The home theater industry is so young and varied that it hasn't produced many people that can be considered legends. But there is one man who actually created the concept of home theater as we know it today, and who continues to push the boundaries and redefine what home theater can be. Theo Kalomirakis won CEDIA's Best Dedicated Home Theater design award every year he entered — a total of nine times — until he decided to stop sending in submissions; he was given the CEDIA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. He has designed scores of high-profile theaters, including rooms for Eddie Murphy, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Cal Ripken, Jr., and Walt Disney World. Since I'm a custom installer, meeting Theo was a chance to have an audience with our industry's Yoda. Listen well I did.

Practically everything Theo says speaks to his lifelong love for cinema and watching movies. You could say it's in his blood since he grew up in Athens, Greece, watching and obsessing over films. His first theater was an outdoor Cinema Paradiso on the terrace of his Athens apartment, with a 16mm projector and a bedspread stretched between two posts in the dirt. At 16, he joined a film society and started writing reviews for a Greek film magazine. With a grant from the Fulbright Foundation, he made his first movie in 1971.

In 1972, Theo's film, Limited Engagement, won First Prize at Greece's Thessaloniki Film Festival and became the only Greek movie ever invited to the New York Film Festival. (Fun fact: The assistant cinematographer of The Ten Commandments photographed the movie.) Theo was then invited to study film at New York University, so he came to the States.

But moviemaking was not to be his profession. "My thesis film stunk, and that crushed my dreams of doing another movie or becoming a filmmaker," he says. "I locked the film away in a trunk and decided to switch careers." So Theo went into publishing and wound up working for Malcolm Forbes as the art director of American Heritage magazine.

In 1984, Theo had what would become a life-changing experience: He saw his first projection TV, a Novabeam. "It was the first time that I'd come across a large screen that resembled my experience showing movies in Greece, and I started dreaming about owning one." So, like any A/V fanatic, he found the store where the TV came from and bought a 50-inch Mitsubishi rear-pro set. As soon as he turned it on after lugging it up to his apartment, Theo had his first taste of video disappointment.

"I connected my VCR, and the picture looked lousy. So I went back to the store and said, 'It looks so much better here. Why does mine look so bad?' " In response, the owner introduced Theo to laserdisc, and he left with an LD player and his first disc, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

But Theo realized that a big TV does not a theater make. "It was missing the impact of the big sound. So I bought two of Klipsch's horn speakers with huge woofers, and I put them to the left and right of the TV." He also bought one of the first surround sound processors and connected it to rear speakers. "I had an instant theater in my living room, and I started inviting people over to watch movies."

That the theater was in his living room bothered him, though. "It didn't have any ambience. The environment was the missing ingredient that would complete the technology and make the experience fuller. I needed a better room."

This is the same philosophy that drives his elaborate theater designs today. "Unless you put the environment around the technology, it's like getting a Christmas gift without the wrapping paper. It's kind of cold. My designs are the wrapping paper. It's about the preparation to enjoy this emotion. It's not really about audio or video; it's all the diverse elements that make the experience fuller."

Theo's first attempt at a dedicated theater was in the basement of a brownstone he bought in Brooklyn, and everything was done by hand and on the cheap. "I got seats for a buck apiece from a movie theater that was being dismantled. They were covered in ugly turquoise Naugahyde and were full of cigarette burns; I had to remove about a bucket of chewing gum before I could think of using them. After getting some tips on upholstering, I bought some red velvet and reupholstered the seats on my own." For video, Theo chose an Inflight projector that had been used in airplanes.

Because of his connections in magazine publishing, his friends began writing about their experiences watching movies at Theo's — weekend-long events called "movie orgies."

"Before I knew it, there was a front-page article in USA Today about this crazy guy who turned a basement into a movie theater. What I got out of this was, if people could get excited about a blank room with just three rows of seats, what would happen if I designed something that had a little more character and personality? So I started studying and reading about the architecture of movie theaters."

That's when Theo discovered New York City's Roxy Theater, "the biggest and most legendary movie palace ever built." So in 1985 he bought a second brownstone and began turning the basement into an homage to the Roxy.

"The basement was a cobweb-infested mechanical room with pipes covered with dirt and oil. But over the course of a year, I turned it into a real theater with a vestibule, a neon sign, a curtain that opened and closed automatically, lights that dimmed, and a candy machine."

