Custom Integration Archives

“We want the other trades to see HTA Design Partner integrators as designer/consultants and not as just another contractor”

The HTA has introduced two programs meant to dramatically change the working relationship between integrators and architects, builders, and designers

by Josh Christian
March 29, 2023

The Home Technology Association (HTA) has recently taken a big step in bridging the gap between custom integrators and architects, designers, and builders by introducing two different designations—the HTA Design Partner and the complementary HTA Technology Partner. The Design Partner is the next evolution in how the association is helping integrators get invited to projects earlier.

We interviewed architects, designers, and builders to find out what keeps them from bringing integrators onto their projects at the earliest stage—what in architectural speak is called the schematic design phase. One of the biggest reasons is that they didn’t know there are integrators that can be hired as a technology consultant. Trade partners need consultants and designers for certain aspects of the home, so they’re happy to learn that there are design-centric integrators who create drawings that can be made part of the spec for the project. And they appreciate the fact that design-centric integrators will seek out their opinion on the visible technology items. Knowing that qualified integrators offer this encourages the trade partners to see the integrator as a consultant/designer instead of as just another contractor, which is a big distinction in their eyes. It took me years to grasp this, and only fully set in when I was a pure technology consultant and designer with Axiom Design for 18 months.

Almost every HTA Certified integrator does design and engineering, though their trade partners are often not aware of this because most integrators don’t bring it to the forefront in their marketing. So we encourage them to get the word out. Architects and designers love this because it’s easier to get a client to say yes to a small initial design fee than to an $800,000 proposal. And it gives the integrator a chance to use the discovery phase to get to know the client, understand how they live, and educate them about their options and show they aren’t just there to push products.

We’re encouraging integrators to get paid for their design work, which too many of them give away for free. Architects and designers know that other professionals they may bring to their projects, such as lighting designers, MEP, civil engineers, and electrical engineers, charge for their design work. So should integrators! If they give their design work away for free, how will these professionals value what they’re providing? They’re cheapening their value in the mistaken belief that they must do free design work. Anyone leery of doing this can offer to credit back all or a part of their design and consultation fees if the client hires them for the rest of the job. The great news is that the close ratio on these projects is typically 90% or greater, as the integrator will have created a relationship with the client at this point. And if they’re good at what they do, the client will see that the integrator has their best interests in mind.

One of the big goals of the HTA Design Partner designation is to change the perception that all integrators are just there to push an agenda. Architects, builders, and designers tend to think of integrators as being pushy, trying to sell the client on things they don’t necessarily need. So we asked them what they would need to see from an integrator before they could recommend them, and then we came up with what we call our Rules of Engagement or Code of Conduct—11 things members of the Design Partner program need to follow when interacting with clients and the trades. Some of it is common sense—things like telling them how to work with the trades collaboratively and showing the kinds of drawings they should provide. And we tell them that instead of assuming what the finish is going to be or what keypad style someone might like, they should make sure to show these things to the architect or designer or whoever is referring them to the project and get their input.

Nearly 60% of our members have opted into the Design Partner program since we rolled it out mid January. But the program also has a flip side—the HTA Technology Partner designation—because there are things architects, designers, and builders do that can make it difficult for integrators to do their job. The Technology Partner designation teaches them how to work with integrators in the most productive way possible. We show them that bringing an integrator into a project early can help avoid things like change orders, project delays, wall acne, and other potentially costly problems and aesthetic compromises. And we explain how an integrator can benefit each of the trades, because of course each has different needs and they might not understand what an integrator can do to help them.

We want the other trades to see HTA Design Partner integrators as designer/consultants and not as just another contractor. We tell the trades that if we bring them integrators who can perform at this higher level, those integrators need to be treated on par with their own trade. For instance, an integrator needs to be able to present their proposal directly to the client, not through the other trades, and payments need to be above-board, not under the table. In other words, the partners need to address the things integrators have told us the other trades do that can make their job more difficult. We’ve told the trade partners that if they’re willing to work this way with integrators, we will provide them with integrators who are qualified to collaborate effectively with them.

