Custom Installation How-To

Every year around this time, the editors and writers of Sound+Vision put their heads together to come up with a list of the best gift ideas for the holiday season.

As we've demonstrated so many times, Home Theater isn’t just about the A/V products; it's about the entire design. This month's theater is an example of a project starting from the interior design and worked its way out from there. The homeowner hired renowned Robyn Clark from Toronto, Canada, to handle the classic-contemporary décor throughout the house, which was then translated into the design of the home theater and a special music lounge.

If you’re serious about your home theater, you’ve probably spent a lot of time agonizing over what gear to buy. But what about the room itself? Even with extremely high-end gear, you can’t achieve optimum audio performance without paying attention to the acoustics. Without room treatment, expensive speakers can sound awful, but even moderately priced speakers in a properly treated room can sound terrific. Some experts even say the speaker system and electronics contribute only 50 percent to your system’s overall sonics—with the room responsible for the other 50 percent. If you’re not factoring in acoustics, your system might sound only half as good as it could—and should.

Cambridge Audio is a British electronics maker with a long-running dedication to serious audio (minus the silly-expensive audiophile pricing) and a long-running commitment to quality digital playback. So, when the company first previewed a network music player in late 2010, it got my attention.

Some people immediately get that the iPad can become the controller for an automation system, allowing them to control not only their audio/video gear but also their lights, HVAC, security, and irrigation systems.