Back then, there was no CEDIA or custom installation industry — and since Theo's background was in design, not equipment installation, he needed someone who could advise him on the technology that would bring his home theater to life. "My favorite theater was and still is the Ziegfeld. So I went into the projection booth and pestered the projectionist, who was kind enough to show me around. I asked him what speakers they used and how they got surround sound." Through the Ziegfeld's projectionist, Theo found a source for JBL speakers and a contact at Dolby Laboratories.

Theo's Roxy started getting tons of press, including a write-up in The New York Times, and it didn't take long before the phone started ringing with people asking him to come work his magic in their homes. But instead of embracing the opportunity, Theo hesitated.

"I wasn't an architect," he said. "What did I know about design? But Malcolm Forbes had been watching the articles and the offers that I was getting, and he told me that I was being deaf to opportunity knocking on my door, and that I should do one more. Because of this kick in the butt, I accepted my first client, and while I was working on that project, I accepted my second assignment."

But with a regular day job at the magazine, Theo was struggling to juggle two careers. In 1989, he made a leap of faith and started TK Theaters, and the jobs began pouring in. "I went from two theaters the first year to five theaters the next year, to eight the next year, then there were 15, and so on. I realized I had hit on something that was here to stay."

As much as Theo is involved in all aspects of a home theater's design, he isn't interested in installing or even specifying the gear that goes into his cinematic creations. "Most of the time, we get the job referral from audio/video guys, and I don't want to get into their bids. It's daunting what these installers have to deal with, but thanks to CEDIA, they've been trained to make very complex systems into something easy enough for the average person to use. I don't want them telling me what architectural limits to use in the theater, and I won't tell them what amplifier or speakers to use. These guys are doing the hard part, while I focus on architectural design and integration of the technology. Our job is to understand what the A/V installer needs to accomplish and make sure to accommodate him. We are the bridge between technology and architecture."

After all of the effort that goes into designing and creating his "wrapping paper," does it bother Theo that sometimes he has to include an inferior A/V system? He shrugs it off. "I'm about the environment. When a modestly priced system is selected, it's usually because the client doesn't have the budget or doesn't want to spend more money. I can't control it, and I don't feel like it diminishes the theater's design. But it is good to know that the improvements in technology are so astounding that you can get a decent system now for a lot less than what it cost a few years ago. You don't have to worry anymore that if you don't have a big budget, you're going to have lousy picture and sound. There's no such thing anymore. Even the less expensive sound systems and projectors perform decently nowadays."

But the scale of Theo's projects often involves working on systems with seemingly unlimited budgets, and when that's the case, extra care is taken to ensure maximum performance. "On the most elaborate projects, with speakers and amplifiers costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, we always work with a consultant to help us with room isolation and acoustical treatments. That way, the room will reflect the money that the client spent on the technology."

Theo didn't go straight from his basement brownstone to multimillion-dollar systems. "You can't jump from nothing to something overnight, especially when I had no formal training in architecture. So I kept upping the ante with every theater, always learning from my mistakes. Plus it kept challenging me to do more intricate, more architecturally developed designs. This is how I developed my vocabulary in theater design."

With one early design milestone, based on the old Paramount Theater in New York, the client pushed Theo's boundaries. "He was very much into movies, and he challenged me to explore new ideas and territories. This became my first theater with an outside marquee, an entry vestibule, an outer lobby and an inner lobby, a staircase to the main auditorium, and a functioning stage with a curtain illuminated by theatrical footlights. It allowed me to capture the ceremony of going from outside to the inside through a series of rooms that heighten the anticipation. It wasn't just a room, it was an environment where you went in and left the house behind."

Theo believes there should be a sense of anticipation before you walk into a home theater. For this Tampa installation, he built an archway (above left) that leads into a Caribbean-style courtyard featuring "stores" for the owner's various collections (middle), which then leads into the ornate theater (right).

I've studied many of Theo's projects, and my favorite is one he did in Tampa, Florida (see schematic above and photos below). The result is an amazing re-creation of a Caribbean village, located in a 4,500-square-foot extension of the family's home. "We came up with the concept of creating a streetscape outside with different 'stores' to house the owner's various activities. There's a bookstore for his book collection, an ice cream/soda shop for the kids, a cigar bar with a VIP card-playing lounge, and an outdoor restaurant. We developed a whole architectural street; I spent 2 weeks in Antigua and Curaçao taking photos and documenting doors, signs, and roof tiles to make the project authentic."

