Many Home Theaters of the Month are extravagant builds with performance and comfort that far exceeds most commercial cinemas. But the cost for such a room is equally extravagant, often running into six figures. That's all well and good for those who can afford it, and those home theaters are certainly aspirational for the rest of us, which is why I feature them so often on AVS Forum.

But when Dusty Bigham (Bigham16) sent me some photos of his home theater in Lewisville, TX, I saw another side of the hobby, one that closely parallels the approach I took with my own home theater—achieving the highest possible performance without spending exorbitant amounts of money. So I arranged for AVS Forum Associate Editor Mark Henninger and me to visit Dusty while we were in Dallas for the CEDIA Expo and shoot an HT of the Month video in his modest home theater. As you'll see, he has created a minimalist but elegant space in which the audio and video performance are paramount.

Note: There was a problem with the audio recording that we didn't catch until it was too late; the audio in this video has been tweaked after the fact to compensate as best we could. The room sounds much better in person than it does in this recording.
As with most AV enthusiasts, Dusty has bought and sold lots of gear over the last 10 years. Taking that into account, he estimates his total investment during that decade—not counting construction of his current house with its integrated media room—to be less than $20,000. That's not chump change, but it is far less than many aficionados spend on their dedicated home theaters. And from what Mark and I saw and heard, it's money well spent to achieve a level of performance that could easily cost a lot more.

For much more detail about how Dusty's home theater came together, check out the build thread here .

If you'd like your home theater considered for HT of the Month, PM me with the details and a link to your build thread if available.

EQUIPMENT LIST

Sources

Panasonic DMP-UB900 UHD Blu-ray player
Tivo Bolt DVR
Apple TV streamer (4th gen)
Xbox One S game console
Sony PS4 game console
Rega RP6 turntable

AV Electronics

Marantz 8802A preamp/processor
NAD M27 7-channel power amps (2)

Projector

Sony VPL-VW350 (no anamorphic lens)

Screen

Dragonfly Matte White (106" diagonal, 16:9, 1.2 gain, fixed, not acoustically transparent)

Speakers

GoldenEar Triton 1 (front LR)
GoldenEar SuperCenter XXL (center)
GoldenEar MPX (4, side and rear surrounds)
GoldenEar Invisa 7000 (4, overhead)
SVS PB12-Plus powered subwoofers (2)

Acoustic Treatments

ATS Acoustic Panels (27)

AV Cabling

AudioQuest Cinnamon HMDI cables
AudioQuest Cinnamon Ethernet cables
AudioQuest NRG power cords
Nordost Blue Heaven power cords (for NAD amps)
Nordost White Lightning analog interconnects
Monoprice speaker cables
Monoprice Luxe Series CL3 active high-speed HDMI cable (50' for projector)

Control

Logitech Harmony Elite universal remote

Power Conditioning

Furman Elite-15 PFi power conditioner

Seating

Palliser Pacifico 4-chair electric home-theater seating (black leather, middle section is a love seat)

Room dimensions

13' (W) x 18' (L) x 10' (H)