i am a home builder in the Memphis area and have a model home under construction (walls are not drywalled yet). The room is a game room over a triple garage that measures 14"6" wide and 31' long with only one window that is is the center of the 31' wall. I want to put a home theater in this room. The choices are a front projector, wall mounted flat panel and rear projection. I think I have these listed in order of costs.

For cost reasons, I am thinking a slim profile rear projection which would give me a larger screen for the buck. But I am afraid of losing the "wow" factor of the flat panel or front projection setup.

What are your thoughts as a consumer looking at model homes on the three scenarios?

i am a home builder in the Memphis area and have a model home under construction (walls are not drywalled yet). The room is a game room over a triple garage that measures 14"6" wide and 31' long with only one window that is is the center of the 31' wall. I want to put a home theater in this room. The choices are a front projector, wall mounted flat panel and rear projection. I think I have these listed in order of costs.

For cost reasons, I am thinking a slim profile rear projection which would give me a larger screen for the buck. But I am afraid of losing the "wow" factor of the flat panel or front projection setup.

What are your thoughts as a consumer looking at model homes on the three scenarios?

Hello:

I work for a homebuilder as well. I hope Memphis is doing better then FLA right now. :-)

While your concern for the consumer perspective is correct, I will tell you that my experience has been that model homes sell a 'lifestyle'. We put in wine cellars, HT rooms, and decorate a home to give the buyer the fantasy of what their home would be like if they bought from you.

But you and I both know that when our buyers move in, rarely do their homes look like our models. They tend to get filled with the items from the previous home and, with the exception of a few, are rarely professionally decorated.

So what am I getting at? My point here is that people will tour your home and see a HOME THEATER room. They won't care about the equipment. They will care about the fantasy of living in the home and having a HT room.

I wouldn't worry about anything but making sure you have a good picture, on a big screen, with as little equipment visible as possible. I would not go with a ceiling mounted projector that will hang in the middle of your room.

Trick out the room with a great cinema theme. Your decorator can find lots of great items.

Sell the fantasy.

Finally, will you be selling the room as an option? Or just decorating it for sale?

If you will be selling it as an option, then your choices might be limited since you won't want to show a set-up they can't buy.

If it's just a theme room for sales, then you should be able to find an AV/HT vendor who will furnish the room for free provided you allow them to post their card/ad in the room.

Best of luck.

Splotto

iThe room is a game room over a triple garage that measures 14"6" wide and 31' long with only one window that is is the center of the 31' wall.
What are your thoughts as a consumer looking at model homes on the three scenarios?

That's a pretty big room so I assume that you are planning some kind of a multi-purpose room with the theater only taking up a portion. If the room was a dedicated theater You should think about 3 rows and LEVELS of seating and a pretty big FP setup. That kind of room will only appeal to a limited crowd. (like the members here)

For a multi room plan either a newer and slimmer RP or a flat panel would be a good idea. Arrange some nice theater seating and pre-wire the room for multi-channel sound. Put some kind of game table on one end of the room. Don't try to buy the best stuff because you are just showing how the room could be outfitted. Don't overlook the opportunity to pick-up some demo or barely used equipment.

Most HT nuts who are looking to turn the room into a serious theater are just looking for a blank canvas and they would have their own ideas of layout, soundproofing, acoustical treatments and equipment. They are likely to redo a lot of things you do including the electrical.

I was looking at homes last year and I was interested in raw space. Looking at builders concepts of HT was often pretty funny. All I could think about was what I would have to rip out and redo.

I assume it has sloped ceiling lines and you should consider whether you built the room tall enough to accommodate at least a 10 ft wide screen in the apex. If not,it may not appeal to those who would want to fit a dedicated FP setup in this space and you should play up the multi-use concept.

Just another brain fart this morning. Of the 20 model homes I visited last year that had HT or Media rooms I can't recall even one that had their system turned on.

Part of selling a home is to get the customer to start "imagining" how they would live in the house. Seeing a big screen and comfortable theater seating in proximity to snack food is all you need to allow your customers imagination run.

Some will think sports, some movies, some HBO, your goal is to get them imaging a good time. If the set is turned on you actually are distracting them from the imagining part of the sales process.