While he doesn't specify the gear that goes into an installation, Theo does appreciate how advancements have benefited his designs. "One of the greatest developments is that some in-wall speakers are now as good as bookshelf models. Another great improvement was the elimination of [CRT] three-beam projectors. There was no way to hide those things. Years ago, for a Ukrainian dignitary, we had these two giant Runco projectors that had to be covered so they wouldn't be exposed in the front row. When they opened the crate that the cover came in, the client called and asked, 'Theo, what did you send us here? The tomb of Lenin?!' God bless all these long-throw lenses, because now we can hide the projector in the back of the room."

As a movie lover, Theo welcomes the recent video improvements that have come to home theater, namely anamorphic lenses and cinema-wide screens. "The fact that we lost the black bars and are able to extend the picture to capture the impact of widescreen with no loss of resolution might be the biggest improvement for viewing movies at home. There's something backwards about watching a movie like Star Wars in smaller screen real estate than something like Dude, Where's My Car? I tell clients they need an anamorphic lens and screen to transition from regular 16:9 to the wider aspect ratio to preserve the grandeur of the very wide screen."

Think you've got a lot of movies? Think again. As a self-described "fanatical collector of movies," Theo has an 11,000-title collection that puts most of ours to shame. So I was sure he would be a Kaleidescape owner (read our recent review of the KPlayer-6000), but no. "I already had thousands of DVDs when Kaleidescape came out, so it was too late for me to catch up. But it's a fantastic device for those people who have the time to transfer their collection to the system. Kaleidescape is a tool for instant gratification, and I'm sure I'd enjoy having all my movies on a hard drive so I can sample them faster. I'm thinking of using it once they adjust it to accept Blu-ray Discs next year."

Instead, Theo manages his movies the old-fashioned way. "I have a special room that's 13 feet high and has every movie arranged alphabetically. I like the physicality of opening the box and pulling the disc out and seeing the liner notes. I like the ceremony of going into the computer, finding the title, and then going through the shelves and being reminded, 'Oh my God, I had forgotten that I had this movie!' "

You can imagine that Theo is picky about a DVD's quality, especially the video transfer. "I'm more upset when the movie is grainy and fuzzy and has poor color quality than if it doesn't have sound pyrotechnics. Probably the sharpest DVD transfer ever was for Ryan's Daughter, and that is the yardstick against which all movies on DVD can be judged, because it was taken from the original 65mm negative. You look at it and you wonder, 'How can HD look better?' We're in the infancy of Blu-ray Disc, and we're going through the early period where studios don't care about the transfer. They get whatever was transferred in 1080i for DVD and dump it into high-def. It's a little bit sharper, but nothing much. Before long, you're going to start seeing the true potential of HD."

As with many home theater owners, the Hollywood studios are having a hard time convincing Theo to venture out of his sanctum sanctorum and watch films in a movie theater. "We're able to see movies now at home as sharp as they ever were in the theater because transfers are taken from the original material. And you listen to them with sound systems that are far better than that of movie multiplexes, which is thrilling. It's no longer, 'Let's catch up with the theaters.' The quality of the picture at home has left the picture in most movie theaters behind in the dust. I've come to the point where I almost refuse to spoil the first experience of a movie in a commercial theater. I want to wait to see it at home."

Being the Top Gun of custom theater design doesn't come cheap. Those wanting to hire Theo can expect to spend around $400 per square foot, and that doesn't include the gear. (A CEDIA installer typically supplies the equipment at around $100,000.) "For a high-end theater in a home priced around 2 or 3 million dollars, you're talking about $200,000 to $300,000 for the whole thing," says Theo.

But you don't have to be working with a mega-budget — or much of a budget at all — to take advantage of Theo's wisdom about all things home theater. With this issue, Sound & Vision welcomes him as a regular contributor with his own advice column, "Ask Theo." He'll be sharing his years of experience by responding to reader letters about their home theaters. "I'm starting this column with the hope of guiding people who submit pictures and plans, so they can make their projects even better. There are several things about home theater design that I hope to be able to translate through this page, to help people who are doing it for the first time.

WEB-EXCLUSIVE: BONUS Q&A WITH THEO KALOMIRAKIS

S&V: Do you prefer working in a larger space where you have a bigger palate to create in?

