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We can’t quite share this homeowner’s borderline R-rated reaction when custom electronics pro DistinctAV fired up the basement equipment rack for the first time. But let’s just say that a bunch of the equipment is routed to the master suite, and company president Derek Cowburn adds that for the homeowner it’s “an electronics dream come true.” Like the rest of this fully-loaded house, Cowburn notes, all the video, audio, and lighting in the master suite is controlled by the RTI T3V Wi-Fi remotes. Each remote… View this story
Bathroom • Bedroom • Home of the Year Awards 2009 • Cool Homes

Take it straight from the custom electronics pro on this one: “In a home with an amazing dedicated theater, a Harley Davidson display bar and a two story waterfall within the two main floors it’s hard to believe it could get any more unique!” What P.J. Aucoin of Calgary-based Home Concepts couldn’t believe was this home’s master suite. And it is sweet—both to begin with, and then after Home Concepts got through outfitting it with two wall-mounted TVs and a mirror TV. “The homeowners were… View this story
Bathroom • Bedroom • Home of the Year Awards 2009 • Cool Homes

We always like to hear about homes that have been automated from top to bottom. While interesting and inspiring, that level of integration is nothing but a pipe dream for most folks. Focusing your technology attentions on a single room is usually the most economical game plan, says Jay Cobb, president of Hi-Tech Home in Clovis, Calif. For less than $9,000, he and his team outfitted Nick and Corey Ferri’s master suite with sophisticated entertainment system that expanded to automate the home’s lights, thermostats, security… View this story
Bedroom • Multiroom AV • Cool Homes

Last week we told you about this spectacular California home outfitted by custom electronics pro Audio Impact. It was easy to see why it was one of our Home of the Year finalists in the overall category, but we didn’t want to just gloss over the notable master suite, which was also a finalist in that category. And it definitely sparkles. The ceiling is 25 feet high with beautiful moldings and recessed patterns, and a stair case leads to an office with a balcony that… View this story
Bathroom • Bedroom • Home of the Year Awards 2009 • Cool Homes

Patti Deni wanted to surprise her teenage son by giving him his own big-screen TV, so while their new home was being built, she contacted Williamsville, NY–based Stereo Advantage with an idea: Instead of mounting the set to the wall, like everyone else does, she suggested having the TV laid flush across the ceiling. “It was definitely a first for us,” says systems designer Kevin Bohner. A 98-inch StarGlas60 display from Stewart Filmscreen was chosen for the unusual project. “Because it’s so big and has… View this story
Bedroom • Home of the Year Awards 2009 • Cool Homes

Now that summer’s in full swing, I find myself staying up way too late. In Michigan—which sits at the far west side of the Eastern Time zone—the sun doesn’t drop until after 10 p.m. That means I’m usually up well past 11 p.m. Needless to say, that 5:30 a.m. alarm has to work really hard to wake me up. In July, iLuv will release what just might be provide the perfect solution to my daybreak dilemma. The iMM153 Desktop Dual Alarm Clock ($59.99) offers seven… View this story
AM and FM Tuners • Docks & Cradles • Portables • Bedroom • Product News

How do you fit a surround-sound system in a bedroom that has concrete floors and ceilings—plus walls of glass? “The homeowner wanted a 5.1 surround system with a large screen plasma, while making the entire installation as clean, as simple, and as subtle as possible,” says Shane Seira of custom electronics company Sensory Environment Design (SED). The homeowners also didn’t want gear like the speakers to hang on the walls. SED had to come up with a novel solution, so the company designed and manufactured… View this story
Bathroom • Bedroom • Home of the Year Awards 2009 • Audio • Cool Homes • Slideshows

The design is ultraclean, the technology is carefully hidden—and the combination makes this master suite a masterpiece. Anchored by a contemporary custom cabinet that houses a see-through fireplace between the bedroom and bath, the space packs in video for each room, surround-sound audio, colored LED lighting, touchpanels and keypads, and a TV on a motorized lift. And how many master suites have two zones of audio for the bathroom alone? Let’s start there, where the owner can listen to TV audio or the whole-house music… View this story
Bathroom • Bedroom • Home of the Year Awards 2009 • Cool Homes • Slideshows

It was the ultra-contemporary European-style Kreon light fixtures that set the tone for the technologies in this master suite. “Once we saw how modern they were, we knew we had to be just as sleek with our integration of the electronics,” says Edwin Melendez of Multimedia Innovations in Hallandale, Fla. One of the slickest implementations of high-tech is the 50-inch Runco high-def plasma display that traverses on a motorized track installed within the ceiling. A command from a portable AMX touchpanel activates the Trak-kit track… View this story
Bathroom • Bedroom • Home of the Year Awards 2009 • Multiroom AV • Home Control • Cool Homes • Slideshows

By now it may be a little obvious that you should prewire your home with lots of low-voltage cabling before the Sheetrock goes up. In particular, experts recommend running Cat 5 (or better) cabling to each entertainment area in the house – and lots of it to A/V-intensive locales like the home’s media center. Beyond the usual, where else should you run wiring before it’s too late. Scott Fuelling of Memphis-based Phoenix Unequaled Home Entertainment recommends the following: We prewire for drapery control systems. Depending… View this story
Structured Wiring • Bedroom • Entryway • Exterior

Bonus rooms over garages are notorious for having slanted walls, angled ceilings and other structural abnormalities. With flat surfaces in short supply, it can be difficult to find a good spot for a plasma or LCD TV. Audio Input of Joplin, MO, devised a clever solution to this common problem while designing an entertainment system for a bonus room-turned-guest suite. The best location for a TV in a bedroom is typically the wall directly across from the bed. Unfortunately, in this project that particular wall… View this story
Furniture • TV Mounts • Bedroom • Cool Homes

The jury is still out as to whether it’s a good idea to put a flat-panel TV over the fireplace. Some home theater designers think the spot is too hot for the TV’s well-being; others cite the position as being too high for comfortable viewing; and there are those that find the area too difficult to access when they’re ready to connect wires. However, there are ways to make the over-the-mantle location more amenable to technology, says Ian Bryant, senior programmer at Tri-Phase Technologies in… View this story
Displays • TV Mounts • Bedroom • Info and Answers