Home / Case Studies / Bloomfield Hills Theater Renovation
The short version
A Bloomfield Hills family had a basement golf simulator nobody used and eight people in the house who wanted somewhere to watch things together.
The room became a 12 seat dedicated theater: 11 channels of Triad Gold, Anthem processing and amplification, two 18 inch subwoofers, custom fabric wrapped acoustic panels and cove lighting on a Crestron scene.
It gets used most nights, which is the only measure of a theater that matters. See how we approach theater design, or call 248-804-8011.
At a Glance
Town
Bloomfield Hills, MI
Project Type
Dedicated home theater, basement conversion
Seating
12 seats
Systems
Theater audio, projection, acoustic treatment, Crestron control and lighting
What the Family Wanted
The golf simulator had been a good idea. It was also, four years later, the least used room in the house. Eight people live here and none of them were going downstairs for it.
What they actually wanted was somewhere all eight could be in the same room. Movies on the weekend, Formula One on Sunday mornings, the occasional game that runs long. The brief was not reference grade in the audiophile sense. It was reference grade that a fourteen year old can turn on without asking anyone.
The Challenge: A Room Built for a Different Job
A simulator bay is engineered to be a big open box with a projector at one end. That is close to the worst possible starting geometry for a cinema. Hard parallel walls, no absorption anywhere, a ceiling that rings, and a floor plan with no riser.
The second problem was broadcast. Most theaters are tuned for film and then sound thin and shouty on a Sunday race feed, which is exactly what this family watches most. The room had to do both without a compromise setting.
The Build: Eleven Channels and Two Very Large Subwoofers
The front stage and surrounds are Triad Gold series across eleven channels, with Anthem separates handling processing and amplification. Separates rather than a receiver, because the channel count and the room volume needed the headroom, and because it lets the processor be replaced in five years without touching the amplifiers.
Bass is two 18 inch subwoofers rather than one larger one, placed against the room geometry to smooth response across all twelve seats. In a room this size a single sub leaves the back row thin and the middle seats boomy no matter how good the driver is.
The acoustic work is the part that does not photograph. Custom fabric wrapped panels were built to the room’s dimensions and placed by measurement, not by symmetry, with absorption at the reflection points and treatment on the ceiling to kill the ring. Twelve United Leather seats went in on a riser so the back row sees over the front.
Everything runs on Crestron. One button drops the cove lighting, powers the projector, sets the source and brings the audio up. The system was tuned twice, once for film and once for broadcast, and the room picks the right one from the source.
The Result: The Most Used Room in the House
The room that nobody went into is now the room the family ends up in. Dialogue is clear at low volume, which matters more in a house with eight people than peak output ever will. The bass is even from the front row to the back.
The clearest signal is that the simulator has not been missed once.
What would a room like this cost in your house?
The budget tool walks through room size, seat count, screen and how far you want to take the acoustics, and gives you a real range in about two minutes. No sales call to get a number.
Open the Home Theater Budget Tool Looking at something different? Try the Home Technology Budget Calculator.System Overview
| Room or Element | What Is In It | Brands |
|---|---|---|
| Front stage and surrounds | Eleven channels, in wall and in ceiling | Triad Gold Series |
| Processing and amplification | Separate processor and multichannel amplifier | Anthem |
| Bass | Two 18 inch subwoofers placed to the room geometry | Dual 18 inch |
| Acoustics | Custom fabric wrapped panels, ceiling treatment, measured placement | Custom |
| Seating | Twelve seats on a riser, two rows | United Leather |
| Control and lighting | One touch theater scene, cove lighting, source switching | Crestron |
| Room | Former golf simulator bay, fully reworked | Custom |
Project Details
The Project
- Location: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
- Room: basement, formerly a golf simulator bay
- Seating: 12 seats on a riser
- Household: eight people, daily use
- Tuned for both film and live broadcast
The Team
- System integration: The Sound Vision
- Acoustic panel fabrication: custom to the room
- Seating: United Leather
Equipment Specified
- Triad Gold Series speakers, eleven channels
- Anthem processor and multichannel amplifier
- Two 18 inch subwoofers
- Custom fabric wrapped acoustic panels
- United Leather theater seating, twelve seats
- Crestron control with integrated cove lighting scenes
- Professional room calibration, film and broadcast presets
The Room
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a dedicated home theater cost in Bloomfield Hills?
Three ranges cover most of it. A media room with a large display, surround sound and control runs $15,000 to $20,000. A dedicated room with acoustic treatment, tiered seating and reference speakers runs $20,000 to $50,000. A fully engineered room like this one, with eleven channels, multiple subwoofers, custom acoustic panels and a riser, runs $50,000 to $150,000 and up. The room construction and the finish work move the number far more than the electronics do. The home theater budget tool will put a range on your specific room in about two minutes.
Can a basement be turned into a real theater?
Usually yes, and basements are often the best rooms in the house for it. They are already dark, already isolated from the rest of the home, and usually have a ceiling cavity to work in. The two things that decide it are ceiling height, where seven and a half feet is workable and eight is comfortable, and whether the room shape can be treated. This one started as a golf simulator bay, which is a large open box with hard parallel walls, and it became a twelve seat cinema.
Why two subwoofers instead of one bigger one?
Because bass problems are geometry problems, not power problems. A single subwoofer produces peaks and nulls across a seating area, so one seat sounds full and the seat beside it sounds hollow, and adding a larger driver makes both worse rather than better. Two subwoofers placed against the room’s dimensions cancel each other’s peaks and smooth the response across every seat. In a twelve seat room it is the difference between a good front row and a good theater.
Will a theater tuned for movies sound right for sports?
Not by default, and this is the most common complaint we hear about theaters built elsewhere. Film mixes and live broadcast feeds are mastered differently, so a room dialed in for cinema often sounds thin and harsh on a race or a game. This system was calibrated twice and stores both presets, and the room selects the right one based on the source. The family watches Formula One in it most Sunday mornings.
How long does a dedicated theater take to build?
A theater going into an existing finished room usually runs eight to sixteen weeks, and the long pole is almost never the electronics. It is custom seating, screen lead times and any millwork or riser construction. A theater built as part of a larger renovation moves on the construction schedule instead, which can stretch it to a year or more.
Have a room that is not earning its keep?
Basements, bonus rooms, old simulators and forgotten offices are where most of our theaters come from. Tell us what the space is and we will tell you what it can be.
Talk to a person
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