Theo Kalomirakis: I actually prefer smaller spaces because they really put your imagination to the test. I have come to believe that with a bigger space, once in a while you come up with a grand idea, but a bigger space makes me kind of lazy. Size alone is not enough to make an impact unless a good design complements it. Where I’m really getting creative and where it gets exciting, is when you get clients with very limited space. This forces you to think outside the box and come up with solutions to make that little space feel bigger. Our clients often tell us. “It’s amazing but the room looks bigger now than before.” Two years ago I designed a theater for Jonathan and Faye Kellerman, the best-selling authors, in their Beverly Hills home. I walked into the room they wanted to turn into a theater and it was literally the size of a walk-in closet — something like 8 feet wide by 13 feet long. I did not hesitate to tell their assistant that I would waste their money if I accepted the assignment because the room was not really going to work for a theater. I left to come back to New York and the next day I received a message from a very disappointed Jonathan Kellerman that they were counting on me to design the theater and that I just walked away. They probably felt I was snubbing them and I kind of took it to heart. So I went back, took another look and I told them that I would try my best.

For that project I used a design trick that at first seems that you are trying to make a tiny space even smaller. But I was confident that in the end the theater would feel bigger. It’s difficult to explain, but the bottom line is that when this theater was finished it not only looked roomy, it also became the client’s favorite space in the house. It was small; two rows, two sofas with three seats per sofa, but it felt like a small jewel box, a Faberge egg. I was excited and so were the clients. We just finished another theater for them with an “outdoor” theme in Malibu, also in a rather small space. What I have found over the years is that it doesn’t matter how small the space is; if you really study it, play with the sizes of the various architectural elements and put some imagination into it, you can make it look bigger.

And one doesn’t have to spend a fortune for decent results. What I usually tell our clients is that a well-built theater does not need to cost more per square foot than the rest of the house. I use this as a yardstick. You cannot spend, say $400 per square foot for your living room, your bedroom, your kitchen, and expect to build a theater for much less than that. It will look like someone tried to cut corners. The opposite is true: If you spend $400 per square foot for the rest of the house, the theater does not need to cost a lot more than that in order to make a statement. I’m very sensitive to the client’s budget, but if a client tells me right now that they’re spending $1,200 a square foot — like some homes cost nowadays — and they want me to work on the theater on a budget of $200 a square foot, I tell them I am not their man. No more challenging myself anymore this way. Because we are fortunate to have a choice of good projects, I just will not try to reinvent the wheel for a client who doesn't mind spending a small fortune elsewhere but will treat the theater as a step-child.

S&V: I know you don’t get much into the actual specking of equipment, but as technology continues to change and develop, has that made your job easier or harder?

TK: The biggest problem we used to have was those dipole surround speakers that would hang on walls and you were at a loss as to how to conceal them. Any surround speaker in big enclosures is a challenge. You cannot hide them inside columns because it will be like trying to hide an elephant in a room. To me, the most beneficial development in the home theater sound technology is in-wall surround speakers and they often can sound as good as standalone speakers. Most of the companies are now offering in-wall speakers because they want to keep their clients, and of course designers and architects, happy.

S&V: When you started, laser disc was the high-end video format and Dolby Surround was the audio format. How do you feel the new formats, and again the technology, have improved the home experience? 

TK: The experience has improved to such a degree that today, in a perfectly equipped and calibrated home theater we often get better sound and picture than we get in the majority of movie theaters. Over the years I have seen a reversal of what used to be the yardstick against which a good presentation was measured. In the past, when the picture in a home theater looked very good, we used to say it looked like film. Today home theater projection and the quality of the picture on a DVD has left the picture in many movie theaters behind in the dust. You often get such a better picture at home than you get in a movie theater. Here is why: Unlike in the '50s and '60s where movies would open in one big downtown theater and only later would play in multiple neighborhood screens, movies today open in 2,000 or 3,000 screens simultaneously. This means the studios do not touch the original negative to make 3,000 prints for all these theaters. They make internegatives then interpositives and by the time they start striking prints, the image is multiple generations removed from the original. As a result, what we get in a theater is not even close to the sharpness and resolution of the original. It is the dupe of a dupe of a dupe. It is a shame how much the standards of good film presentation have deteriorated because of the voracious need for prints of the multiplexes. I remember I went to see Peter Jackson’s King Kong with great anticipation on opening day but I walked out ten minutes later. The print was so unbearably “dupey” looking and flat that I decided not to spoil the experience and wait until the movie came out on DVD. Because DVD is a digital and archival format and because directors take pride in director’s editions on DVD, the studios handle the negative of a movie only once when mastering it for DVD. That’s why only on DVD you often see the picture the way the cinematographer shot it. That’s thrilling to me. I mean, I’m a fanatical collector of movies. I have about 11,000 movies on DVD, laser, and Beta. I went through all the formats and I feel like we are one degree of separation from the greatness of the best film projection. Let’s say you get the urge to see Gone with the Wind the way it was seen in movie theaters 70 years ago. No problem. All you have to do is get the DVD from the shelf and play it. The movie collector in me is in seventh heaven.