The HTA Technology Partner is a free program any architect, designer, or builder can choose to opt into once they’ve reviewed and agreed to the five points. Participating in it shows their clients and the other trades that these partners are in a position to help address all of the client’s technology needs instead of just burying their heads as if technology doesn’t exist. Architects, designers, and builders get shopped just like integrators do, and seeing that someone is a HTA Technology Partner can be the thing that gets a client to go with them instead of someone else.

We’re really proud of having created this framework for building a properly respectful collaborative relationship between all the trades, which will help our members get hired in the earliest phases of a project. And we’re looking to establish ourselves as the leader in helping up-and-coming integrators learn how to portray themselves to architects, designers, and builders, which will go a long way toward changing the perception of the industry in general and help integrators be seen as professionals on par with the other major trades.

A technology enthusiast since he was a child, Josh Christian entered the home technology industry in 1995, soon joining a firm that he helped grow into one of the largest custom integration companies in the industry. In 2017, co-founded the Home Technology Association and became its CEO, bringing his years of experience as an integrator, marketer, and consultant to fulfilling the Association’s goals of identifying the top home technology installation firms and bringing them the recognition they deserve.

Integrators, Trust, and the Trades, Pt. 1

“One of the big goals of the HTA Design Partner designation is to change the perception that all integrators are just there to push an agenda”

Integrators, Trust, and the Trades

Integrators, Trust, and the Trades, Pt. 1

The Guys Who Gets Design

Why HTA is the Real Deal

Budgeting for Custom Installation

How to Find the Perfect Integrator

“Once a client learns there’s a standard for whatever it is they’re purchasing, they tend to seek out that standard if they care about quality”

On how HTA Certification encourages architects, designers, and builders to make qualified integrators part of the design team from a project’s inception

by Josh Christian
March 27, 2023

One of the biggest goals for the Home Technology Association (HTA) since its founding in 2017 has been to bridge the gap between integrators and architects, interior designers, and builders. The first way we did this was to build the HTA certification standard so integrators who meet it have a legitimate way to differentiate and elevate themselves from ones who shouldn’t even be allowed to bid on bigger projects because they don’t have the experience or are just all about the quick buck.

HTA certification has already served as a great way for an integrator to quickly establish a trust relationship with trade partners like designers, architects, and builders. When I began my career as an integrator in the late 1990s, the trade partners tended to bring integrators into a project at the very last minute, so it took me a long time to create enough trust for them to refer me on a project. I would sometimes have to be at it for two, three, even four years. Now, with HTA certification, an integrator can point to the certification standard on our website and it builds credibility.

I didn’t realize back then that the trade partners’ mistrust was often well-founded. In my naivety, I thought a decent number of integrators were good—maybe 50 percent good and 50 percent not so good. And I was shocked later in my career to discover that it’s more like 10 percent are top-performers and 90 percent so-so or worse. It took a while for architects, designers, and builders to hire my firm because they were lumping me in with all the bad integrators by default. Their assumption of integrators often was “guilty until proven innocent.” I worked hard to earn their trust. So when my company would win awards or was published in a magazine, I’d show off our work and build trust that way.

The HTA certification standard helps the best integrators build that trust and credibility much quicker. Since only about 10 percent of integration firms will meet the HTA standard, our members can leverage the fact that they’ve been certified to tell their trade partners, “Hey, you don’t have to trust me that we’re a good firm—we’re HTA Certified.” The integrator will then share the HTA Certification standard with them, and this has proven to build trust and credibility. We help our dealers with a powerful elevator pitch that works. Some of them have even been able to convince their architect, builder, and designer partners to require HTA Certified integrators on their projects.

All integrators have experienced this situation: The client seems to be OK with their price, and everything is going really well. But at the 11th hour, the client goes out and gets another proposal that’s significantly cheaper because they went to someone who’s not qualified for the project. Of course the low-ball proposal is a different scope, it’s inferior product—all the usual suspects. The integrator is left defending their legitimate proposal against one that shouldn’t even be considered, which creates a terrible situation because the builder/architect/designer doesn’t know what to say to the client except, “I know this industry’s got some problems, but please trust me and use my guy.” But they typically defend their integrator of choice up to a point and then relent to the client. If the integrator leads with the fact that they’re HTA Certified, shares the elevator pitch, and points the client to the HTA standard, though, clients tend to shop around much less, especially when the integrator uses the HTA technology budget estimator to share realistic installed costs first. The chance of losing a deal to a low-baller goes down drastically. And if they do lose that client, it’s one they don’t want anyway. It’s better to spend time with clients who appreciate quality workmanship and customer service, not ones who are pennywise and pound foolish. Those clients always turn out to be nightmares.

