OTHER TECH

America's Greatest Installations Each year at the CEDIA Expo, the custom-installation organization honors the country's best installers with its Designers' Choice Awards. Among the categories are Best Home Theater, which has eight levels beginning at $60,000 and less and going up to $650,000, and Best Integrated Home, divided into nine levels ranging from less than $150,000 to more than $3 million. (The winners are listed below.)

CEDIA judges look at many factors in considering an installation for recognition as Best Home Theater, including the creativity of the design. But while upscale theaters are known for their "wow" factor, many of them are essentially miniaturized variations on the showcase Bijous, Palaces, and Pantages of the 1930s. That's why the audacious 2005 winner at the $210,000 to $250,000 level really caught our eye.

Out of the imaginative depths of Audio by Design in Waxahachie, Texas, and architect Michael Malone of Dallas, Texas, comes the nautical wonder shown above. Inspired by the James Mason-helmed Nautilus sub in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the room features fake rivets around the Solus Diamond Reference Series in-wall speakers and an InFocus SP7200 high-def DLP projector concealed inside a ceiling hatch. There's also a diver's suit on display, elaborate faux-metallic "supports" and fixtures crafted by Dillonworks of Mukiteo, Washington, and plush-velvet chairs and wall treatments. About the only thing missing is the giant squid. - Michael Gaughn