Home theatres don’t look the way they used to.
Gone are the days of bulky entertainment units and tangled cords, replaced by hidden speakers and immersive surround sound that blend seamlessly into any space.
“From what we’ve seen working in the Winnipeg new-home construction market, the traditional dedicated home theatre room has become less common than it was years ago,” says Laurence Rosenberg, president of The Accurate Technology Group (ATG).
“For the majority of homeowners, however, home theatre technology hasn’t disappeared — it has simply become integrated into the main living areas of the home. Great rooms, family rooms and living rooms are now often designed to provide a high-quality entertainment experience while still functioning as attractive, comfortable everyday spaces.”
Advancements in architectural in-wall and in-ceiling speakers, immersive surround sound, system calibration and other audio technologies have allowed the team at ATG to provide excellent sound systems in larger, more open-concept spaces — all discreetly incorporated into walls, ceilings and cabinetry.
This way, homeowners can have a great entertainment experience without the room looking like a traditional theatre.
“Esthetic is very important within the home — everyone is looking for a cleaner look,” says Marvin Woycenko, an associate with ATG. “They want the technology, but they just don’t want it right in plain view. We’re seeing the integration of media, technology and sound really wrap around the look and feel of the home.”
This is equally important — or maybe even more important — to the homeowners who are still building dedicated theatre rooms, Woycenko adds.
“The homeowners who are still building dedicated theatres tend to be investing in much more elaborate higher-performance spaces, with better acoustics, larger screens and more sophisticated audio systems,” Rosenberg says.
Whether you’re putting in a dedicated theatre room or decide to elevate your family space, Woycenko says deciding what you want early in the building process and pre-wiring accordingly is ideal.
“I think the trend for people to buy a home now is that they’re staying in their homes longer. So the pre-wire stage of a home for technology is fundamental. As long as you’ve had the forethought to pre-wire and set the home up for the future, you may add things to the home as you are financially free to do so,” he says.
“So pre-wiring for more speakers throughout the house, pre-wiring for an automation system, pre-wiring for that theatre or that media room — it’s worth putting more forethought into what you’re going to do right now when you’re building that home. Don’t think about just what you’re going to put today. Try to think of down the road.”
For people who want to upgrade their media in an existing space, Woycenko suggests starting with the budget and working from there.
“You’re going to want to look at the room and decide how you want to lay it out so that it sounds the best within that environment,” he says.
As for visuals in media rooms, Woycenko says most people are leaning toward televisions in the 65-inch to 83-inch range.
However, a growing trend in higher-end home theatre rooms has been micro LED video walls, which are made up of micro LED video panels that fit together to create a video wall customized to the exact size you need.
Depending on the space, Woycenko has started to see these being installed in media rooms as well.
“You can custom make it to any size and you can scale it to any size,” he says. “Not only is the picture quality excellent, but it’s not light dependent so it can be put in any type of room.”
With so many streaming options now available in high resolution, Woycenko says they are seeing a resurgence in homeowners renewing their focus on having quality media technology in their home.
Coupled with economic factors in the Canadian landscape, Woycenko adds that he only sees the trend of home technology increasing, not decreasing.
“I think the cost of travel for the average person now is becoming very expensive. It’s also more expensive to go out regularly. Post-COVID, I think we live in a very, very different world,” he says.
“I think people are going to spend more time at home and are going to invest in their home because they’re staying home more. They want the conveniences and the comforts of having something a little nicer in the home.”
