Custom Installation How-To

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Custom Installation How-ToAudio Video News
Building a Home Theater? Avoid these Pitfalls
Bob Ankosko  |  Mar 11, 2021
Are you thinking about building a home theater — or maybe converting an existing mixed-use media room into a space dedicated to movie viewing? If so, there are a whole host of things to consider before you break ground, so to speak. Drawing on its 40-plus years of experience as a home audio and video specialist, North Carolina’s Audio Advice has identified the most common mistakes home theater builders make — from picking a screen that’s too small to ignoring room acoustics — and come up with meaningful advice on how to avoid these pitfalls to ensure a great home theater experience.
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Custom Installation Equipment ReviewsCustom Installation How-To
Video: Touring the Control4 Smart Home RV
Rob Sabin  |  Apr 20, 2017
Control4, the company behind the award-winning home automation platform favored by many electronics integrators, has taken the smart home on the road. A new "Smart Design, Smart Living" Airstream RV trailer outfitted with room vignettes designed to show off C4's technology is in the midst of a 12-week, multi-city tour to teach interior designers, architects, and consumers what home automation really is and what it can do. This miniature smart-home-on-wheels allows demonstration of automated lighting, whole-home audio and video entertainment, and security through the use of wall keypads, mounted touchscreens, conventional handheld remotes, smartphone and tablet apps, and even Amazon Alexa voice control.

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Custom Installation How-To
Atmos Makeover: A Space Odyssey, Part 2
David Vaughn  |  Apr 02, 2015
In Part 1 of my Atmos upgrade diary, I wrote about my unconventional home theater space with its vaulted ceiling and open floor plan, and how I eventually decided to lower the ceiling and install built-in speakers to achieve my Atmos dreams. Here, in Part 2, I’ll describe how I went about rebuilding my system for Atmos and talk about my first listening tests.
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Custom Installation How-ToAudio Video NewsHome Movie Theaters
Atmos Makeover: A Space Odyssey, Part 1
David Vaughn  |  Mar 27, 2015
Here at Sound & Vision we’ve given quite a bit of coverage to Dolby Atmos so far, and rightly so. Editor Rob Sabin has called it “the most discernible advance in home theater sound since the introduction of lossless digital audio formats on Blu-ray. And it’s one that leaves Dolby Pro Logic IIz and DTS Neo: X (height and width-channel surround formats) in the dust.”
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Custom Installation Equipment ReviewsCustom Installation How-To
Vicoustic Takes the Hocus Pocus Out of Room Treatment
Kris Deering  |  Sep 17, 2014
No matter how much you pore over the layout of your home theater and its dimensions, you’re going to need acoustic treatments if you want to experience your system’s full potential. Chair and speaker placements only do so much to counteract natural obstacles such as standing waves, modal peaks/nulls, and reflections. Even the best audio equipment and speakers can’t fully compensate for them; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. Bad room acoustics can make the very best gear sound horrible.
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Custom Installation How-ToOther TechAudio Video News
Vicoustic: A Designer Take on Room Acoustics
Kris Deering  |  Dec 02, 2013
This year’s CEDIA convention had a lot of high profile products that generated a lot of buzz. One of the companies that caught my eye was Vicoustic, whose booth featured an assortment of acoustic panels that looked nothing like the boring rectangles and squares we typically associate with room treatments; instead, they looked like something you’d find in the lobby of an upscale office or hotel.
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Custom Installation How-ToThe Connected Life
The Connected Life: Control Your World
John Sciacca  |  Oct 01, 2013
Coupled with high-speed Internet and the growing app marketplace, smartphones are often the most important tech device in many of our lives, with phone calling often the least used feature. The exciting news for techies is the amount of control available for your home from anywhere in the world, and much of this amazing tech is affordable and DIY-friendly to install!
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Custom Installation How-To
Review: Astell&Kern AK100 Portable Music Player
Daniel Kumin  |  Jul 02, 2013

First, the obvious: The Astell&Kern AK100 is beautiful, both visually and in tactile terms, much the same way as the first iPod you ever saw was. Who cares what it is or what it does? You just want to hold it. And own it.

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Custom Installation How-ToHome Movie Theaters
Escapist Retreat: Contemporary Theater Reflects Homeowner’s Love for Florida Keys
Kim Wilson  |  Apr 05, 2013
Life is slower and more relaxed in the Keys, and the homeowner of this theater wanted a space to reflect the region’s comfortable sensibilities, including the vibrant colors prevalent in the area such as teal, blue, amber, and especially purple, which was a departure from the more classical theater with dark woods and red walls.
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Custom Installation How-To
Review: DirecTV Genie whole-home DVR
Kevin James  |  Apr 03, 2013

In the book of 1,000 and One Nights, Aladdin discovers a magic lamp that when rubbed releases a powerful, wish-granting genie. DirecTV is hoping that its new Genie whole-home DVR will grant your TV-viewing wishes — no bottle rubbing required.

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Custom Installation How-To
Review: DirecTV Genie whole-home DVR Page 3
Kevin James  |  Apr 03, 2013

In the book of 1,000 and One Nights, Aladdin discovers a magic lamp that when rubbed releases a powerful, wish-granting genie. DirecTV is hoping that its new Genie whole-home DVR will grant your TV-viewing wishes - no bottle rubbing required.

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Custom Installation How-ToHome Movie Theaters
Passion and Patience: Delays and Budget Didn't Deter This Homeowner
Kim Wilson  |  Mar 25, 2013
Photos by James Hollingsworth

Back in 2001, James Hollingsworth got the home theater bug when a sales consultant asked a very simple question: "Do you want a TV, or do you want a home theater?"

During what he thought would be a routine new-TV purchase, James was introduced to possibilities he never imagined. He thought the 65-inch TV he was watching looked impressive until the sales guy dropped down a 100-plus-inch projection screen.

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Custom Installation How-ToHome Movie Theaters
Anatomy of a Home Theater Retrofit
HT Staff  |  Mar 07, 2013
Photos Ryk Schoonheim

Challenges are nothing new to systems integrators. However, retrofits generally require more out-of-the-box thinking than new construction. “The creation of a home theater during construction is relatively easy,” says Ryk Schoonheim, owner of the Sarasota, Florida–based Sights, Sound and Such. “Transforming an existing space is another story.” Each retrofit offers a unique set of problems, and so it was with this Port Charlotte, Florida, home theater installation.

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Custom Installation How-To
DIY Theater Check
John Sciacca  |  Dec 25, 2012

For those of us without six figures of disposable funds, there are still some ways to improve a home theater/media room that don’t involve organ donation or a potential divorce. Here are some simple, won’t-break-the-bank enhancements that you can do on your own.

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Custom Installation How-ToHome Movie Theaters
West of Eden: Director Barry Sonnenfeld’s Dream Theater
Jamie Sorcher  |  Nov 30, 2012
Home Theater visits Men in Black producer/director Barry Sonnenfeld at home in Telluride, Colorado to check out his 600-square-foot screening room and it's crown jewel—the Sony VPL-VW1000ES, the world’s first consumer 4K projector, offering more than four times the resolution of HDTV and 3D capability.
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