At CEDIA Expo 20205, URC announced the winners of its 11th annual Unsurpassed Awards.
Launched in 2015, URC’s Unsurpassed Awards celebrate excellence and creativity in residential and commercial automation installations. Entries are accepted from domestic URC dealers and international distributors. Categories for consideration include Best Residential, Best Commercial, Most Unique, and Best International.
Entries for the 2025 competition showcase unique smart residential and commercial installations featuring creative system design, innovative product use cases, distinctive environments, and advanced implementations. Entries include inspiring environments and large installations with URC’s Total Control controlling hundreds of smart home and commercial devices.
This year’s entries include prior winners, like AAA Electronic Services, Allstar Systems, Audio Wizard, JL Entertainment Designs, and Nard’s Entertainment, as well as dealers new to the competition like Lowell Edwards, ProTech AV, and Viz AV.
For only the third time, a Chairman’s Award of Excellence has been awarded for consistent, extensive superior performance in residential and commercial installations.
Winners of the 2025 URC Unsurpassed Awards include the following URC dealers:
Nard’s Entertainment Designs Wins The Chairman’s Award
Over the years, John Carroll and the team at Nard’s Entertainment (McLean, Virginia) have delivered some incredible commercial installations. In this year’s competition, Carroll partnered with another urban oasis installation. Upton Place on Wisconsin, a modern residential community in the scenic suburbs of Washington, D.C., brings two distinctive living experiences to one premier location between Tenleytown and McLean Gardens. Residents can choose the serene, nature-inspired setting of The Parc or the lively, design-forward vibe of 4000 Wisconsin, all while enjoying unmatched proximity to the city’s landmarks, dining, and cultural venues. This expansive URC integration project delivers high-performance audio and control across both multi-dwelling units and public spaces, featuring components such as the HDA-1600-70V 14 amplifiers, MRX-30 network system controller, TDC-9100 tabletop touchscreen, and TKP-8600 in-wall touchscreens. With extensive HDA Audio deployment, the project blends state-of-the-art technology with refined living, creating an environment that is as connected as it is comfortable.
Affordable Sound and Security Wins Gold for The Best Residential Installation – USA
Affordable Sound & Security (Hebron, Indiana) completed a full-scale residential integration delivering a powerful Total Control system across the new home. The project includes 14 televisions, 12 with HDA Audio feeds, multiple outdoor audio zones powered by three HDA-8100 amplifiers, and whole-house Lutron lighting and shading. Entertainment spaces feature a 7.1 surround system for the indoor pool and a 9.1 setup in the basement movie area, with plans for future motorized TV mounts. Outdoor living is enhanced by a pavilion with a 75-inch all-weather TV. URC technology drives the experience, including an MRX-30 master controller, MRX-10 slave, twelve TRC-1480 remotes, three TKP-9600 in-wall touchscreens, and two TKP-7600 touchscreens. Longtime clients of Affordable Sound & Security, the Bos family is pleased with the system and anticipates adding more features as they settle in.
Allstar Systems Wins Best Commercial Installation – USA
Allstar Systems (Glens Falls, NY) continues to realize extensive growth and create impressive commercial installations. Juniors East Greenbush, the fourth location in the Juniors portfolio, is the second to feature Allstar’s Ultimate Control System, delivering complete video and audio management from a single intuitive interface. The system routes DirecTV, Spectrum, in-house advertising, streaming platforms, and local HDMI inputs to any of the 28 Samsung commercial displays via URC TKP-8600 touch panels. Audio is distributed across nine zones using more than 30 Speco speakers, with sources including synced TV audio, live mic input for events, and curated background music from Soundtrack. Powered by a URC MRX-30 processor, HDA-6100 and HDA-8100 amplifiers, and Just Add Power 4K distribution over a Netgear M4350 network backbone, the solution gives staff instant, floor-wide control without leaving their stations. Designed for performance, ease of use, and minimal training, the system streamlines operations, ensures consistent experiences, and keeps Juniors a top destination in the Albany market.
Vis AV Wins Most Unique Installation – USA
For Sir Michael Craig-Martin’s Royal Academy of Arts exhibition, which ran September–December 2024, Vis AV (Kent, U.K.) created a custom URC Total Control Flex system designed to give both simple and advanced control over the multi-media art installation. The system synchronized Blackmagic Hyperdecks, a TASCAM DA64, Epson projectors, and PMC amplifiers to deliver frame-perfect visuals in sync with a 12-channel, 20-minute, 45-second soundtrack, repeated flawlessly throughout the day. Security and gallery staff could power the system on or off, start, or stop playback with a single touch on URC’s TKP panels, while the technical team accessed deeper controls during design and setup. Powered by an MRX processor and two TKP panels, the installation allowed one-button triggering of visuals and music, enabling the score to be composed in real time alongside the artwork.
Hidden Home Technology Wins Best International Installation
Via AWE, URC’s European Distributor, comes another truly immersive experience from Hidden Home Technology (Bath, U.K.). Hidden Home Technology transformed a modestly sized garage into a high-performance, acoustically optimized home cinema and entertainment space without compromising on luxury or technology. Strategic design choices, including lowering the ceiling, bringing the front wall forward, and integrating hidden acoustic treatment down to 35 Hz, improved both sound quality and room proportions. The £250,000 project features over £150,000 in audio equipment, including Wisdom Audio Sage Line 2 front speakers, P4i side and surround speakers, and a StormAudio Core 16 processor. Integrated lighting from Lighting of London, Inspyre Lighting, and LED Technology creates tunable moods, while a JVC projector, Innuos Zen Mini Mk3 music server, and full URC control via MRX-12 and TRC-1080 bring seamless operation to the space. Every detail, from the soundproof wall and bike storage to air conditioning, ventilation, and interior design, was handled in-house.
The complete list of award-winning installations includes:
- Chairman’s Award of Excellence – Nard’s Entertainment (VA)
- Best Residential Installation — USA
- Gold: Affordable Sound & Security (IN)
- Silver: Audio Wizards (UT)
- Bronze: Beverly Hills Smart (CA)
- Best Commercial Installation — USA
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- Gold: Allstar Systems (NY)
- Silver: JL Entertainment Designs (PA)
- Bronze: Lowell Edwards (NY)
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- Most Unique Installation — USA
- Gold: Vis AV (UK)
- Silver: LCA (Lights, Camera, Action) System (CT)
- Bronze: ProTech Audio & Visual (MD)
- Best International Installation
- Gold: Hidden Home (UK)
- Silver: BenchMark AV (CA)
Winners receive awards and publicity ranging from physical, crystal awards to digital/social campaigns and badges to feature in press releases and publications.
For more information, visit www.urc-automation.com.
