When describing the home theater in the Storch Entertainment Systems showroom, owner Michael Storch uses the phrase “self-indulgent.” There is a good reason for that because the space performs a double duty — it is a demo area and his personal theater. By design, the showroom is very close to his home, as are the majority of his projects.
“We get to work somewhere different almost every day,” says Storch, who has maintained his enthusiasm even after nearly four decades in the biz. “We are privileged to have personal relationships with our clients (along with their dogs and kids). It can be challenging — home construction is frequently an emotional rollercoaster — but we like what we do, and, if done right, can be a lot of fun.” Storch employs two field-level technicians (and does not subcontract any labor) and states that “90% of our work is within a few miles of the office, which is only a quarter-mile from my home.”
The most fun part of the job for him is when he and his team are tasked with creating a home theater. As someone who got into audio as a teen working in a Hi-Fi store (Stereo Lab in Cincinnati, Ohio) to starting his own business, Storch knows how a great entertainment system can enhance family time. That belief is firmly on display in the relatively small space —17 feet, 6 inches long x 15 feet wide — that holds the showroom’s demo theater, which has evolved right along with Storch himself.
Fifteen years ago, Storch brought in Chris Huston to design the original room. “Chris is an interesting guy who has led an amazing life that includes being friends with John Lennon and Keith Moon, as well as a musician, acoustical designer, and a Grammy-nominated recording engineer who has worked with, among others, Led Zeppelin, James Brown, and The Who,” says Storch. “We hired him to perform the acoustic design of the theater and brought in what was high-performing AV gear at that time.
“Over the years, as I gained experience and appreciation for higher performance, we gradually upgraded the theater to the version that we demo now, which includes a Barco 2.35:1 native projector, Pro Audio Technology speakers and amplification, Kaleidescape movie server, and Storm processor. We came to PRO through a demo at the CEDIA Expo, but I sold Hales loudspeakers in the ’90s when [Pro Audio Technology owner] Paul Hales made 2-channel systems, so I was aware that Paul understands how to create audiophile products, but he also knows that those don’t necessarily have the dynamics needed for real music or sound effects, which are fast and loud and dynamic and need lots of power, efficiency, and a robust build quality.
“At the end of the day, it is the pure performance that made me a believer. Once I heard the PRO demo, I had to have it. And if I believe it with my experience, my customers will also believe it. So, we upgraded to what we have now — it’s the best iteration of that room we’ve had in since we’ve been in business.” Storch believes in Hales’s sound so much that he features Theory Audio in his family room and game room demo spaces.
A Sales Tool and a Hangout
The physical size of the demo home theater is just right for the area Storch Entertainment serves, which is Winter Park, Fla. “Here, land is at a premium, so most of the houses that we work in are usually in the 5000- to 8000-square-foot range, and as such, they don’t often have the space for a large, dedicated room. Plus, with construction costs averaging $800 to $1000-plus per square foot, it’s a valuable room before we even get involved. That gives us more of an incentive to make it better; after all, they’re paying a premium for the house on a square-foot basis, the system should be of similar quality and expense.
“I think there are a lot of integrators that tend to think small because they use their own income as a reference and do not understand the luxury wants and budgets of some clients,” he continues. “Now that I’m 50-something years old and have used my own money to build out our demo theater, I can look back on it with wisdom I didn’t have for the majority of my career. I think many of us small business owners are geared to make an easy sale to pay the rent at the expense of better educating our clients on what the best performance really costs. There can be a fear that a client will say ‘no’ when they are told that a quality home theater can cost as much as a small home, but there is a palpable confidence that comes from a well-executed demo. ‘The system you just experienced starts at $250,000’ is much easier to justify than trying to explain the expense without a test drive.
“We’ve had several clients say to us, ‘I didn’t know what I wanted until I came here and experienced this.’ That justifies every penny spent on the demo.”
The Art of the Demo
Naturally, a home theater aficionado like Storch has some definite opinions on what makes a great demo. Here, in viewing order, are some of his top choices if you have a client that can sit for a full demo — and he admits it works best on a client that is Generation X like himself.
