About Us
Learn more about wicked home theater
Our story
About Wicked Home Theater
Back in 1977, a 16 year old teenager went and saw a sci-fi film called, “Star Wars”. He loved the movie so much he watched it another 11 times in the theater. To him, it was amazing, and at that time he wanted everyone to have that same chill down the back of the neck that he had when the Star Destroyer flew over his head the first time. Now it did take another 29 years to start that realization (little things like the US Army and computers got in the way), but in 2006, Wicked Home Theater became a reality.
After starting PC Networks in 2002, and Wicked Machines (high end computer gaming systems, audio/video composition/editing systems, visual effects workstations) in 2003, the thought of going into the home theater business was not really at the forefront. Primarily because at that point in time, the Audio/Video industry had not settled on a communication protocol and was still dependent upon Infrared (IR) and Radio Frequency (RF) to communicate. They also had a communication protocol called AtBus, which some companies used. Finally in 2005 they discovered, ethernet and TCP/IP (even though it had been a standard for over a decade with computers). At this point in time, Paul Clemmons, founder and president of PC Networks Inc, decided to throw his hat into the AV/Home Theater realm.
Our Story
The Bet
2005/2006 was the year the Seattle Seahawks made a successful run to the Super Bowl. During the playoffs, Paul made a wager with his wife, Veronica, that if the Seahawks made it to the Super Bowl, he could get a new TV. They made it (and lost to the Pittsburg Stealers) and Paul got a 62″ rear projection TV by Mitsubishi. Mind you the average TV size at that point was 40″. At the same time, Magnolia Hi-Fi was being bought by Best Buy and all the contracts for their premiere products (Mitsubishi Diamond, Klipsch Reference Premiere, Denon, and Yamaha) were up for grabs, as Best Buy has the lower end products already and the manufacturers wanted a company other than Best Buy to sell and service their higher end products. This is when Wicked Home Theater was established. With our background in computer networking and gaming, this was a great way to experience gaming at a whole new level.
Our Story
Early Years
The first few years, Home Theaters were not the focus of PC Networks, it was in computers and computer support. Home theaters were something that if the opportunity came up, we could handle, from simple TV and projector installations, and some of the first Sonos installations in the Pacific Northwest. Because the use of wireless and wired IP networks was not wide spread in AV, these installations were not complicated. This was also the time of building up relationships between the company and manufacturers and distributors. We were very picky about who we partnered with, as support was a key element to every selection. Even if a company had a great product, if it had a high failure rate, or had crappy service, we would drop them and hopefully at a later date, would improve. This was what happened with Optoma and Sonos. Both when we started had great products, but the support was severely lacking. We had a 10 year break with Optoma over this very reason, in which they were able to significantly improve.
Our Story
Resurgence
Wicked Home Theater had a major resurgence in 2012 with the introduction 4K UHD standard, streaming services, and high speed wireless. Netflix had been around for 5 years in streaming, but it was the widespread installation of fiber in the US increasing download speeds beyond the standard 50Mbps to up to 1Gbps and higher. Drawing on nearly 40 years of computers and networking and the past 5 years of watching the AV market, Paul decided to push the home theater market more.
Being a custom installer, the need for a store was not needed, plus after going through a recession in 2002 and 2008, and watching companies like GoodGuys and CircuitCity shutting down, it wasn’t a wise investment. However not having a store was a double edged sword. While it allowed us to have lower prices and didn’t need to deal with overhead, 9t forced us to acquire equipment that could be used in demonstrations and displays at events like the county fair and home expos. We even had a 10×20 tent that boasted video gaming on one side and a home theater on the other. From the beginning of this, we focused on technologies and not brand names, and ways to transport them and setup with the least amount of time. Our original displays took hours to setup and required a pickup truck to transport everything. Over the years, we have been able to streamline things for being able to do in-home demonstrations and scale them up for home shows and conventions and pushing the envelope and displays to even higher levels to give that “wow” factor.
Our tent displays pushed the idea that you didn’t need a 20′ space to have a home theater. Now you just need a couple of feet to have a massive home theater, with the introduction of Ultra Short Throw (UST) projectors. Additionally we have gone from a pickup truck full of equipment that takes several people most of a day to setup, now fits into a Prius and sets up in minutes for a simple display to a couple of hours for major events.
Our Story
Today
PC Networks Inc is celebrating their 20th year in business, surviving three recessions and a pandemic, and is coming out stronger more than ever. We are members of the Central Kitsap Chamber of Commerce and the Kitsap Builders Association, along with having an A+ BBB rating. We are also a disabled veteran owned small business.
We have partnered with top manufactures of TV’s (LG, Sony, Samsung), Projectors (Optoma, Sony, LG, Samsung, JVC, BenQ) Receivers (Audio Control, Denon, Yamaha, Sony) Projector Screens (Screen Innovations, Elite Screens, Vividstorm, DragonFly), Speakers (Klipsch, Origin Acoustics, Stealth Acoustics, Sonance, KEF), Mounts (MantleMount, Chief, Peerless) and cabinetry (AC Infinity, Aegis, Salamander), Audio Streaming (Sonos, Russound) and control systems (URC, ClareVision, Josh.ai).
We are dedicated to bringing the best in entertainment and options outside of what the big box store would give you. Our embrace of the UST projector and subsequent products dealing around that has been well received from the apartment dwellers and home owners alike. The military especially since it is easier to haul a UST projector and screen than it is an 80″ TV. We are also looking at innovation at all levels, from modest budgets to extreme immersive setups. The recent addition of Ko-Kast to our stable of products opens up a major inroad into simulation, home theater, and commercial applications.
It starts with you
Schedule a Free In-Home Evaluation and Demonstration
*** Financing Available ***
Disabled, veteran owned, local business. Wicked Home Theater is a subdivision of PC Networks, Inc. celebrating it's 21st year in business.
