Case Study: Brewer Residence Part 1: Performance Without Compromise

Performance Without Compromise

 JBL Synthesis Powers a World-Class Home Cinema Built From the Ground Up for Reference-Level Performance

Description of the Project

When Will and Meredith Brewer began designing their new home, the original plans did not include a dedicated home cinema. But early in construction, the homeowners realized they wanted something far more ambitious, a cinematic experience so powerful, so immersive, and so technically advanced that it would rival the best commercial theaters.

To achieve that vision, the Brewers assembled a best-in-class team. HomeTroniX served as the integrator, while Kasabe Designs and 3D Squared led the theater design. They were supported by a group of highly skilled specialists, including acoustician Ethan Bourdeau, architect Chad Young, and senior interior designer Abbey Redmon of WDD Architects, who was instrumental in reconfiguring the home’s floor plan to accommodate the theater’s ambitious scale, alongside a range of fabricators and craftsmen, all working in concert to deliver a completely custom, performance-driven build.

From the very beginning, the path forward was clear: to deliver true cinematic excellence, the theater would be built around JBL Synthesis.

“We set out to create one of the most advanced home theaters ever built,” said homeowner Will Brewer. “I wanted a space where sound wasn’t just heard, but felt—where movies became an experience you could step into.” 

The Challenge

The team faced an extraordinary set of challenges and a complete redesign of the home’s structure.

The Theater Didn’t Exist in the Original Plan: After the foundation footings were already in place, Brewer decided he wanted a world-class theater. The existing concrete had to be demolished, a pit excavated, and new structural supports engineered so the room could meet the performance and isolation goals of the final design.

Acoustics Were Paramount: The team refused to compromise any design choice that would degrade audio performance. A raised back bar, originally intended for aesthetics, was removed from the plan because it disrupted the acoustic model.

Extreme Performance, Extreme Precision: With 34 JBL Synthesis speakers, eight SSW-1 subwoofers, a Barco projector, starfield ceiling, and complex architectural acoustics, the engineering required custom millwork, custom metal fabrication, and extensive spatial modeling.

Designer Abe Rasoulian explained: “We were integrating dozens of speakers, multiple layers of acoustics, and a luxury design aesthetic. Every inch of the room had to work for both performance and beauty.”

“While the solutions can be complex, our goal was simple: to design and deliver room shape, finishes, and isolation needed for sound to truly transcend,” added Ethan Bourdeau, Principal Consultant of Bourdeau Acoustical Design, LLC 

The Solution: A Fully Engineered JBL Synthesis Immersive Cinema

The Brewer theater was built around a complete JBL Synthesis ecosystem, selected for its ability to deliver cinematic dynamics, precise imaging, and consistent tonal accuracy across every channel. By using a fully unified JBL Synthesis architecture, the design team ensured seamless integration between the LCRs, surrounds, height channels, and low-frequency system, creating a true reference-level immersive environment.

“The range of JBL Synthesis components meant we could build the entire room around one system,” said John Campbell, Owner, HomeTroniX. “That consistency is a huge reason this theater performs the way it does.”

Invisible integration was central to the design. Custom millwork, acoustical treatments, and hinged pilasters were engineered to conceal the speakers while preserving ideal placement and dispersion. Every detail, from the baffle wall to the star ceiling, was tailored to accommodate the JBL Synthesis system without compromise.

Precision Processing & Massive Amplification

Driving the theater is JBL Synthesis’ flagship SDP-80 36-channel immersive audio processor paired with robust amplification. The SDP-80’s expanded channel capacity enables the full suite of immersive audio formats—Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, and AURO-3D—future-proofing the system without the need for external processing hardware. Together, they provide the headroom, control, and fine-grained resolution needed to manage a system of this scale.

With expert support from the HARMAN Luxury Audio engineering team, the system was tuned to its full potential. Final calibration by Daniel Jones, JBL Synthesis Field Engineer, brought the room into exact alignment, optimizing time-domain behavior, spatial imaging, and low-frequency response.

“When Dan told us this might be one of the best JBL Synthesis systems he had ever calibrated, that was one of the highlights of the whole project,” Campbell said.

