AV Adviser

Electronic House announces homes of the year

Cleveland - Yesterday I pointed you to some photos of well designed home theater installations for inspiration.  Well, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Whether you're considering a home theater, a distributed audio system or a home with a control system for your lighting, security and climate, etc. you'll find ideas galore here.  The annual Electronic House Homes Of The Year Awards (2013) have been announced.

Here you'll find in depth looks at a fully automated 42,000 square foot home, an underground 200+ inch home theater screen, and a 24 zone distributed audio system, along with much more.  There's also awards per budget that'll give you an idea of what you can expect for the money you plan on investing. 

We at K+ Integration Systems can create something just like this for you.  Note to self.  I need to enter our company in this competition next year.  We can hold our own with the best. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

 

The challenge of making home tech work harmoniously

Cleveland - Recently I wrote about the difficulties of tying all these new-fangled, gee-whiz home technologies together into a cohesive user experience.  The smart home is in reach of many more, but without some sort of umbrella system that'll take control it's confusing and exhausting. 

To that point, today's The Charlotte Observer has an article explaining the situation nicely, Making home automation work takes skill.  The story doesn't name specific control products but I will. 

We at K+ Integration Systems place our faith in Crestron.  The New Jersey based company has been in the business for decades, long before most even knew this sort of technology was out there.  Crestron is, without doubt, the best at making a smart home functional and, quite frankly, fabulous. 

The Crestron experience is seamless, a thing of beauty.  Attaining this sort of sophistication takes some very complex programming behind the scenes or "at the back end" as we say in the business.  That sort of wizardry comes with a price.  Crestron isn't for the masses but those who can afford it find that they can't live without it. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

High tech, smart homes to the extreme

Cleveland - Gadget Review just came out with a list of 14 homes they deem as very high-tech, 14 OF THE MOST TECH ADVANCED HOUSES (LIST).  Maybe I'm jaded but nothing on this list really surprises me. 

While the properties themselves can be a bit jaw dropping, the smart home aspects they describe are all quite typical in a hi-tech home.  Granted, they may seem extreme in an average home but when you get to the scale and magnitude of houses like these, this sort of advanced control is a natural fit. 

The good news is that as technology advances these sort of creature comforts will become more affordable.  We are on the verge of living like the Jetsons. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

BitWise finds nice middle ground for home theater control

Cleveland - When it comes to defining the difference between a great home theater and an average one, control is key.  The quality of the speakers and the projector are important, but the functionality is what really makes for a satisfying experience and a happy customer.

BitWise Control and their BC1 fits a nice niche in control choices.  On the low end there's all in one type remotes that run about $300 to $400 by the time you have it programmed.  Anything with a lower cost than that is just going to be a little clunky.  You end up wanting to reach for the individual remote and defeating the whole purpose in ridding yourself the clutter of remotes.  On the high end is something like Crestron with its own touch screen panel and sophisticated programming that'll run you about $5,000.  

I know that seems like alot of money but I only spec out something like this when the home theater price tag starts running into the tens of thousands of dollars.    These theaters are outfitted with automated curtains and lighting which will also be controlled by the device. 

The BitWise BC1 runs about $1,500.  Add to that the cost of an iPad you'll need as the interface and programming by a tech.  It's the perfect middle ground.

Here's a story from CE Pro demonstrating how the BC1 controlled a high end home theater, Inexpensive BitWise Box Controls $200,000 Home Cinema at ISE 2013.  The word inexpensive is relative to the price of the theater.  Keep that in mind. 

As you'll see from this short video and the tech jargon, this isn't a DIY product.  You'll need a professional like K+ Integration Systems.  Just let me know.

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

Phil Dunphy's house of the future has a few glitches

You may think you can design your own smart home using today's technology.  It seems simple enough in theory but the truth is, to get it right takes a great deal of backend programming. 

Take a look at Phil Dunphy in last week's episode of Modern Family, Mystery Date.  Phil is quite pleased with his house of the future but a few glitches lead to some awkward moments. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

Controlling a smart home is key

The control of a smart home is the key element to a good system.  Crestron is the leader in creating sophisticated design and user interface that, in the end, is not only attractive but very user friendly. 

