John Sciacca

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Other Tech
Taking Control
John Sciacca  |  Jan 08, 2005  |  0 comments

Sadly, many people have a love-hate relationship with their remote controls. On the one hand, the thought of actually getting up to change channels or adjust the volume is unthinkable.

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The Connected Life
Taking My System to the Next Level
John Sciacca  |  Nov 04, 2015  |  5 comments
We A/V writers and reviewers rarely talk about our own systems here at Sound & Vision. This is partly due to the nature of review gear coming and going into our systems, as the gear we live with is almost always changing. Another reason is we frequently aren’t in a position to own and enjoy the top-shelf stuff in our own homes. (Insert comment about the cobbler’s kids here.) But I’ve been talking about next generation, immersive audio formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X quite a bit lately, and I thought I’d share what I’m doing with my own personal system to make sure it stays up to date, relevant and reference.

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The Connected Life
Tech for Life
John Sciacca  |  Aug 20, 2014  |  0 comments
When you think about technology, you probably imagine the sexy-cool stuff like multichannel home theater systems, über-thin flat-panel displays, or high-res audio from your favorite artist streamed to any room of your home. And, yes, these are definitely the fun parts of tech that make this such a great hobby for us all.

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The Connected Life
Tech Hoarding: It’s Time to Get Rid that Old Gear
John Sciacca  |  Jul 27, 2016  |  2 comments
One of my favorite comedies is Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, a film starring the incredibly well-cast Michael Caine as a savvy, sophisticated British confidence man trying to first mentor and then ultimately compete against the boorish, uncultured, bumbling American swindler played by Steve Martin.

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The Connected Life
Tech to Make Guests Feel at Home
John Sciacca  |  Jan 15, 2020  |  1 comments
My company has installed whole-house, distributed audio systems since literally the day we opened our doors back in 1995, and over the years we’ve witnessed generational improvements in technology. Mostly gone are wall-mounted rotary volume controls, now replaced with smartphone app control. And “fixed” six-source/six-zone audio systems of the past have largely been replaced with scalable streaming systems that let you add more zones as needed.
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The Connected Life
Tech to Make Guests Feel at Home, Part 2
John Sciacca  |  Feb 20, 2020  |  0 comments
In my last blog, I discussed the generational improvements my custom installation company has witnessed since we started installing whole-house distributed audio systems back in 1995. Of course, almost everything has gotten better — and cheaper — over time, but one thing often overlooked in modern installations is operational simplicity for the guests who visit your home.
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Other Tech
Tech Trends '09: Licensed to Thrill
John Sciacca  |  Apr 16, 2009  |  0 comments

One minute, I'm standing in the lobby of a Manhattan hotel - a total nobody, utterly ignored by the throngs rushing about. The next minute, people are stopping on the street to take pictures of me, an instant celebrity, as I step into a "storm black" Aston Martin DBS.

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Streaming Device Reviews
Test Report: CasaTunes XLI Multiroom Music Server with Airplay
John Sciacca  |  Nov 20, 2012  |  0 comments

Casa means “home” or “house” in Spanish and Italian. So a casa full of tunes — or housewide audio — is a pretty sweet thing. Of course, housewide audio is nothing new, but accomplishing it in the past has meant a rack full of sources, amplifiers, and control gear, with wiring spider-webbed out to various rooms, control pads, and speakers.

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New Products
Test Report: Control4 HC-250 Controller
John Sciacca  |  Sep 18, 2012  |  0 comments

Control. Having personally installed hundreds of systems in people’s homes, I can definitively say that at the end of the day, that’s what it all boils down to. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about a system for a dedicated theater, a bedroom, or even a simple home theater in a box. Having the ability to easily control that system is what sets the good apart from the bad.

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Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews
Test Report: D-Box Technologies SRP-230 Universal Motion Platform and IV/BD Motion Controller
John Sciacca  |  Feb 13, 2013  |  0 comments

Between increasing your system’s audio channel count to 9.1 or 11.1 and upgrading to a bigger, brighter, or even higher-resolution 4K video display, there’s no shortage of ways to take your home theater to the next level. And while such improvements can certainly add excitement, the basic home theater experience still pretty much remains the same.

The thing that most home theaters can’t do is put you into the action, literally letting you feel what is happening onscreen. The sliding of gravel under the tires. The rock and sway of a boat. The thud-thud-thud of a jet being riddled with gunfire. Providing that experience is the role that D-Box fills.

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