HTA certification gives the architect, designer, and builder ammunition to hold firm and say, “Hey, I only work with HTA Certified integrators.” They can send the client to the HTA website to learn what certification means—which then makes the client wonder, “If this other company is so good, why aren’t they certified?” Educating trade partners about the HTA certification standard really works. The smart integrators understand this and use it to their advantage.

Think about how standards affect us in our everyday lives. We expect to have a great dining experience if we select a Michelin star-rated restaurant. We expect our vehicle to be safe if it receives a five-star safety rating. And we expect a mechanic to be competent if they’re ASE certified. We pay more for GIA or EGL-rated diamonds as their value has been determined by a defined standard and rated by professionals. That is what HTA certification is doing for the CI industry.

Some integrators believe the Home Technology Association and the HTA certification standard need to be household names for them to have any value, which is absolutely not true. Once a client learns there’s a standard for whatever it is they’re purchasing, they tend to seek out that standard if they care about quality. Don’t believe me? For those of you who don’t know what the GIA or EGL diamond rating standard is (in my estimation, about 40% of men don’t know), stop by a jeweler and tell them you’re looking for a quality diamond for your wife or girlfriend. Very early in the jeweler’s qualifying questions, you’ll be told about GIA or EGL, or both. Once you hear the pitch, I’m about 99% sure you’ll be sold on it and will most likely choose the rated diamond, even though it costs more. Clients will do the same for HTA Certified dealers. Let that sink in for a moment . . .

In Part Two, Josh discusses the HTA Design Partner and Technology Partner programs, which are meant to make integrators more credible for clients and help strengthen the relationships between integrators and their trade partners.

The Home Technology Association website

“It’s better to spend time with clients who appreciate quality workmanship and customer service, not ones who are pennywise and pound foolish. Those clients always turn out to be nightmares.”

The Guys Who Get Design

How to Find the Perfect Integrator

Budgeting for Custom Integration

Why HTA is the Real Deal

People First, Then the Gear

“since everyone is more reliant on technology than ever, clients, architects, designers, and builders don’t fight that conversation as much anymore”

SAV Digital Environments, Bozeman, MT

The HTA’s Josh Christian talks about his efforts to make integrators more design savvy and to get architects & interior designers to bring integrators into the design fold

by Michael Gaughn
February 28, 2023

As technology becomes more and more deeply woven into the fabric of the home environment, the need increases for professionals who can integrate it not just seamlessly but with some flair. But while architects and interior designers will turn to custom integrators to supply the required wire and gear, they tend to cast a wary eye in their direction when it comes to anything involving design, seeing the integrator’s efforts as more a necessary evil than a desired complement to their work. The upshot is that integrators tend to find their involvement in the overall creation of a home minimized, and postponed in the process for as long as possible, which often leads to major changes and delays that can bring construction to a frustrating and expensive halt.

Josh Christian is working to change all that, using his organization, the Home Technology Association (HTA)—which was created to separate the custom integration wheat from the chaff—to not just help integrators become more design savvy but to urge architects, designers, and builders to engage those HTA integrators who have their design act together from the very beginning of the planning of a home. Below, Josh talks about how this effort arose from his own early years as an integrator in the LA market and how he and his organization have made some headway but still have a ways to go.

Is it fair to say that integrators are often left out of the design loop until it’s too late to have any meaningful impact?

Typically speaking, yes, that’s a big problem for integrators. Bringing them in too late leads to all sorts of problems. It means a lot of the client’s technology wishes will be compromised, which often leads to having to do a change order or an expensive retrofit and other delays with the project.

Is there a subset of integrators who have figured out how to ensure they’re in there early, and do they have any strategies that are the equivalent of waving their arms and saying, “You’d be crazy to start without us.”