S&V: Do you like the look of digital video, or are you a film purist at heart? Will you have a film projector in your room?

TK: I used to have a 16 mm projector, but it has been in storage for years. It’s too much of a hassle to run film. I have the same argument every now and then when some clients ask me: “Should we install a film projector?” My answer is that if they want to see a first run movie — provided they can get their hands on a print — 35 mm is the way to go. But film can’t compare with the ease of operation of a DVD. Film projection requires a projectionist on standby. You can’t have instant gratification this way. If you have a great transfer on DVD and a good print, DVD to me looks good enough. And given the fact that a print can be worn out or a dupe, DVD might have the edge. I mean, I love seeing a classic on an archival print at the Museum of Modern Art or at the Film Forum here in New York. But do I feel I compromise my standards when I play, say, Casablanca on my theater? Not really. The print of Casablanca that I’ve seen at the Film Forum is probably just as good as my copy of this classic on DVD. The DVD captures all the nuances — the film grain, the depth of black level, the grays, you don’t lose a thing. As far as I’m concerned, let other people be film purists. I am all for the ease of slipping in a disc and enjoying the glory of film on DVD. If you have a good video projector and good sound, you’ll enjoy a movie just as much

S&V: How do you store and manage your collection?
 
TK: I use some software called DVD Profiler. I scan the UPC on the disc and all the data is entered into the database automatically. This is what has kept me out of trouble from ordering the same movie again and again. Because, after a while, you can’t remember all the titles you own. I used to buy a new DVD only to find out I already bought it not once but twice! Ever since I started using my computerized database I do not have that problem anymore. I just check first to see if I already have a movie before I buy it online. My storage room is thirteen feet high and has every movie arranged alphabetically. I climb the ladder and I can reach any movie I want. Usually I will try to watch one movie a night. I like the ritual of going to the computer to find a movie to watch and then, as I am going through the shelves, I love being reminded of this or that title that I had forgotten I owned. But I also understand there is something to be said about the convenience of having a digital copy of movie. We’re moving into the digital era and before too long, nobody will be touching a hard case of anything anymore.

S&V: Having the disc gives you that physical connection to the movie and there is something about that. The act of browsing your collection . . .

TK: That’s exactly what it is. I’ll tell you something. I’m as excited about the packaging of a movie as I am excited about the movie itself. I’m old-fashioned this way. I grew up with LPs, after all. I’ll give you an example. Bonnie and Clyde came out on DVD and it also come out on Blu-ray. I ordered the Blu-ray version but I ordered the regular DVD as well. Why? Because the DVD version comes with poster reproductions, liner notes, recreations of the original souvenir program, etc. that are not included in the Blu-ray version. I am not happy that sometimes I have to buy the movie twice in order to get the extras that come only on DVD but not on Blu-ray, but that’s life . . .

S&V: Since you mentioned Blu-ray, what are your thoughts on that format? I mean, it’s just another leap ahead in audio and video quality . . .

TK: It is amazing how quickly you adapt to a sharper picture. If I’m upset about something, it’s that we are in the infancy of the format and some of the studios have dumped 1080i transfers into Blu-ray, and that’s unacceptable. Everything should be 1080p because now that your expectations are higher, you don’t want to see a movie with less than perfect resolution. The other day I watched Superbad, a movie produced by Judd Apatow, whose theater I designed a couple years ago. The picture quality was superbad too. It was annoying. You pay for a Blu-ray copy and it doesn’t look a bit better than the regular DVD. It also did not help that the movie was shot in High Definition. High Definition is a less resolved medium than film. Film has a wider range.

S&V: This is probably going to be a hard one since you’re such a film buff, but what are some of your favorites? And what are some films you’ve seen lately that you’ve really liked?

