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TECH TALK:
THE THORNTON THEATER
By: Bob Morris When it comes to choosing audio/video equipment, many clients place themselves entirely in the hands of a professional home theater designer. Not Jep Thornton. Because he is a musician and owns his own recording studio, he is as comfortable with audio/video technology as most people are with a toaster. Thornton's technical acumen made this project especially demanding for Absolute Sound, the Winter Park, FL, company that designed and installed the home's audio/video systems. "Most clients are not technical enough to know exactly what they want, but Jep was very involved," says Ted Hollander, co-owner of Absolute Sound. The client had some very specific requests, as well. "For example, he records in the theater, so we had to set him up with a DAT machine (Digital Audio Tape, a professional recording format). The system includes a video router that sends video all over the home." Because of Thornton's audio background, the selections of speakers and electronics was critical. As Hollander explains: "We chose a JBL Synthesis Two system because it can be easily built into a wall and equalized later. With many speaker system, if you build them into a wall, you end up wrecking them. Also, the client is used to the sound of commercial recording monitors, and Synthesis has a similar sound." Another key component in the audio system is the Arrakis hard-drive music storage device, which archives Thornton's CDs on a hard drive so discs are not held captive inside the CD changer. "Jep has a boatload of CDs-hundreds of them," Hollander says. "We started with three Sony 3-disc CD changers, but it was a hassle to keep swapping the CDs from the changers to his car and back again. The Arrakis holds...oh, at least 900 CDs." The Arrakis and other components also feed an ADA Delta multiroom audio system, which provides sound for eight zones in the house. The multiroom system uses Phase Tech and Sound Advance in-wall speakers indoors, and Niles OS-20 weatherproof speakers outdoors. Impressive as Thornton's audio/video system may be, Hollander and crew are upgrading. "We're putting in the latest JBL Synthesis surround-sound processor, an Escient PowerPlay DVD management system, and a Faroudja DVP-5000 Native Rate scaler for the video," Hollander adds. |