My guesstimate of all the integrators out there, less than 3% have figured this out in any meaningful way, where it’s a serious goal of theirs to improve their working relationships with architects, designers, and builders. The successful ones are just doing really great marketing business practices. They’ll join the associations for those trades and use them to meet up with the builders, designers, and architects in their community. They’ll also reach out and connect on social media.

That’s what I did when I got into the luxury end of custom integration back in 1998 working with DSI Entertainment Systems. I did a lot of research to find out who were the top architects, designers, and builders—I’m just going to call them “trade partners,” to make it easy—and see if any of them were in magazines like Architectural Digest. I’d pick up the phone and call and and even literally drive by—good old door knocking—and introduce myself as an integrator that understands them.

Where many integrators fail is that they talk all about “me, me, me”—O, we’re the best integrator in town; we do this, we do that; we do home theater, we do home automation—but they don’t talk about their process so much and show that they respect what their trade partners do. Because it’s really important for an integrator to be able to think like the people they work with. Those other people typically aren’t interested in audio, video, or controls, and because of that they think their clients don’t care either. So integrators shouldn’t talk about those techie things when they introduce themselves but should instead present themselves as a solution to their client’s technology needs, because the truth is that there’s going to be technology in every single home their trade partners are working on, even if a client’s not a techie person.

At a minimum, a home needs to be prewired; it’s probably going to have a network and the client is probably going to want robust wi-fi, and they probably want a security system or a surveillance system. So it’s best for an integrator to say, “Hey, I’m a solution provider. No matter how simple or how complex, I’ll help design the client’s technology needs into your plans and make sure everything gets installed in the best, most aesthetically pleasing way possible. And if any of our products will be visible on the structure or in the interior, I’ll get your input so you’re OK with the way they look.” The trade partners love that, because they’re been included in the process.

That’s how it started back in the late ‘90s, just showing empathy. Today, the better integrators have learned to pique the interest of their trade partners by first talking about things most likely to be on the client’s mind—things like wellness, energy management, and motorized shading and lighting. If integrators can position themselves as system designers who know how to integrate these priorities into their trade partners’ plans, they’re seen as a valuable designer and consultant and not just a contractor or sub-contractor who’s only there to install something and leave.

Do you find that there are many integrators who have a strong grasp of design?

The awareness still needs to come up with that quite a bit. When I started with the Home Technology Association, I expected to find that many more integrators are doing this than they are, so we’re providing guidelines to help the ones that aren’t yet performing at that level to show what the architects, designers, and builders want out of them. It’s slowly getting better but it has to happen a lot quicker.

Interior designers used to want nothing to do with technology because they saw it as just gumming up what they were trying to do, which frequently led to tension between them and the integrator. Younger designers and architects seem much more comfortable with the technology and are more willing to accommodate the integrator. But what’s your recent experience been like? Is it still a battle to get designers to accept the tech?

It is a bit of a battle but it is getting better. It’s important to remember that back when I got my start in this, the technology tended to be a lot more obvious, a lot less flexible, a lot more expensive, and wasn’t as central to people’s lives. But now everybody is effected by technology, and since everyone, including the architects, designers, and builders themselves, are more reliant on it than ever, the clients and trade partners don’t fight that conversation as much anymore.

Are you aware of many integrators who have interior designers on staff?

I know very few. I think there are maybe two integrators out there who have one on staff. And I think the reason it’s uncommon is that, if an interior designer knew an integrator had someone who does what they do, they’d be less apt to refer that integrator, thinking the integrator might take that client’s interior design business in the future and create a conflict of interest. Plus, it’s such a different field.

Could you cite any integrators that are particularly good at getting in there early on projects, at bringing the design elements together, and at creating a strong bond with the other trades?

There are a few in our industry that do a really great job of that. But SAV Digital Environments in Montana stands out because they do a phenomenal job of marketing. They do a lot of lunch ’n’ learns for architects and designers, they get their CEU credits, and they do quite a few events at their showroom. There’s also Joe Calise at Sights N Sounds in Seaford, New York. He’s the chapter president of the interior design society chapter there so he’s well known in the interior designer circle in New York, which is phenomenal.