TK: Last year was an exceptional one for movies. I mean Hollywood somehow came out of hibernation and gave us one good movie after another. Look at some of the titles: Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men, Sweeney Todd — they were all excellent movies. And then you get the second tier of good movies like Eastern Promises or Juno. They may not be as accomplished, but they’re very good. I don’t remember another year with so many good, solid films coming out of Hollywood, all politically responsible and with great direction.

As for older movies I love the old, classic auteur directors from the sixties, Bergman, Fellini, Goddard, Antonioni, etc. I also love some of the more recent European directors such as Krzystof Kieslowski who did the trilogy Red, Blue and White. From more recent American directors I admire everything that Alexander Payne does. He directed Sideways and About Smith, and Election. I also enjoy tremendously the movies of the old Hollywood studio system, the work of the great American film directors, Ford, Hitchcock, Fuller, Minelli, Sturges, Mamoullian, and many others. I thrive on movies of that era. They had such wit and sophistication. I just love movies, period. I’m omnivorous; I don’t discriminate. If it’s good, that’s all that matters. It doesn’t have to be a specific genre, western, or musical or whatever.

S&V: When you finish an installation, is there a particular demo you like putting on?

TK: Ryan’s Daughter: It has the most incredible cinematography by Freddie Young and then it was transferred directly from the 65 mm negative. You know, we lost a great deal in resolution ever since the 70mm format was abandoned because it was too expensive and cumbersome. 35mm doesn’t have the resolution of 70 mm. It can’t capture the nuances of details in the picture. If you saw a 70mm film at the Ziegfeld, you never forgot the experience. There’s nothing like watching Lawrence of Arabia or My Fair Lady in 70 mm.

When you want to show something that is not just good picture but also good sound, special effects etc, I am just like everybody else. We have all gone through the various demonstration pieces, from Ghostbusters to Raiders of the Lost Ark to Jurassic Park, etc. Actually I stopped showing Jurassic Park on DVD because I found the audio disappointing in comparison to the laser disc. The audio on the laser disc version had much better dynamic range because it was uncompressed. Right now, we’re catching up with audio because Blu-ray has uncompressed sound and we get back the dynamic range. That’s why I’m so excited to finish my theater to just start playing movies with no compression.

S&V: What are you demo-ing with now that theaters have HD?

TK: I usually don’t demo anything. When a new theater is finished either the A/V custom installer will bring his own demo disc, or the client will want to see his own favorite demo scene. But let me think, which are some of the best transfers lately? I think all the animated pictures make great demonstration pieces. Anything from Ratatouille or Cars looks fantastic simply because they were shot digitally and their picture is stunning. From other, non-animated movies, a lot of people like to demonstrate the attack scene from Pearl Harbor. But the picture quality is not up to speed with the sound. On high definition I love 2001. Again, here is a transfer taken from the 70 mm print that’s stunning; the opening sequence takes your breath away. I’m also a very big fan of the old Technicolor process where the camera was able to capture nuances of color that Eastman Kodak can’t touch. Warner Home Video has done that with great results in the DVD transfers of Singing in the Rain, Easter Parade and The Band Wagon. And Paramount has issued recently a handful of movies on DVD transferred from the original large VistaVision format. Some of them look absolutely stunning. Example: Funny Face with Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn. It pushes the level of the sharpness of DVD to high definition levels. Also, Artists and Models with Jerry Lewis and To Catch a Thief with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly — all three of them visual feasts on DVD. I can’t even imagine how they can look any better when they come out on Blu ray.

S&V: What are some simple steps readers can take to improve the designs of their home theaters? What design elements really make the most impact?

TK: I would say if you don’t have the skills, the discipline, and the knowledge, don’t try to do too many crazy things. Maintain control by using less rather than more. Because the more we try to do, the more chances are that we will fail. In other words, exercise restraint. I’d rather see a subdued theater design, something that lacks a lot of imagination than see something that is so wacky and overdone that it becomes grotesque. You can go crazy only if you are sure of your craft. Eventually you learn by observing other people’s work and by studying your mistakes. If you see you did something that does not work, don’t do it again.

THEO'S 8 GREAT TIPS FOR DESIGNING A BETTER HOME THEATER

1) Don't build a riser or platform out of cement, because it kills the bass. A wooden cavity filled with insulation will "warm up the sound and allow the bass to travel to you so it can rattle and warm you up as well."

2) Don't use a concrete floor, either. "It's like pouring cement in the cavity of a violin and expecting it to perform." A wood floor covered with carpeting is a better way to go.

