John Sciacca

Sort By: Post Date | Title | Publish Date

Custom Installation How-To Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews

Test Report: Dish Network Hopper and Joey Multiroom DVR Package

John Sciacca | Aug 23, 2012 | 0 comments

While there are multiple ways to get TV programming — broadcast, cable, satellite, telco (Verizon FiOS/AT&T U-verse), or over the Internet — I’ve received mine via cable for as long as I’ve been a member of the TV-consuming public.

Headphone Amp/DAC Reviews

Test Report: NuVo Technologies Wireless Audio System

John Sciacca | Jul 03, 2013 | 0 comments

As a custom installer, I hear a lot of requests, andone of the things people ask for most is wireless audio. Sending music around the home without the hassle, cost, or mess associated with long runs of wire is the modern American audio dream.

Custom Installation How-To Streaming Device Reviews

Test Report: Pioneer Elite N-50 Audiophile Network Audio Player

John Sciacca | Jun 05, 2012 | 0 comments

Elite is Pioneer’s premier home audio line, much like Lexus is to Toyota. That means you can expect better build quality, a longer warranty, step-up features, and premium performance. New to Elite this year are two network audio players, the N-30 and N-50, that stream audio (including high-rez files up to 192-kHz/24-bit) from a computer, play Internet radio, and use Apple’s AirPlay for easy wireless networking with iOS devices. When it comes to basic features, the two are essentially the same. But there are several key performance differences between the players that make it easy to argue the case for the N-50’s $200 price premium.

Continue

phile-network-audio-player">Continue Reading >

Custom Installation How-To

Test Report: S1Digital ES400 and P250 Entertainment Server John Sciacca | Sep 17, 2010 | 0 comments

Lots can happen in the A/V world over a 3-year span, but that same length of time is an eternity in the computer world, where changes take place almost daily. Any new A/V gear that you buy is likely to remain up to date for at least a few years, but it’s not unusual for a state-of-the-art computer to become a paperweight in almost no time.

-entertainment-server">Continue Reading >

The Connected Life

The Best Dolby Atmos Blu-ray Demo Scenes (Pt 2) John Sciacca | Jan 20, 2016 | 2 comments

I’ve been fortunate enough to watch nearly every Dolby Atmos-encoded Blu-ray disc that has been released so far and while some of the movies are terrific (Gravity) others are more just things you suffer through (Jupiter Ascending). To save you some time trying to find the best scenes to demo, I’m gonna pinpoint each film’s marquee Atmos audio moment!

-part-2">Continue Reading >

The Connected Life

The Best Dolby Atmos Blu-ray Demos John Sciacca | Jul 14, 2015 | 3 comments

I’ve been fortunate enough to watch nearly every Dolby Atmos encoded Blu-ray disc that has been released so far. While some of the movies are terrific (Gravity) others are more just things you suffer through (Jupiter Ascending). To save you some time trying to find the best scenes to demo, I’m gonna pinpoint each film’s marquee Atmos audio moment! (Some spoilers ahead…) Reading >

The Connected Life

The Big Screen Debate: Direct-View TV Vs. Projection John Sciacca | Mar 09, 2018 | 5 comments

There are lots of cool aspects to my job as a custom installer, but my favorite is installing home theater systems. And when designing a surround system with a customer, one of the first discussions is whether they should go with a direct-view, flat-panel display or with a two-piece projection system. Sometimes this choice is obvious; either due to room size, budget, aesthetic demands, or some construction issue that dictates one over another. Other times it becomes a gray area. projection">Continue Reading >

Other Tech

The Connected House: Serve It Up! John Sciacca | Jun 16, 2005 | 0 comments

Custom Installation How-To The Connected Life

The Connected Life: Control Your World

John Sciacca | Oct 01, 2013 | 2 comments

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!

CES 2014

The Coolest Door Lock You’ve Seen

John Sciacca | Jan 07, 2014 | 1 comments

Door locks are not meant to be cool. Door locks are not meant to be sexy. Door lock are supposed to be utilitarian devices that keep the bad people out of your house when you’re not home, and require limited access by using a good, old-fashioned key, the way our forefathers intended.

These are all things that Goji has clearly never heard, because the company’s new Smart Lock is by far the sexiest industrial design I’ve seen on a door lock. In fact, I think that Goji might do for the smart lock what Nest did for the smart thermostat.

Search form

John Sciacca

Pages