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Life Mimics Art in Genesis’ Award-Winning Home Theater Design
Every now and then, custom installers are lucky enough to work with what you might call a "dream client." Technologically savvy, organized and boasting...
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Proper Technical Vision Helps SIM2 Thrive in Home DLP Market
In the prehistoric days of home theater, mammoth three-gun CRT projectors stood solidly at the center of the residential A/V universe. Everything revolved around...
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Closing Deals With Collateral Sales Materials for Your Clients
Publish or perish" is the code for survival of every scientist or professor seeking recognition, promotion or financial grants, and it concerns the concept,...
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Effective Home Network Troubleshooting
Today the audio video business is all about networking. A short time ago the term networking at CEDIA meant catching up with other dealer...
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Managing Your Businesses Cashflow
Question: My accountant told me I made money this year. I asked him, "If I made money, where the heck is it?
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Exploring the Many Levels of Lighting Control
The show can't begin until the lights dim," says one lighting control manufacturer's home theater-related advertising and promotional literature. How true. After all, no...
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Marketing Muscle
The word "marketing" and how it applies to an organization means many different things to many different people. Often, managers at small to mid-sized...
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Manifest Destiny
In the traditional sense, home entertainment networks have allowed consumers to route audio or video throughout the house to different receivers (primarily TVs and...
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Why It Shouldn’t Be So Darn Loud
More than likely you have been to one of those loudspeaker demonstrations where the system is being played so loud that it's actually painful....
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Are Consumers Finding Room for the Home Network Installer?
The fully connected home, one in which data and information flow freely to empower devices with a new type of electricity, is the stuff...
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Large-Scale Retailers Get Hands-On With Custom Installation Services
With the custom installation market promising continued growth, an increasing number of retail chains are stepping up their efforts when it comes to delivering...
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Idaho Dealer Learns Valuable Lessons from First ‘Giant Job’
Despite the efforts of trade associations, manufacturers and dealers themselves, on-the-job training is still one of the most relied-upon methods for learning the custom...
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How Stewart Filmscreen’s Gray-Screen Technology ‘Gained’ the Industry’s Attention
With Don Stewart, everything is black and white.
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Learning How to Recognize Income on an Accounting Statement
Editor's Note: In our continuing effort to impart the most beneficial management knowledge to custom installation professionals, Residential Systems is launching a regular series...
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New Evidence of Networking Evolution
As the popularity of home networking in the U.S. increases, the demographics of those using the technology are evolving, according to a recent survey...
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The New Audio Debate has Turned to Streaming vs. Synching
Technology born in the computer industry has been sneaking its way into mainstream home entertainment gear for decades. PC-grade processors, hard drives and networking...
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How Manufacturers are Addressing their Dealers’ Constant Quest for Technical Knowledge
The quest for knowledge has been around since the beginning of time. One caveman no doubt began training another on how to start a...
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Learning to Ask Customer the Right Questions
You clean the place up to magazine-cover standards. You asked all of your employees to wear clean company shirts and made sure that everything...
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How to Correctly Perform Acoustic Verifications and Calibrations
You finished installing the latest multichannel audio system, you have configured it all and have even checked that all the signals are going where...
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Cabling According to BICSI
In an effort to address the continually growing residential market, the Building Industry Consulting Service International, Inc.--more popularly referred to as BICSI--has come out...
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Learning to Refocus and Grow Your Real Business
Things have picked up for a lot of custom installation companies in the past few months. If companies were already busy, they are now...
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Company Cultures Reflect Personality and Strategy
When Todd Rosencrans was busy immersing himself in the music culture of the early 1980s, it never occurred to him that he was building...
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Finding Out What’s New in the Hard Drive Video Storage Category
Due to the larger bandwidth required to store a video signal, there has always been somewhat of an inequity when video and audio storage...
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Exploring the New Multichannel Matrix
Once upon a time, life was simple and all signals were analog. Pre-recorded music sources had, at most, two channels. Remember the analog LP...
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Pulte Homes Picks Leviton
Little Neck, NY--Pulte Homes, the nation's largest homebuilder, has committed to making structured wiring a standard feature in its new homes and has signed...
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Getting Back to Business at CES
After the unsettling events of last September and the obvious effect they have had on many segments of our economy, it is not unfair...
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Finding Management Tools for Custom Installation Firms
It's hard to imagine how businesses in the olden days survived without the convenience of integrated computer systems to track inventory, customer orders, accounting...
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What You Should and Shouldn’t Buy Through Distribution
What happened to specialty distribution? Ten years ago distribution companies were a rarity. Today, virtually every rep company has a distribution arm.
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Quieter Comdex and Western Cable Shows Still Showed Cool Gear
In taking our annual look at Comdex and the Western Cable Show, it is important to look beyond the difficult challenges facing the technology...
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The Internet’s Next Product Wave
The networking revolution is about to enter a new phase within the Internet Age. If you thought this business wave had washed on past...
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New Book Outlines Common-Sense Measures for Custom Installation Business Success
Book Review-Management in a Bottle: How to Start and Effectively Manage your Custom Audio/Video Installation Company by J. Paul Fida Published in 2001 by...
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The Business of Acoustics
It's easy to wow clients with today's home theater equipment. The fact that most customers are able to see, hear and touch gear prior...
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Custom Installers Capitalize on Unforeseen Home Networking Opportunities
Confusion and frustration brought on by the introduction of new gadgets, technologies and lifestyles can be downright overwhelming A/V installation customers and has led...
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Len Wallis Audio Named CEDIA’s Dealer of the Year
Australia's Len Wallis Audio Takes Home CEDIA's Top Dealer Honor CEDIA's increased international presence was never more apparent than on the night of September...
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Vantage Wins CEDIA Prize for Wireless Technology Innovation
The continuing challenge of installing new technology into old homes may be old hat for most custom installers, but it isn't stopping residential systems...
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Electronic Design Group Wins CEDIA Level 5 Award for CAT System Design
Chili Davis was part of three World Series winning teams over his 19-year Major League Baseball career with the Giants, Angels, Twins, Royals and...
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TAG to Distribute Audioplex
The Advantage Group (TAG) has been selected by Audioplex Technology to nationally distribute their line of products. By virtue of this association, the alliance...
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Touchbridge Promises Unlimited Home Networking Capabilities
Preparing for a CEDIA product launch is an exciting project for every residential systems industry professional, especially if the company they are representing is...
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Bjorn’s Audio-Video Showcases 10.2 in San Antonio
They are playing more than the Yellow Rose of Texas in San Antonio these days. What some call the future of home audio is...
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How to Shift Away from a Profit Margin Business Model
You know that the cost of labor is killing you, and it makes you mad. So mad, that you start to resent your workers...
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Conducting an Initial Listening Test and Configuring the Home Theater System
After planning and designing your client's home theater and assembling your tools, it's time to delve into the first steps of the calibration process:...
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Internet Home Alliance Launches Pilot Program
Nearly a year after its inception, the Internet Home Alliance has made the leap from market research to market penetration with its recently launched...