Electronic House has this rad story of a home theater designed to resemble the control deck of the Death Star. The entire thing was designed by Doug Chiang, the lead designer on Episodes I and II. DVDs are tucked behind a hidden door replica of Han Solo in Carbonite, and the entire starfield is lit by fiber optics. One wonders what kind of person gets into a project like this.
Apparently, a triple-threat geek couple, Vic Wertz and Lisa Stevens. They used to run the Official Star Wars Fan Club, met while Lisa worked at Wizards of the Coast, and they paid for the whole thing by selling D&D guidebooks and 20-sided dice at their company, Paiso Publishing. Lisa and Vic, I need to know more about this system, so drop me a line if you read this. And Definite Audio out of Bellevue Washington did the AV setup. Here's an esoteric equipment list and another photo, but the full gallery can be had at Electronic House.

EQUIPMENT LIST* CinemaTech Valentino Chairs (10)
* Crestron Theater Remote
* DirecTv HR10-250 HD TiVo
* Extron RGB468XT Gaming Interface
* Extron SW4 RGBHV RGB Switcher
* JVC SR-S365U S-VHS VCR
* Lexicon RT-10 Universal DVD Player
* Meridian Audio & Video Cables
* Meridian 800 Reference DVD Player
* Meridian 861 Reference Preamp
* Meridian DSP5500 HC Center Speaker
* Meridian DSP6000 Side & Rear Speakers
* Meridian DSP8000 Front Speakers
* Mid Atlantic AXS Pull-Out Custom Rack
* Pioneer CLD-D704 Laserdisc Player
* Runco VX5 Outboard Processor
* Runco VX5C 3-Chip DLP Projector
* Runco VX5C LT Anamorphic Lens
* Sony SAT-T60 TiVo
* Spaun SMS5802NF HD Multiswitch
* Stewart VeLux DeLux ST130 Screen
[Electronic House]











Comments
If they got the chairs to vibrate, and put a larger screen, you could have a nifty home fighter simulator for those occasions when you wanna kick back and play a game or two.
i once thought multipul nergasims were something that existed only in dirty stories...
Too bad they didn't have a screen shot of the carbonite.
It's all fun and games until your mother-in-law comes over to watch a movie and her vertigo causes her to stumble forward, head-first through the screen. It tears as she stumbles to the side, knocking over one of your multi-thousand-dollar speakers, which lands on her magnesium robe, releasing a spark, engulfing her in flame. Soon, your entire party is ablaze, your guests melting, and you die a horrible, horrible death while watching the movies you dearly love.
Fun and games.
You lost me at Episodes I and II.
A few minor tweaks and you're on the set of Star Trek...
Awesome!
The source article says they were thinking more Star Destroyer than Death Star, which makes a lot more sense when you look at what it actually looks like.
This room is soooo in need of a SpaceBalls remodeling.
Dark Helmet: "Ludicrous speed, NOW!"
Is that a typo? Did he seriously put a LASERDISC player in there? Can you even buy those anymore? And S-VHS?!? What year was this built?
Am I the only one that would have loved to see an R2D2 subwoofer?
that is so wizard
Too bad the chairs look like used up hookers.
@sjansa: Everyone knows that the best Star Wars was the THX Laserdisc remastering. Duh.
"This is probably your first trip on Star Tours, and its......... mine, too..."
@ Brian Lam
Are you serious? Who would get into this?
What are you, a eunich? I mean, c'mon, the chance to do Leia on the bridge of the Death Sta.....what? What do you mean Leia isn't included? It's just a home entertainment design?
*ahem*
Nevermind
I was looking at the 60" Sony and thinking a room like that should definitely be using a projector. then second look I noticed that there is a project and screen TOO! simply awesome (not just the two displays).
In the words of Wayne:
"This is definitely the kind of place I'm getting once I move out of my parent's basement"
I just came...
Yeah SW Eps 1 - 3 are about the *last* things you'd want to watch on this.
The Meridian speakers are awesome. But the un-aesthetic way in which they blend into the rest of the Star Wars motif he's got going on represents the dilemma we all face in designing and buidling high-end home theaters: do I accept the sonic tradeoffs of "architectural speakers" and pursue ambience and atmosphere as my ultimate goals, or do I try to live with gangly floorstanders littered about the room?
(And he lists no subwoofer?!)
But...you could *almost* pass off the Meridian DSP-6000s as R5-D4 droids.
[www.starwars.com]
Somebody has way too much time on their hands. I would say too much money as well, but you can never have too much money.
Sadly, I would look like Jabba the Hut having a setup like this. If this wife could just get into the brass bikini...
*sigh*
That's "Definitive Audio" in Bellevue, WA
I didn't realize 20 sided dice was that lucrative a racket.
I hear beige carpet is all the rage in the Empire now a days. I wonder how much extra the cool floor vent cost that's by Boba Fett's foot.
Sidenote: If your going to do it, do it perfect. Meaning no ugly speaker wires and why couldn't they build some sort of cool looking alcoves for the huge speakers or change the speaker and screen colors? I know it might hinder performance etc to put the speakers near walls, but seriously man...
Crawl, nap, pee and poop iPhone made for babies - Shiny ShinyTop ten funny tech ads - CraveHomemade iamhuman covers bring personality to your electronics - Apartment TherapyHome theater turned into death star control deck - GizmodoLost?
While the decor is arguably awesome, the equipment is absolutely nuts. Meridian fully active, powered, digital speakers with Runco video processing and an anamorphic lens system; holy shit, that's some great looking pod race scenery. Now that guy can watch his shitty two abominations of Star Wars on an unbelievable system.
For those of you asking yourselves why did they need the LasserDisc... well it's the only way to see in "BetterDef" the original remastered saga (without Mr.New Vader on the final shot of the original trilogy) at least legally speaking.
This guy should duke it out with the "Star Trek Home Theater" dude.
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