recommend you watch our video for a more in-depth understanding.

We recently upgraded the top theaters in our showrooms and did a time-lapse of the upgrade in our Raleigh showroom so we could share the process with you. In our video, we walk you through each process from the beginning so you can see all the steps we took.

This particular theater was incredible when we built it around 20 years ago. However, technology has progressed substantially since then; the requirements for spatial audio speaker locations have changed, and the theater looked dated. Our goal was to bring everything up to the current level we do in customer homes. Many of you have likely seen videos we have done with a particular Audio Advice design that has won many accolades. This particular design uses our floor-to-ceiling acoustic panel system and custom LED lighting–this was also the design we used in the theater we did for “The Poster King” if you want to see another example.

Before Upgrades

The first significant change in this design was to increase the screen size. In the early days of theater, there were generally accepted specs on how wide your screen should be. Today, most people want as big a screen as possible, so in our updated theater, we made the screen wall-to-wall. So, it went from 151 inches to 186 inches. To project an image this size with enough light, we used the Sony 7000ES projector, which has 3,200 lumens. However, when you use a widescreen like this 2.4 filmscreen from Stewart, your projector is not using all of its light output.

So we also added a Panamorph lens, allowing us to use all of the pixels from the Sony to light up the screen. The Sony and the Panamorph work in conjunction with a madVR Envy Extreme video processor, which does a couple of key things: first, it processes the image to produce an HDR image that a projector cannot produce by itself. Second, it eliminates the need to zoom the projector in and out. The madVR identifies the aspect ratio of every piece of content and instantly matches it to the screen.

To learn more about the madVR, read our article here.

On the audio side, the original speakers were not in the optimal spatial audio positions as they were installed prior to the current Atmos specifications. So we started with our home theater design tool, which is our free tool where you can put in your room dimensions and interactively build out your theater, and it will place your speakers, your projector, and everything else in real-time. We then had our team of theater designers complete the exact design with this room's unique aspect, including a full 3D render of the final room.

In terms of audio, if customers have the budget, we generally will get them into a JBL Synthesis system. JBL is known for having installed the systems in many of the country's best commercial theaters; the same is true for private home theaters. The JBL Synthesis system has a host of advantages. One main key point is that the system uses compression drivers. Compression drivers are dramatically more efficient than standard dome tweeters and thus have an incredible dynamic range. They can go from a very soft sound to slamming you in the chest in a fraction of a second, precisely what you want in a theater experience. This particular theater has 3 SCL-2s up front, which have three 8” drivers and a 1.5” compression driver. It has two SCL-7s as the front wides. These are angled at 15 degrees, and with their wide 90-degree dispersion, they can hit all of the seats in the room. Then, we have powerful SCL-4s on the sides. And another pair of SCL-7s in the back sides and SCL-6s, which have matching compression drives as the rears. In the ceiling, we have four SCL-5s, which are angled at 45 degrees and have a 60-degree spread. Getting the ceiling speakers in the right location is critical in modern theaters. You’ll notice that the home theater tool on our website has a slider allowing you to play with the position. The upshot is that in a theater like this with three rows, you’ll see that it perfectly positions them to maximize the main listening position but at the same time covers every single seat.

We’re Here to Help!

If you have further questions, contact our experts via chat, phone, or email. Or simply visit one of our world-class showrooms to experience speakers, projectors, TVs, and everything in between for yourself before you make a purchase!

If you’re planning your home theater or media room, check out our Home Theater Design page, where we have everything Home Theater related, including our FREE Home Theater Design Tool.

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