At the CEDIA Expo last week a number of different touch panel interfaces were on display.  Here's a couple of videos that show off just what the touch panel and smart home integration can do for you. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

 

 

Remote control simplicity is vital to a home theater

If you're designing a home theater don't skimp on the control of it.  There's nothing worse than a great system that's difficult to control or where there's only one family member in the house that knows how the darn thing works. 

That being said, sometimes you can get away with using the remote control that came with the AV receiver or cable box.  It depends on the number of components in the system for one.  There's also times when a relatively inexpensive remote becomes more complicated than just picking up the specific remote for the device you want to control.  That does mean more clutter on the coffee table.  A price you'll have to pay. 

There's a good rule to go by when thinking about control for your home theater.  The more simple you want it, the more expensive it becomes.  That's because behind simplicity is a sophisticated backend that usually needs programmed by a specialist. 

Lifehacker just published a good article on remote control options, The Remote Control Conundrum: How to Choose the Right Remote for Your Home Theater PC.  They didn't delve into those expensive control systems like Crestron which are much more than a remote control but offer the ultimate in ease of use.  Still, it gives some good pros and cons to your standard options.  

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

 

 

The joy of control

Control is the key element of custom integration.  You can have the best home theater, the best distributed audio system, the best lighting system, but if you can't figure out how to work it properly it's wasted. 

The simpler you want to make control of the system the more expensive it is to attain.  That's because of the "under the hood" programming that needs to be done to make it easy.  Those entry level all-in-one remotes may accomplish 95% of the job but it's alot of steps to memorize.  Push this button first, then switch this side toggle, ok now push that button, wait 3 seconds and then push that one.  Sometimes it's better to just grab the remote designed for the product, but who wants all of those remotes cluttering the table. 

Sometimes it's hard to convince a customer of the need for something more expensive that will make their life easier.  I try to show them the joy of control on a simpler platform, like choosing music from a digital library.

During the summer months I spend much time on my gazebo where I have speakers running from my distributed audio system in the house.  Most of the time I'm listening to digital music as opposed to CDs (though technically that's digital too but you get the point).  It used to be I'd be choosing things from my iTunes library via Apple's remote app for the iPhone and iPad.  That is until Spotify.

Spotify doesn't make a remote app but there are third parties that do.  I don't need to use iTunes because Spotify on my desktop computer integrates everything from the iTunes library into their program. In other words, all my Beatles music shows up on Spotify even though it's unavailable through streaming.  If you have it in your personal collection it'll play it. 

My iPad rests on the table on the gazebo and from the third party Spotify remote app I can choose what I want to hear.  Tired of a certain song I simply tap to fire up another one.  The simplicity of navigating through millions of songs is so much fun and a great example of what control can do for you.

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

Calling Cleveland Crestron customers

Calling Cleveland Crestron customers (how about that for some alliteration).  If your home or business is equipped with a Crestron system, more specifically one that uses analog video here's your chance to trade in that equipment for dollars toward some new digital gear. 

In fact going digital is something everyone should consider.  Component (analog) video connections are going away and, if the powers that be have their way, existing component video will be downgraded to standard definition.  It happened in the Europe and it can happen here. 

For you non-Crestron folk that means possibly updating your TV and/or av receiver so that all your connections are HDMI (like the one pictured in my blog banner).  If you have Crestron equipment here's the lowdown, Get cash for analog trash. 

The easiest thing to do is send me an email .  We can set up a free walk thru so that I can assess your video situation and get you on the right digital track. Besides, digital means a better looking picture, less cables and easier operation.

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

 

 

Sonance's iPort creates a simple smart home

Sonance, one of the largest speaker manufacturer's around, especially when it comes to in-wall and the custom world has come up with a product so cool they even created a separate website for it.  It's called iPort and it can turn your home into a smart home in one day. 

The iPort is a device that is installed into your wall or placed on a counter top.  In this device you mount either an iPodtouch or an iPad.  The beauty of the iPort is that it keeps your Apple products charged. Here's an ad for the Launchport, the product made for the iPad. 

So I live in a small ranch home and since it's usually just myself in the house there's really no need for an iPort system.  On the other hand, if you live in a large home with a family this system could be very useful. 

Set up all the Apple devices with the identical apps.  Apps that will control your AV system, maybe Sonos and Apple TV.  Heck, with Apple's Facetime you can have a video intercomm system.  Now you've got wall mounted keypads just like high end smart home systems.  

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal