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Sprawling San Diego Theater - February 2005 - page 3 Axelrod discussed the idea of doing another drop-down screen and projector combo in the master bedroom, however the clients opted to hide all of the electronics, TV, center speaker and subwoofers in the cabinets. The left and right speakers were then placed in the walls and the rears are up above the bed towards the back of this spacious room. His and hers Crestron remotes are set up in the master bedroom, with the full-size touch panel on one side and a smaller, more simplified controller on the other side that allows basic control. A 51-inch Panasonic rear-projection TV was chosen for the master bedroom display device, and in the dressing area in each of the two master bathrooms is a small LCD TV that allows the homeowners to catch up on the news while getting ready for the day or to watch some soap operas or a sitcom in the evening while soaking in a warm bath.  Moving out to the courtyard area, Axelrod told me of the homeowners’ desire to have music pumped outside without seeing any of the speakers at all. Instead of going for the typical “fake rock” trick, a series of six green OWI in-ground speakers were placed in planters. If I had not been told they were speakers, I might have guessed that they were small drains or sprinkler control box covers. Keeping with the hidden speaker theme, the pool on the opposite side of the courtyard also has hidden speakers. Rather than the in-ground type, Axelrod and his team actually ran cables under the ground and them up the base of several trees that flank the pool and literally mounted waterproof speakers in the middle of the trees. Talk about a discreet install. Audio purists may scoff at the prospect of listening to music that is passing through a series of tree branches, but according to golf lore, when hitting a shot through tree branches, the tops of trees are “90 percent air,” so how much interference could the branches cause with the music anyway? In the end, form was more important than function and it was more important that the speakers be heard and not seen. Thus speaker trees were born. As it is the beginning of a new year, people are flocking to the gym to work on those New Year’s resolutions. However, these homeowners only need to take a short walk to their home gym complex to make sure they burn off those extra calories. To keep up on the latest news or TV shows from every angle, two plasma TVs were wall-mounted in the gym. A cabinet in the corner also sports two high-def satellite receivers, a ReplayTV and two VCRs, so just in case several important shows or sporting events are on, the homeowners will be able to keep tabs on them while still getting a good workout session.All of the guest rooms in the home have at least one TV and most of them have a TV/DVD/VCR combo player, so visitors can listen to music or watch movies at their own convenience. In one particularly interesting guest room designed for children, one of the modest combo TVs is flanked by an outrageous collection of Beanie Babies and other stuffed animals. According to Axelrod, the home has literally five miles of RF cable run through the walls and ground, as there are even TVs out in places like the pool house, pool table parlor and the garage area.  The tour of this fantastic home ends in a formal dining room and a wine tasting room that was created downstairs in a beautiful wine cellar. With the flexibility of the CASA system, Axelrod was able to make it possible for the homeowners to pipe in chamber music while enjoying a feast fit for royalty. The iron chandelier, the arched wine racks and the ornate wooden table overshadow the fact that there are two pairs of in-wall speakers that have been painted to match the walls and provide audio entertainment at the touch of a button from anywhere in this stunning home.See complete equipment list below...
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