Having said that there is no reason that you have to have a "working" unit in the model home. Pick up a damaged set on craigs list. When you get ready to sell the model either disclose the fact or give the buyer an allowance in the purchase price and you put a functioning unit in for them. That way they can wrap it into their mortgage and they get a fresh warranty.

I don't know what price range your house is in, but I'm imagining it's fairly upscale to have a game room that size over a 3-car garage. Unless homes are a lot cheaper in Memphis than they are in Dallas, I'm guessing you're $300K+. At that price range, media rooms in the model homes I looked at almost always have front-projector systems. That's what people imagine/dream of when they think of "home theater". As Splotto puts it, that's the "fantasy" you want to sell. Most people have seen rear-projection TV's and flat panel TV's at Best Buy/Circuit City, but not nearly as many have seen a front-projector system.

A front projector system isn't THAT expensive. You can get a decent projector for under $1000, and a screen for under $500. Those are retail prices for brand new products. You could get even better prices for used items, or through special arrangement with a local HT company (in return for advertising their company in your model home). You'd be hard pressed to get a flat-panel TV or rear-projector for much less, and it certainly won't be nearly as big or have as much "wow" factor. And you have quite a large space to fill.

I disagree with BIGmouthinDC about whether to have the system running. When I looked at model homes, having the projector system on made it easier for me to dream. Have an animated movie (like "Finding Nemo" or "The Incredibles") running, as the bright colors tend to show off the projector system. Also, if the prospective buyers have their kids with them, the kids will love the movies and projector setup, and they'll be BEGGING their parents to buy the house. :D

I'm a homeowner who recently bought a semi-custom home with a media room, in which I installed a front-projector system. When my friends and family talk about coming to look at our new house, the front theater system is one thing they're always talking about wanting to see. The idea of having "movie night" or watching the big game at our home gets people excited. My in-laws were glad to house-sit our home so that they can use the media room, because they (and most other people) don't have anything like it in their home.

When I looked at model homes 3 years ago (and occasionally still), we pretty much only looked at homes with HT space. Of the homes we looked at that already had a HT set-up (with front projection), they all had them running. Most had a low profile equipment cabinet under the screen that held all the equipment (except projector) and they were very well decorated (i.e. movie posters on the walls, popcorn and candy boxes placed on shelving, etc.).

I'd say definately go front projection, with a minimum of 5.1 sound and have it playing the majority of the time with good quality G rated movies (PIXAR).

my quick input, i agree with needing the wow factor. if you are going to bother to set anything up to promote the space as a HT, you need to go to the extreme (to a point). as in, you need the "extreme" image. you can buy decent lower or midrange stuff, just to get the idea across. most people wouldn't even know the difference if you had a $1,000 projector or a $10,000 projector just seeing it hanging. all they will see is a projector and a huge screen and think, WOW. along the lines of previously mentioned, everyone has a rear projection or a flat panel, or at least has friends with them. who actually has a projector? naturally, as long as there is a wall big enough, people can put whatever TV they want there. but just giving them the idea of a big production HT is the key.
additionally, similar to the RP or flat panel TV commonality, speakers are also a pretty standard/common deal. everyone either has or has seen big towers or small satellites. while they are becoming more popular, not as many people are familiar with in-wall and in-ceiling speakers. that's another WOW factor you can throw in there. it also adds to the wife approval factor because you can paint the grilles to match the walls. you want to show them the ultimate that they can do, but once again as a model, you don't need to buy crazy expensive stuff. go to circuit city and buy some $150-$200 pairs of Polk or Boston in-wall and in-ceiling speakers topped off with a decent receiver and you have the WOW factor of "built-in/hidden" speakers, but you didn't go broke doing it. it will sound good and get the point across.
i honestly wouldn't spend too terribly much on the equipment for a couple reasons....
people looking at the house are not there to lay down and watch a full feature...some may not even watch 3 minutes of one. it's the overall look and just the idea that "this can be ours" that it is there to accomplish. with a projector, you're not really going to see too terribly much of the picture while showing a house because the lights will be on. i would install dimming lights though so it will be easy to lower the lights steadily without going to black out mode in an instant. that way you can give them a little taste which is probably all they're going to have the attention span for anyway.

i would also make it a mulitfunction room. most of the room going to the HT, but also put in a pool table or air hockey table, and maybe a bar. show them that you can have a huge HT, but there is still room to do other things with it.