3) Don't block the sound. Many designers choose rich, thick fabrics based solely on look and then put them over the speakers or acoustical treatments. Make sure you use materials that allow sound to pass through unaffected.

4) Sculpt with light. "After architecture, lighting is the greatest way to transform a room. The light should be subdued and alluring. That's why we always specify four or five circuits, so you have control of the light palette."

5) Make sure people can see the screen. "Sometimes, designers ignore basic sightline studies, but these make sure that when you sit behind someone else, you'll be able to see the bottom of the screen."

6) Build a little anticipation for the room, whether it's a small lobby, a small bar, or a concession stand before you go into the theater.

7) The stage is the focal point of the room, so everything should converge towards it, since that's where the magic will happen when the curtain opens.

8) Get recommendations. "There are bad designers the same way there are bad doctors or bad anything. Just because somebody gets a degree doesn't mean he's a master of what he's doing. That's life." — J.S.

THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS HOME THEATER DESINGER WANTS TO GIVE YOU A HAND
By Theo Kalomirakis

Back in those crazy, insecurity-ridden early days of my career as a self-taught home theater designer, my recurring nightmare was that I would run out of fresh ideas, that somehow my clients would discover that I was incompetent and pull a Donald on me: "You're fired!"

Then, one cold morning in the winter of 1996, my nightmare almost became a reality. I was meeting a new client in his house in Oyster Bay, New York. Construction had just been completed, but the basement was still unfinished. He walked me downstairs to a room marked in the plans as "the theater" — a smallish, rectangular box begging to be turned into something unique and original. Judging by the house's cool, modern architecture and the collection of paintings by some pretty impressive American masters hanging everywhere on its white, gallery-like walls, the client obviously had very good taste. I thought to myself: "Finally — I'm not going to be asked again to come up with another gilded, gaudy copy of some old movie palace." A modernist at heart, I prepared for a new and different kind of challenge.

Not so fast. . . . By the time we started talking business, I did get a challenge, but not exactly the one I had expected. The client said, "I want you to do Radio City Music Hall." To which I responded, "You want what?"

"You heard me."

"Wow! But isn't this room a bit . . . confined for that?"

"It doesn't bother me. And by the way, I have a firm budget, and I'm not spending a penny over it."

"What's the budget?"

"Not counting the electronics, $50,000. Not a penny over it."

Radio City Music Hall for $50,000? Someone was pulling my leg!

"Run, Theo, run!" was my first impulse. But I didn't. I accepted the challenge and designed a theater that echoed — rather than copied — Radio City Music Hall in a miniature scale. When all was said and done, the cost for construction and finishes came to about $49,000. How? By being resourceful rather than throwing money at the problem: drywall instead of millwork, good old paint instead of fancy wall treatments. To camouflage the humble origins of the building materials and to accentuate whatever good ideas were lurking in the design, I used lighting. Yes, lighting is one of the key elements of good design. Using it creatively can divert attention even from the most banal materials.

Bottom line: No matter how lofty the goal is (in the case with the mini Radio City, read "preposterous"), you don't always need the budget of a third-world nation to get results. That's just one of the things I have learned over the years.

Starting with the September issue, I'll be sharing similar lessons with you based on your projects. Send me photos of your finished theater (hey, a little showing off doesn't hurt!) or the plans of the theater you want to build, and I'll tell you honestly what I think. If you don't have plans yet, a sketch or a picture of something that has inspired you will do. Don't expect idle praise. If something doesn't work, you won't have to guess what's on my mind. But if you show me something exciting, I'll be your cheerleader.

If you asked me what advice I'd give to someone who's ready to tackle the design of his or her home theater, I'd say without a doubt: Relish the challenge. Don't let the glossy photos of other people's picture-perfect private theaters intimidate you or make you miserable with envy. Instead, let them inspire you. I call it creative "stealing," and, oh boy, I've lost count of how many times I've "stolen" creatively from my idols in the field of architecture and design. Go ahead: Try something new, try something old, but please, try to also enjoy the process. Design should be fun, not a chore. And when in doubt or afraid that you made or are about to make a big mistake, ask Theo.

Send copies of your photos, plans, or images that inspire you to Sound & Vision, Attn: Theo Kalomirakis, 1256 Broadway, New York, NY 11002. Or send an electronic copy of your submission to soundandvision@hfmus.com and put "Ask Theo" in the subject line.