Taking optimization a step further, the team worked directly with Trinnov engineers to fully leverage their advanced wave field synthesis technology, a capability that demands specialized system design expertise and remains rare even among high-performance home theater installations. The collaboration ensured the room’s spatial performance was realized to its absolute ceiling.

The result is astonishing linearity, impact, and clarity, even at the deepest frequencies supported by the room’s multi-layer subwoofer strategy.

Architectural & Design Integration

The design combines Hollywood-era Art Deco with modern luxury. Kasabe Designs created custom wall pilasters, integrated lighting elements, and hinge-front acoustic columns that discreetly hide the speakers.

Highlights include:

Custom Metal Rigging for the SSW-1 Subwoofers: Eight SSW-1s required industrial-grade steel supports engineered by fabricator Kendrix Robb to maintain precise spacing and eliminate vibration transfer.

Custom Acoustic Pilasters & Wall Systems: Kasabe Designs and Berkeley Woodworking created hinged panels allowing access to speakers and acoustic treatments while preserving the aesthetic of the room.

Starfield Ceiling with Hidden Height Speakers: Using the Kinetics Starcoustix SX system, the ceiling conceals acoustics, lighting, and height channels behind acoustically transparent fabric while presenting a dramatic fiber-optic night sky.

Designer Glen Hoffman, 3D Squared, noted: “This theater shows what happens when engineering and design are in complete alignment. Every element supports the experience.”

The Results: A Theater Designed to Deliver Joy

The Brewers now have a cinema that rivals, and in some cases exceeds, commercial reference rooms.

“This room just pulls you in,” said Brewer. “When you sit down and the system starts, the whole world disappears. It’s everything I hoped for and more.”

The room is regularly used for films and major sporting events, with Control4 automation delivering seamless operation including scene control, projector sequencing, lighting transitions, even a “Join” scene that syncs the bathroom audio and Séura mirror TV. 

Integrators often test theaters with well-known demo scenes. Campbell reflected on hearing them in the finished room: “I’ve heard these scenes hundreds of times: Ready Player One, Top Gun: Maverick, A Star Is Born. But in this room? I heard details I’ve never heard before. You just sit there and smile.”

Technical Highlights:

• Ultra-linear bass down to 15 Hz

• Uniform SPL across all seating positions

• Seamless timbre matching across 34 JBL Synthesis channels

• Pristine dynamics with enormous headroom

Why JBL Synthesis Was the Only Choice

HomeTroniX and Kasabe Designs credit JBL Synthesis for enabling this level of performance. “The equipment is second to none,” said Rasoulian. “And because JBL Synthesis has such a wide and deep product ecosystem, we could design the entire room around one manufacturer. That coherence shows in every moment you spend in the theater.”

 Brewer added: “I wanted the best and that’s exactly what we got. JBL Synthesis helped us build something truly special.”

Conclusion

The Brewer Residence is a masterpiece of collaboration, creativity, and engineering excellence. With JBL Synthesis as its core, the theater stands as a world-class example of what is possible when, with the homeowners’ vision, designers, integrators, and specialists come together to build a space driven by passion and precision. This is not just a room, it is a destination for unforgettable experiences.

HARMAN Luxury Audio Products Used:

Cinema

• 3 x JBL Synthesis SCL-1

• 10 x JBL Synthesis SCL-2

• 12 x JBL Synthesis SCL-3

• 1 x JBL Synthesis SCL-6

• 8 x JBL Synthesis SSW-1

• 1 x JBL Synthesis SDP-80

• 8 x JBL Synthesis MA4D amplifiers

• 2 x JBL Synthesis SDA-7120 amplifiers

• 13 x JBL Synthesis SDA-2200 amplifiers

Kitchen / Additional Rooms

• 2 x JBL Synthesis SCL-5 

Whole-Home Audio (Distributed)

• 4 x JBL Synthesis DA1650 amplifiers

• 4 x Revel C363DT

• 3x Revel C363XC

• 2x Revel 383XC

• 8x Revel C763

• 18 x Revel C783