Recently Filed in Multiroom AV

We’ve seen homes secretly redecorated on programs like HGTV’s While You Were Out, but this was the first time we’ve run across a covert electronics overhaul. Ryan Herd, owner of 1 Sound Choice, Pompton Plains, N.J., came up with the grand scheme a few months ago. “We had all the equipment ready to go; we were just waiting for the right time to strike.” That time came when Herd’s parents left for a week-long vacation. Unbeknownst to his parents, he completely tricked out their abode… View this story
Multiroom Audio • Multiroom AV • Home Control • Cool Homes

What do you do if you’re a classically trained musician who’s made a very nice living in software development? You build a very high-tech home with a very cool music system, using high-performance loudspeakers that convey the ethereal essence of classical scores. You might even add a digital player piano that can perform piano pieces over a whole-house audio system, but can also be played to accompaniment—very loud accompaniment—from the home’s audio system. And if you’re this Vancouver, B.C., homeowner, you also have all the… View this story
Multiroom Audio • Home Control Systems • Lighting Control Systems • Home Theater • Multiroom AV • Cool Homes

It’s pretty safe to say we’re all glad that 2009 is almost over and we can look ahead with some optimism. Despite the economic woes, 2009 wasn’t a total failure. There were many great products released that ran the gamut from Blu-ray players to projectors, receivers, subwoofers and more. These products revealed several trends that are expected to grow in 2010, including adoption of Blu-ray, 2.40:1 home systems, migration to two-channel audio and more. We’ve rounded up the Best Products of 2009 and broken them… View this story
AV Components • Cables, Wires and Tools • Displays • Furniture • Gaming • Lighting Control • Power Management • Home Theater • Audio • Multiroom AV • Home Control • Product News • Slideshows

Chase Blackburn has been multitasking on and off the football field. The 26-year-old is making a name for himself in the NFL as an up-and-coming linebacker for the New York Giants (he’s been solid on “D” since making the Giants’ roster as a rookie free agent from Akron in June 2005). He’s led the team in special teams tackles in each of the past four seasons, and has become targeted as someone to be “double teamed”—as a linebacker he was also recently pegged by the… View this story
Multiroom Audio • Basement • Home Theater • Multiroom AV • 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

Q. I have just bought a new house, and before the house was plastered I got extra wiring done by the electrician. I have wiring in all rooms for speakers (ceiling in all rooms apart from sitting room where speakers will be free-standing). All wires go back to one area under the stairs except for surround sound for sitting room. I haven’t done anything else in regards to amps, systems etc. Can you advise me as to what to do from here or what systems… View this story
Home Theater • Multiroom AV • Ask a Pro

Multiroom audio system manufacturer Sonos already had a pretty solid controller, but the company must have really loved the response to the Apple iPhone/iPod touch app it came out with last year. The app could turn your beloved portable device into a controller for the Sonos music system, with all of the touchpad ease and swiping and scrolling that’s made the iPhone/iPod touch products so popular. So why not take everything that was going on in that very successful app and pack it into a… View this story
Multiroom Audio • Multiroom AV • Product News

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

One full-scale automation system to cover a 10,000-square-foot home is impressive enough. But doubling that capacity and making sure everything still runs smoothly is another thing altogether. That was the challenge faced by electronics installer Home Systems when these New Jersey homeowners added a resort-size addition to a residence that had an existing Crestron automation system. “We designed a totally new Crestron system that would incorporate the new parts of the house and marry it to the old parts. And at the same time [we]… View this story
Home of the Year Awards 2009 • Multiroom AV • Home Control • Cool Homes • Slideshows

When you live in a high-rise, space can be tight. To give themselves more elbow room, the owners of this 17th-story residence bought three apartments and had the walls removed to create a 10,000-square-foot living space. During the renovation, the homeowners decided it would be worthwhile to put in some electronic systems—not just a basic security system and entertainment setup—but a sophisticated design that would automate everything from the window blinds and lights to the door locks and even the toe heaters in the bathroom.… View this story
Home of the Year Awards 2009 • Multiroom AV • Home Control • Cool Homes • Slideshows

Q. I’m looking for a multi-room system that has 16 sources to 42 zones and a media server for my movie collection. Is there a system out there that can handle it? - Sami Jann/Edmonton Alberta A. That is quite a system you are looking for and one I would love to design. The largest distributed audio system available today is made by Russound. Their Sphere E-Series allows 12 sources and 38 zones, short of what you are looking for, but still a very robust… View this story
Digital Media Servers • Multiroom Audio • Multiroom Video • Multiroom AV • Ask a Pro

Our Home of the Year sits among the Hollywood Hills, where the stars shine as brightly inside the homes as they do in the night sky. We’re familiar with some of the A-list technologies here—CinemaScope theater, 7.1-channel surround-sound, intricate TV concealment, extensive automation—but we don’t often see them shine together in such a spectacular location, with equally stunning results. This home can’t settle for anything less than red-carpet treatment. The residence was designed and built by Temple Home, whose co-owner, Xorin Balbes, has earned recognition… View this story
Home of the Year Awards 2009 • Home Theater • Multiroom AV • Home Control • Cool Homes • Slideshows