Star Trek mega-fan boldly goes where no home theater owner has gone before

This is Anil, who lives in central New Jersey. His home theater seeks out new life and new levels of Trekkie fandom. Let's take a tour.

He got the idea to build a Star-Trek themed home theater after attending the 50th anniversary convention at the Jacob Javits Center in New York back in 2016 with his son. He decided to incorporate elements of both the original series and Star Trek: The Next Generation.  

This is the entrance to the basement. "Currently we're at the Star Trek Fleet Command starbase," Anil says. "And we're going to head into the starship."

Thanks to a set of sensors he's installed, the opening theme music to Star Trek automatically plays when he heads downstairs. "Space, a final frontier..."

At the bottom of the stairs he has a Star Trek Communicator, which he bought online. When you pass an automatic sensor, you hear the signature sound of the automatic starship doors opening and closing. 

(The phrase "Captain to the Bridge" is 'shopped into the photo above, not painted on the wall, to indicate sound effects. Get ready for more.)

Needless to say, his son is part of the crew, too.

Anil built a transporter using laser lights and sound effects. 

This is how he created the lighting and sound effects.

With props.

This is the "engineering room." Anil considered building more elaborate warp drive engines but instead settled on ones that could also house his memorabilia collection. 

Anil and son with the crew of Deep Space 9 from the 50th anniversary convention.

More memorabilia. 

The crew from the original series in an "authentic" poster along with a Star Trek wall clock.

He decided to build the home theater as a holodeck -- a room where The Next Generation crew hung out and interacted with holographic virtual reality environments. He couldn't quite get to four dimensions, but he does have a 3D projector.

There were several Holodeck rooms on the show. This one announces itself: The doors automatically open as you approach and a voice says "Holo Deck 3 is ready."

The tiered seating being built. 

There's a spot for the projector in back.

Close up of the pneumatic door under construction.

Everything was a little messy for a while.

But this is how it turned out. The theater was completed in April of 2018.

View from the other side.

Close up of the doors leading out.

Anil mounted this plaque next to the doors.

Lights dimmed.

The screen is a whopping 21 feet wide by 8.5 feet high.

Captain James T. Kirk in all his glory.

This is what it looks like without the wide-angle lens.

The back row. Note the authentic railing and bright blue LED lighting.

From the other side.

He put red LED safety lights on stairs.

To control all those LEDs you need a... LED controller.

A look out the window.

The view's just as good from this one.

Here's the Optoma projector with the custom wide angle lens that Anil built.

A better look at the lens.

The lens close up.

Back of the projector.

Another shot of the screen.

The Enterprise's screen on the screen.

The equipment is hidden away.

Front of the Denon AVR-S710W AV receiver, a step-down version of the AVR-S910W we reviewed in 2015.

He's also got this Denon 11.2 channel receiver in the mix.

And this Harmon Kardon AVR for sound effects.

For 3D viewing sessions Anil has lots of active 3D glasses for guests.

Each pair synchs to the projector to create the 3D effect for the viewer.

Here's an infrared transmitter so the glasses can synch to the projector properly.

In case a big crowd gets the space too stuffy, there's an air purifier.

The chairs have lights and USB charging ports, as well as cup holders.

Hidden storage compartment in the armrest.

Anil used a lot of Energy Take Classic speakers, some of CNET's favorites back in the day.

Subwoofer with lighting effects device on top.

Behind the scenes of those pneumatic doors.

Yes, that's the manual override switch in case the doors get stuck.

Lighting controls.

There's a Klipsch sub in the corner.

The sub is under a poster displaying different types of ships.

Anil's collection of 3D films.

Anil's DVD and game collection is no joke, but he's no Cinema Sicko.

Hanging in the holodeck.

He even watches standard TV in the room sometimes.

Here's one more look with the lights on.

For those who want a real insider's view of the whole set-up, you can watch Anil's awesome video tour above. It gives you a real sense of everything that went into the theater, including all the sound effects.

That's it for this installment of CNET's Show Us Yours, Star Trek edition. Live long and prosper, Anil.

Check out more great home theaters here. If you want to submit pictures of your own home theater, you can do so by clicking this link.