AcousticSmart designs, builds, and finishes custom and themed home theaters out of Merrick, NY, and the company has been doing it for more than two decades under founder Richard Charschan and architect Mark Sorin (AcousticSmart - About Us). Named clients on the company's own testimonials page include musicians, professional athletes, and at least one figure widely credited as a founder of the home theater design field. For homeowners in NJ, CT, and NY planning a dedicated home theater or high-performance media room, Restrepo Innovations partners with AcousticSmart on the acoustic buildout and integrates the Crestron control, lighting, shades, and network as an Elite Pro Crestron Dealer and HTA Luxury Certified integrator.
What separates AcousticSmart from a typical AV dealer is where the work starts. The company was born out of acoustic panel manufacturing, not equipment sales, and that origin still shapes how it approaches every room (AcousticSmart - About Us). This spotlight covers what AcousticSmart builds, the acoustic products behind it, the recognition the company has earned, and how Restrepo Innovations fits into a project that uses AcousticSmart for the room itself.
Two Decades of Dedicated Theaters
AcousticSmart has been building dedicated home theaters for more than two decades, led by founder Richard Charschan and architect Mark Sorin, out of the company's headquarters at 52 Benson Lane in Merrick, NY (AcousticSmart - About Us). Charschan started out manufacturing acoustic panels before a client request pushed him into full theater design and build, and the company has been refining that craft ever since.
The specialty is not AV equipment dropped into an existing room. It is a room designed as a theater from the studs, with acoustic treatment, isolation, seating, sightlines, screen placement, and finish work integrated from the start (AcousticSmart - About Us). Mark Sorin leads an in-house team of carpenters, designers, and craftsmen who execute that plan on every project, which is why the finished rooms hold up as theaters rather than media rooms with a bigger screen bolted on.
Custom vs. Themed: Two Product Lines
AcousticSmart organizes its portfolio into two distinct lines, and the difference is not just cosmetic. Custom Home Theaters are architectural projects: modern luxury cinema rooms with contemporary finishes, built around acoustic performance and cinema-quality projection (AcousticSmart - Custom Home Theaters). Themed Home Theaters add a set-design layer on top of that same foundation, with named builds including Lord of the Rings, Egyptian, 007, Tron, Drive-In, Football Stadium, and Bahamas concepts (AcousticSmart - Themed Home Theaters).
Both lines require the same acoustic backbone: isolation, absorption, and a room shape that behaves predictably. What changes is the finish layer. A custom theater reads like architecture. A themed theater reads like a set piece, down to details like a motorized war table door hiding a game console in the company's Lord of the Rings build, reported by CE Pro. That build was for a repeat client who had previously commissioned a Game of Thrones themed theater from AcousticSmart.
Recognition That Matters
AcousticSmart is a CEDIA Award Winner, recognized for a collaboration with Engineered Design Group on a Genelec-equipped theater finished in burgundy damask and gold accents. The company has also picked up the 2013 Electronic House Home Theatre of the Year award, the 2013 CEDIA Best of Show award, and the 2014 CE Pro Quest for Quality award for customer service. Coverage has followed in Residential Systems (2024 and 2025, tied to the launch of Charschan's book), CE Pro, Cineluxe, Connected Design, and Sound & Vision.
On its own testimonials page, AcousticSmart names clients including Max Weinberg, Nikki Sixx, Wayne Chrebet, Jose Reyes, and Theo Kalomirakis (AcousticSmart - Testimonials). Kalomirakis is one of the founders of the modern home theater design field in his own right, and his choice to use AcousticSmart for his own projects is a meaningful endorsement from someone who has designed theaters for a living far longer than most.
The Acoustic Layer
AcousticSmart carries a full acoustic treatment product line that most homeowners never see: wall panels, acoustic fabrics, isolation clips, sound barriers, joist isolators, and a mass-loaded barrier product called Sound Shaper (AcousticSmart - Home Theater Products). This is the invisible layer that makes a theater actually sound like a theater instead of a media room with a big screen and a soundbar.
Isolation clips and joist isolators specifically address structure-borne bass energy, the low-frequency vibration that travels through framing and floor joists into the rest of the house. Consumer-grade theater rooms almost never deal with this, which is why bass in those rooms either sounds weak or travels through the walls to every other room in the house. AcousticSmart's product line treats it as a design requirement, not an afterthought.
Restrepo Innovations and AcousticSmart
Restrepo Innovations designs, deploys, installs, configures, and supports Crestron control, lighting, motorized shades, distributed audio, networking, and security on AcousticSmart projects and on standalone home theater builds across NJ, CT, and NY. That work is backed by four credentials: HTA Luxury Certified, Elite Pro Crestron Dealer, OSHA Certified, and Ubiquiti UISP/Pro.
Michael Restrepo puts it simply: "A theater room only works if the room itself is right. AcousticSmart handles the room. We handle the control, the sources, the network, and the day-two support. That is what a serious cinema install looks like."
FAQ
What does AcousticSmart do?
AcousticSmart designs, builds, and finishes custom and themed home theaters, along with a full line of acoustic treatment products such as wall panels, isolation clips, and joist isolators (AcousticSmart - Home Theater Products). The company is based in Merrick, NY and has been building dedicated theater rooms for more than two decades.
What is the difference between a custom and a themed home theater?
A custom home theater is an architectural project built around acoustic performance and cinema-quality projection in a contemporary style (AcousticSmart - Custom Home Theaters). A themed home theater applies a set-design layer, such as Lord of the Rings, Egyptian, or Tron, on top of the same acoustic foundation (AcousticSmart - Themed Home Theaters).
Where is AcousticSmart located?
AcousticSmart is headquartered at 52 Benson Lane, Suite A, Merrick, NY 11566, and can be reached at (516) 623-5711 (AcousticSmart - Contact Us). The company has built theaters for clients well beyond Long Island.
Who is Theo Kalomirakis and why does it matter that he uses AcousticSmart?
Theo Kalomirakis is widely credited as one of the founders of the modern home theater design field. His testimonial appears on AcousticSmart's own testimonials page thanking Richard Charschan for the work AcousticSmart did on his projects (AcousticSmart - Testimonials), which is a strong endorsement from someone who could have chosen anyone in the industry.
How do I get a home theater built in NJ, CT, or NY?
For the dedicated theater architecture and acoustic treatment, call AcousticSmart at 516-623-5711 or visit acousticsmart.com. For the Crestron control, lighting, shades, and network integration layer in NJ, CT, or NY, call Restrepo Innovations at 201.405.2022 or email office@restrepoinnovations.com.
For a home theater project in NJ, CT, or NY, call Restrepo Innovations at 201.405.2022 or email office@restrepoinnovations.com. For dedicated theater architecture and acoustic treatment, call AcousticSmart at 516-623-5711 or visit https://acousticsmart.com.