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Darth Vader would feel right at home in this Star Wars-themed home theater

Show Us Yours: Missourians Patrick and Stephanie enjoy witnessing the firepower of their fully armed and operational entertainment station.

David Carnoy
Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET's Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He's also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Nook e-books and audiobooks.
David Carnoy
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1 of 32 Patrick/CNET

Prepare to have a very good feeling about this home theater.

Patrick and his wife Stephanie don't look like soldiers of the Galactic Empire, but don't let that fool you. When they decided to build a new house in Nixa, Missouri, Patrick knew that the new place had to have a dedicated home theater room. 

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2 of 32 Patrick/CNET

He wanted it to have a Star Wars theme, but wasn't sure how to pull it off.

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3 of 32 Patrick/CNET

Through various channels and conversations, he came across Shawn Byrne from Quest Acoustical Interiors, and decided right away that he was the guy to help bring his theater to life.

"Not only did Shawn have the experience and knowledge to create a high-performance theater within my budget, it turned out he shared a similar passion for Star Wars and was thrilled for the opportunity," Patrick says.

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Patrick drew his design inspiration from scenes like this. 

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To give the appearance of the Death Star, wall panel "framing" was installed with 1/2-inch MDF (medium-density fiberboard) on which the MDF wall panels were hung.

Patrick contracted with a local business that had a CNC (computer numerical control) routing machine and was able to make the appropriate cuts in the MDF paneling as well as cut the additional detail that was applied to the surface of the MDF.

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6 of 32 Patrick/CNET

Frosted plexiglass was installed on the back side of the MDF and the 1/2-inch gap behind the MDF allowed for the LED strip tape to be installed.

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7 of 32 Patrick/CNET

These are HT Design's Warwick home-theater recliners. They're motorized and have lighted cup holders along with USB ports for charging your phone.

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Head-on view of the tiered seating.

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9 of 32 Patrick/CNET

The screen is a Severtson Cinema White MicroPerf. It's fixed, 117 inches wide with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and is acoustically transparent.

Shawn says he decided to use an acoustically transparent screen to aid in hiding his Aperion Audio Verus Grand tower speakers to provide a seamless aesthetic appearance.

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10 of 32 Patrick/CNET

Patrick has some Star Wars blankets and throws for folks to curl up into.

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11 of 32 Patrick/CNET

Close up of the lighted cup holder with USB.

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Patrick says he went with RGB LED strip tape because he wanted to be able to choose whatever color he wanted for the accent lighting in the room.  

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13 of 32 Patrick/CNET

He loves doing blue for the light side of the force...

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...and red for the dark side. 

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...and when he "senses conflict," he does both!

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The seating from another angle.

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More lighting details in the back of the room under the projector.

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18 of 32 Patrick/CNET

Patrick made all the light, speaker and HVAC back boxes. The HVAC supply and return boxes were lined with LinacousticRC to help dampen the sound. The projector box is also lined with the same material and is connected to the return via exhaust fan and flex duct to help vent the hot air from the projector to the return.

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The cover of the projector box is made of black plexiglass. There's an Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 5040UB in that box.

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20 of 32 Patrick/CNET

Side view across the seats.

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21 of 32 Patrick/CNET

During the initial phases of the build, the groundwork for sound isolation began. Utilizing Serena Mat from Soundproofingcompany.com and 3/4-inch OSB (oriented strand board), the floor was laid while maintaining a gap from the walls. 

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The larger cutouts in the MDF not only mimic Death Star designs but house the acoustic paneling, which is covered in Guilford of Maine Anchorage fabric

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23 of 32 Patrick/CNET

Sit back and relax.

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The stair lighting also changes colors.

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25 of 32 Patrick/CNET

More LED lighting strips.

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The screen from another angle.

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27 of 32 Patrick/CNET

The riser was constructed as one big bass trap and the stage is a mixture of sand and sawdust. Patrick says: "Carrying 3 tons of sand into the room was a chore!"

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28 of 32 Patrick/CNET

Here's the equipment list:

Blu-ray player: Oppo UDP-203 UHD

Gaming console: Sony PlayStation 4 ProAT&T

Set-top box: AT&T U-Verse

AV receiver: Denon AVR-X4300H

Amps: Outlaw Model 2200 monoblock power amps (3, LCR), Outlaw Model 5000 5-channel power amps (2, surrounds, Atmos overheads)

Digital Signal Processor (DSP): miniDSP 10x10 HD

Projector: Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 5040UB

Screen: Severtson Cinema White MicroPerf (fixed, 117" wide, 2.35:1, acoustically transparent)

Speakers: Aperion Verus Grand Towers (3, LCR), Triad InWall Bronze/4 Surrounds (4, side and rear surrounds), Triad InCeiling Bronze SealedRounds (4, Dolby Atmos overheads), Rythmik FV15HP subwoofers (2)

Control system: Savant

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The Outlaw Gear.

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Middle of the rack with the Denon receiver and Savant controller.

"I've recently integrated Alexa into my Savant system and love using voice commands to operate everything," Patrick says.

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31 of 32 Patrick/CNET

Another shot of the back of the theater.

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32 of 32 Patrick/CNET

That's it, folks. We're outta here. Thanks to Patrick and Stephanie for sharing their Star Wars-themed home theater with us.

If you want to see more Show us yours showcases, we have plenty more here. And feel free submit your own through this link! May The Force be with you!

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