Home Theater Week: Stunning Theater, Simple Control

In the world of technology, seeing is believing. One homeowner in Woodbury, Tenn., had the benefit of seeing the latest and greatest technology in his neighbor’s smart home. That neighbor is AV integrator Cobb Home Innovations, and that home is an experience center outfitted with the latest audio, video, and smart home control solutions. With the ability to get up close and personal with the latest tech, a vision for his own home theater operated with smart control took shape.

From that vision, the project grew to include lighting, shades, and audio/video — all controlled from one remote. The homeowner wanted to invest as much as possible in custom touches — from the entrance to the “concession stand” to the lighting and the audio enclosures — so he didn’t want to choose between spending on that or control. He also didn’t want to sacrifice on a control experience that would provide an additional layer of wow. With that in mind, Cobb suggested Pro Control, an affordable control solution that works with professional and consumer AV technology alike. It was the perfect solution that met the homeowner’s criteria.

Cobb home Theater - Seating — The home theater features Lutron lighting and shading, as well as tiny ceiling puck lights and a star ceiling panel.

“Since the project began as just the home theater, we started with Pro Control,” says Hugh Cobb, founder of Cobb Home Innovations. “But as it scaled to include lighting, shades, and AV, the Pro Control Z-Series was easily up to the task.”

Home Theater Week: The Free-Rein Theater

Grand Entrance

Cobb started the project from scratch, completely gutting the space upstairs and transforming it into a home office area with a closed-off home theater worthy of a grand cinematic entrance. Before walking into the room, illuminated movie posters set the scene and make the owners feel just like they’re at the theater. Past the padded door to the theater, visitors are met with a concession area that is outfitted with a popcorn machine, a soft drink fridge, a freezer for pints of ice cream, and a microwave. It also houses the room’s equipment rack. There, the ProLink.z processor commands the rack’s Yamaha receiver, DVD player, Apple TV, Lutron lighting, and the star ceiling lighting processors.

Cobb Home Theater - Entrance — The stylish entryway was a priority for the client.

Rather than go with a traditional projector, the client selected a massive 98-inch Samsung smart 4K flat panel. The other element that makes a visual impact is the lighting. The room features Lutron lighting and shading. Tiny ceiling puck lights and star ceiling panels combine to make a special lighting show while wall sconces and under seating and floor lighting round out the lighting effects of the room.

Cobb Home Theater - Front — Rather than go with a traditional projector, the client selected a massive 98-inch Samsung smart 4K flatpanel.

Audio includes Sonos — which also is in the adjacent home office — with Martin Logan Motion Series speakers delivering ultra-high-end audio for the finest home theaters. Along with two loudspeakers flanking the screen, Cobb custom-designed the subwoofers to nestle in enclosures under the tiered seating area. This gives moviegoers an intense audio experience that can be truly felt.

Home Theater Week: Navigating Through Entertainment Seating

Making a Scene (Several Scenes, Really)

But where the magic happens is at the Pro Control remote. “When the homeowner sits down, he can hit a button, the lights go down, the screen comes on, and he’s in theater mode instantly,” says Cobb. The one-stop sequences don’t end there. Cobb was able to easily program other modes to enable a full user experience that takes them from concessions before the movie begins to when the movie fades to black.

Cobb Home Theater - Control — The entire room is controlled through Pro Control automation.

In addition to theater mode, there’s wake mode to power everything up and a concession mode that illuminates the concession area, as well as a shutdown mode, which delays the shutdown sequence for all the audio, video, and lighting systems with plenty of time for participants to exit without touching a single piece of equipment.

“We do a lot of homes with Pro Control, but this is the most integration we’ve done with it. It didn’t matter what we threw at it, it was still very simple and intuitive,” says Cobb. “It takes care of a lot of pre-programming stuff for you, even when the homeowner — who’s originally from England — wanted a special DVD player that could play regionally produced and formatted DVDs. In an hour I had the entire room programmed to control anything and everything.”