- Ricky Nelson and Dean Martin sing “My Rifle, My Pony, and Me” in the 1955 film El Dorado. Says Storch, “Quality sound reproduction can give new life to old movies, regardless of the age of the source material. We want to represent the film the best way that we can because of the emotional impact of that scene.”
- Live performance of Roger Waters’s “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2.” “Roger Waters’s Us + Them has fantastic sound quality and impact,” Storch says. “There’s a part of ‘Another Brick in the Wall, Part Two’ where the lights on stage flash and there’s a great crash. You have to warn people that it’s going to get loud quickly and it’s going to get super-bright. Even if they know the song, they don’t understand how powerful it is until they experience it on a high-caliber system.”
- From Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Ferris’s last-minute run home to the English Beat’s “March of the Swivel Heads.” “It can be a long clip, but with the right audience, it can really turn up the nostalgia meter because everybody loves Ferris Bueller…”
- The Monopoly scene from A Quiet Place. “Starting with silent Monopoly and moving to the loud crash of the lantern, then the raccoons on the roof that get squashed, it demonstrates how powerful quiet can be along with huge dynamic range.”
- The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” scene from Top Gun: Maverick. “You have to start the scene just before Tom Cruise walks down the aisle to capture the echo and huge acoustic space of the hangar. When he later throws the NATOPS manual into the garbage can, there is an immediate, close-miked ‘thud’ followed by a long reverb. You must have the lead-up to ‘Won’t Get…’ because it’s the storytelling that captures the emotion long before the dogfight.”
And while Storch loves designing and installing home theaters, his team installs almost every facet of home electronics, even if they don’t provide the same impact of a private theater.
“High-performance lighting, lighting control, and window treatments are a large part of our business, along with whole-house music, TVs, Wi-Fi, surveillance, and so on,” he says. “Seeing that Amazon left a package on your front porch…that’s information and it’s useful and it’s valuable, but it’s not the same as the home theater experience. I’m a technician at heart — not a born salesman. Home theater is the ultimate expression of what we can do for our clients, and being able to provide a test drive is paramount.”
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Further Evolution
As much as Storch appreciates his current home theater demo space, showrooms tend to evolve, and his is no different. He recently purchased a 2400-square-foot house — still only a quarter-mile from his home — that he is turning into an experience center, complete with a new home theater.
“We are building it, Paradise Theater has completed the acoustic design, and Popcorn and Dreams is responsible for the interior design,” says Storch. “We’re moving most of the gear and upgrading a lot of it. This will be the next evolutionary step of what we want to promote — from the entertainment experience to the lighting, seating, acoustics, and interior design.”
Whatever shape it takes, Storch is certain to build a new home theater that he will enjoy as much as his clients will. He concludes, “To be able to provide a ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ in a way that words can’t describe is an amazing thing, whether it’s a three-minute music video or a Lord of the Rings marathon, losing yourself in the moment is the real goal.
“It’s why we’re in this business.”
Storch Entertainment Systems Home Theater Demo Equipment List
- Barco Balder CS projector
- Seymour Screen Excellence acoustically transparent screen — 130 inches wide x 55 inches tall
- Pro Audio Technology speakers
- LFC 15sm subwoofers [2]
- S12sm lcr [3]
- SR25imp [4] side and rear
- SCRS6ica [4] Dolby Atmos
- Pro Audio Technology amplifiers (5400 watts total)
- ALC 3316 [2]
- DLC 1500
- Kinetics acoustic treatment and stretch wall track and fabric
- Custom Starlight ceiling panels
- Lutron homeworks lighting control
- URC MX990 remote control
- StormAudio ISP Elite 24 processor
- Torus Power RM20 power transformer
- Microsoft Xbox Series X
- Kaleidescape Strato
- Apple TV
- Cinematech seating
- Dimensions: 17 feet, 6 inches long x 15 feet wide x 9 feet, 6 inches tall
- Design: Chris Huston, Huston Design Group
- General Contractor: E2 Homes, Matiland, Fla.
- Interior Build-Out and Acoustics Installation: Storch Entertainment Systems
- Photos: Rickie Agapito, AO Fotos
- Design: Michael Storch
