Home Theater

How to keep your custom firm a step ahead of the mass market retail competition.

It Could Cost YouIm not paying you my balance until you fix this darned thing! Those words were spoken to an installer who had...

A Closer Look at Speaker Impedance and Sensitivity, and How They Relate to Amplifier Requirements

Why Acoustically Treating Home Theaters Should Be on Your Priority List

The recent decision by DirecTV to use XM Radio channels as their music station selections brings to mind an interesting observation about our industry....

You’ve probably noticed at recent CES and CEDIA trade shows that a number of horn-loaded speakers are popping up. It may come as a...

Ambiance Systems shows how homes can be lavish and environmentally friendly at the same time.

These days the world is full of trends. Take mobile communication devices, for example. Remember when we used to simply call them cell phones?...

Two Interactive Showhomes Emphasize Technologys Personal Touch

There are at least a few things that custom installers might really like to pull out of their stockings on December 25. So, for...

Custom Installers Can Expect Video Business Opportunities Whenever The Full Digital TV Transition Actually Takes Place

Proper design and engineering of a home theater is essential, but just as crucial is the documentation of the design. Its important to know...

There will soon be an abundance of 1080p-capable video products.

This year a group of my old friends decided to set up a demonstration at CEDIA EXPO to show the importance of engineering, acoustics,...

In less than two decades, the annual CEDIA EXPO has grown from a show so small it fit into a party tent to one...

If youre serious about being on the cutting edge of product offerings and technology mix, consider incorporating powered speakers into your arsenal.

Would you buy a sports car where the manufacturer tuned it to sound great in the showroom, at the cost of reduced real-world performance?...

Montreal-based D-BOX believes that its productsa family of motion simulation devices built right inside plush reclinersfulfill the promise of a full-immersion audio/visual experience.

Video displays dominate Our annual review of the product line shows.

Subwoofers come in all shapes and forms. Some are large, some are small, most are black, and most today are self-powered. In the early...

The stakes are so much greater on high-tech, high-end, dedicated custom home theater projects that it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out...

Baumeister Electronic Architects brings 90-year-old former summer cottage into 21st century.

They call this 16×9 thing that we get on DVDs, plasma screens, and many projectors today “widescreen.” But you ain’t seen nothing yet! Imagine...

Catching up with products and technical advancements that will affect your business.

RGPC's grassroots approach to selling its parallel power delivery concept has helped it gain respect in the home install market.

Any home theater system needs to be calibrated, but do you really know all the steps involved?

The world has many reference points: “Hotter than hell”, “colder than a summer day in San Francisco” and “faster than a speeding bullet.” Our...

Hospitality legend MGM Grand has joined forces with manufacturer Bang & Olufsen to provide custom electronics for the Skylofts at MGM Grand, a new...

Some technologies have flown under your radar since CES. But when the do surface they will have an impact on your business.

Its been coming for the past 10 years. It all started in the mid 1990s with a few convergence products that combined multimedia capabilities...

A reasonable home theater experience really needs a dedicated room.

Even with all of the attention given to sending audio, video and data through the air, it will be a very long time, if...

Custom A/V Project Recalls Golden Era of Cinema

These days, subwoofers are studded with controls, inputs, selectors. I think its all about keeping up with the Joneses, and thats a really bad...

Dont Get Disconnected When You Eliminate the Connections

How Does the CI Business Deal with DVD as a Must-Have and a Commodity Product at the Same Time?

In last months column, we covered a lot of really technical stuff about speaker directivity and examples of directivity in some typical speaker designs....

The problem design is that it is quite intangible. Which is why it is a challenge for custom installation firms to charge money for...

Now is the time to consider what your vendors will try to convince your customers to place under the Christmas tree this year.

The impact of recent Federal regulations is already beginning to take hold.

I just had an extensive debate with a customer over front speaker placement for a home theater. He couldn’t believe that speakers mounted in...

Standard, everyday luxury brands are so yesterday. Today, consumers define luxury as a version of something that is customized for their unique needs. That’s...