Eli Manning says he’s not a high-tech guy, but he’s right at home controlling the automation features of his New Jersey condo. Credit: Steve Hulbert
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In Eli Manning’s day job as quarterback for the Super Bowl champion New York Giants, control is an elusive thing. He calls the plays, but blocks can be missed, handoffs can be muffed and 300-pound linemen can disrupt his plans.
Being at home is a much more accommodating experience for the Super Bowl MVP. He and wife Abby have complete control over all their home electronics systems—the motorized shades, the lighting schemes, the multiroom audio, even the stealth motorized pillar that unveils the top-shelf bar selections—at the press of a button.
Total home control, or automation, was Eli’s overwhelming priority when the Mannings recently gutted and renovated their 3,000-square-foot Hoboken, NJ, condo, with spectacular views of Manhattan.
Truth be told, the 27-year-old quarterback isn’t a high-tech guy. He’s also not ostentatious; you won’t be seeing him on Cribs anytime soon.
There was no grand plan, no goal to create an awe-inspiring home theater, no motivation to have his home electronics setup trump that of his teammates or even older brother Peyton Manning, the Indianapolis Colts’ own Super Bowl MVP. “No, none of that. And Peyton’s house is pretty simple,” Eli says. “I just knew I wanted to be able to play music in every room and easily select the music I wanted to play, but I was kind of naive about how it would work—how simple or complicated it would be.”
Other priorities for the Mannings’ renovation included one-touch lighting control and automation of motorized shades.
Game Plan
“We were pretty open-minded,” Eli says of his electronics plans. He and Abby did some research. They discussed it with their architect. Ultimately, though, Eli says he got most of the electronics ideas from his custom electronics integrators, Paul Austi and Tiziano Iannitelli of Audio Video Crafts in Long Island City, NY.
Eli wanted ease of use for simple entertaining. This is where Southern hospitality factors for the couple that met while attending the University of Mississippi. The Mannings host a lot of out-of-town guests. During the season, “I’m gone all day Saturday,” Eli says. “We stay at hotels before the game. Guests will be hanging out here.” The couple wanted to make sure their system would be simple enough that friends and family could pick up a controller and start using it.
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Equipment List
Displays and Projectors
Sharp LC25 25-inch LCD TV
Sharp LC32 32-inch LCD TV
Sharp LC45GX6U 45-inch LCD TV
Samsung LNT1954 19-inch LCD TV
Samsung FPT5084 50-inch plasma TV
Samsung FPT6374 63-inch plasma TV
Samsung LNT1954 19-inch LCD TV
Audio/Video Components
Marantz DV6001 progressive-scan DVD player (2)
Marantz SR7001 surround receiver with Digital Dolby and DTS (2)
Request F2-400 digital audio server
Request ARP CD download/conversion
Rotel RT1080 AM/FM tuner
Niles AVDA3 audio/video distribution amplifiers (2)
Middle Atlantic PD915 power-distribution module/surge and spike protector
Speakers
B&W DM601 bookshelf speakers (1 pair)
Canton KARAT 701 bookshelf speakers (7 pairs)
Canton KARAT 705DC center-channel speaker
REL Q108E subwoofers (2)
Sonance SYM S625T speakers (1 pair)
Sonance M422 steam-resistant recessed speakers (1 pair)
Sonance SYM S623SSTR steam-resistant “single stereo” recessed speakers (3)
Lighting and Shading
Shades (7)
QED Coupled Shade motorized coupled blackout shades (3)
Lutron HWI-ST-7B “See-Touch” lighting keypads (7)
Lutron HWD-10D smart dimmers (3)
Lutron HWD8-ANS smart switches (4)
Lutron HWD-8ANS smart switches
Control and Communications
Creston TPS2000L wall-mounted touchscreen controllers (4)
Creston STX1700CXP Two-Way Spread-Spectrum Wireless Touchscreen Controller (2)
Crestron TPS-RFGWX Two-Way Spread-Spectrum RF Transceivers (2)
Crestron ML600 wireless hand-held remotes (2)
Crestron PRO2 control processor
Crestron C2IR8 IR control cards (2)
Crestron C2COM-3 RS-232 control card
Crestron C2ENET1 Ethernet card
Crestron EMP system software
Crestron CNRFGWA RF gateways (2)
Crestron CNXPAD8A audio distribution processor
Crestron CNAMPX12 multiroom power amplifier
Crestron CNPWS75 system power supplies (2)
Crestron CEN-IDOC iPod docking station/system interface
Accessories
Xantech 480B IR receivers (2)
Xantech 480CFL-IRCF IR receiver system with IR injector
Chief PDR2536S TV swing-arm wall mount
Chief PSM2133S TV wall mount
Chief PSM2241 TV wall mount
Omnimount CL75/100 TV swing-arm mount
Middle Atlantic SLIM 5 equipment access rack
Middle Atlantic RSH7A rack shelves with custom faceplates (8)
Middle Atlantic LOT-H rack hardware
Elan Z-FAN-R rack-cooling system
Acoustex Paintable acoustic fabric (4 yards)
Acoustex acoustic fabric (1 yard)
System Design and Installation
Audio Video Crafts
Long Island City, NY
(Web site under construction)
Architect
John B. Murray Architects
New York, NY
www.jbmarchitect.com
Meh. Marantz receiver is decent, I have one on my secondary system, but no separates? Eli… come on! Lots of tv’s, but where is the dedicated front projection room? The automation and the audio server are nice, but not worth the hassle in my opinion. However, no PS3/Bluray, no HD-DVD, no HTPC? Those are essentials. Not bad for a condo, and I guess we all have our own taste, but I’ll keep my house and setup with a simple Harmony 880.
If he wanted to spend some real $ and get the best he should have went w/ bang and olfson—cheap hick.Hope he got banged out in the market crash
SHUT UP! GO AWAY!
I CALL DIBS ON THIS CONDO!!!
i want it so bad…..!!!
this is now my new dream house screw barbie =P
although I agree with MB, lets get some color in there you guys!
i dont like nasty dirty houses (like the one I live in now) lol gosh im so messy I sure wish I could just come home to a simple place like that. It’s ok tho someday *dreams*
Very prety. Very neat. And I keep expecting to hear Jack Nicholson saying, “heeeeeere’s Johnny!”
Nice place, but it must feel like living in a sterile laboratory. - Hang some curtains! Put up some family pictures on the walls! Put some Jack Daniel’s in the bar, and some Vermont apple cider in the fridge! All the books are on the shelf, so, obviously, no one’s reading them. Don’t you ever buy a newspaper? Does anybody really live there? You need some kids to make it look loved and lived-in!
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Rocky, Maybe I can suggest some glasses for you. Blu Ray will always look and… 
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Excellent Eli Manning ! Congratulations on your good fortune; may it to continue always.If one has aim and confidence, definitely the goal will come and fill his/her pocket.You have deserved it.
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