Another one to call out is Jamie Briesemeister from Integration Controls in Missouri. She’s working on a showroom remodel that’s going to be a great place for hosting events for architects, designers, and builders. I’m seeing more integrators instead of moving away from showrooms, building new ones, and they’re building them to be interior designer and architect resources.

That’s a great trend, and I hope it continues, because you can talk about human-centric lighting but when you see it, it really has an impact. That’s especially true with something that’s near and dear to this industry’s heart—a high-performance home theater. Home theater has become such a diluted term. A client sometimes thinks it’s a three-hundred-dollar soundbar system they can find at a big-box store because it says “home theater.” So they think that if that’s three hundred dollars, if they spend five thousand dollars they must be getting something just ridiculously, phenomenally top of the line. But, as you and I know, you can spend multi hundreds of thousands of dollars on a home theater, if not millions. But it has to be done right. It’s not just the components—it’s the design, it’s the acoustics, it’s the space. So I like that high-performance theater is being focused on again, where there are truly wow experiences that can convince even a jaded client. Clients will spend the money when they know what experience is they’re going to get.

Josh Christian

“the better integrators have learned to pique the interest of architects, designers, and builders by first talking about things most likely to be on the client’s mind—things like wellness, energy management, and motorized shading and lighting”

Sights N Sounds, Seaford, NY

Integration Controls, Rock Hill, MO

Michael Gaughn—The Absolute Sound, The Perfect Vision, Wideband, Stereo Review, Sound & Vision, The Rayva Roundtable, marketing, product design, some theater designs, a couple TV shows, some commercials, and now this.

Making a Statement

A bells & whistles home theater sets the tone for smart living in this unassuming high-tech home

by Lisa Montgomery
February 25, 2022

High-performance video presented on a larger-than-life screen is often deemed the eye-candy of a fully automated home. While other tech amenities might be installed in a way that makes them all but disappear, the beautifully integrated AV trappings in this elegant home theater are meant to be admired, a statement piece on a grand scale that sets the tone for the magic that unfolds daily in this modern yet inviting custom home.

A simple tap of a button on a handheld remote, lighting keypad, wall-mounted touchscreen, or app on a smartphone or tablet sets the wheels in motion in the custom-crafted theater and everywhere else. Received by a Control 4 controller neatly stowed from sight in a well-stocked equipment rack, this one command is translated into a perfectly orchestrated series of instructions to all the right equipment.

In the theater, the Control 4 EA controller cues a Sony 4K video projector and Denon AV receiver. From there the family can pick and choose any type of content they desire from a variety of integrated AV sources. Family members never need to touch, much less look at, the components to twist a dial or toggle a switch. By the time they settle in, the room and the gear are ready to transport them to a world of entertainment delights, where a sleek, modern 110-inch Zero Edge screen from Screen Innovations presents clear, vivid, bright imagery, and nine barely-there Paradigm Pro speakers, plus a Paradigm Defiance subwoofer, envelop the space with immersive three-dimensional audio.

Certainly, superior performance was vital to the enjoyment of this family-friendly space, but the Australian integration team at Life Style Store also prioritized cosmetics when curating the cutting-edge components. They needed to impart the same light, airy vibe as the furnishings and preserve the room’s original design intent. The screen’s super-skinny ½” bezel and the speakers’ built-in finish do the trick.

Entertainment extends beyond the confines of statement theater. The family is privy to high-res music throughout the home, thanks to a Control 4 wholehouse audio system and a variety of discreetly mounted speakers. Again, all the controls for this system populate on touchscreens, remotes, keypads, and smartphones. The music streamer built into each of four Control 4 controllers provides unlimited access to a multitude of online music platforms, so there’s always something to suit the mood, occasion, and each user’s preferences. The Control 4 system enables multiple streams of music to be distributed to different areas of the house simultaneously and at different volume levels. Guests can mingle at the outdoor living space to quiet, classic background music while the kids crank out the latest pop tunes in the living room.

Whether family and friends escape to the theater or add music to the mix, the Control 4 system makes sure the climate and lighting are perfect and the home is safe and secure. All of these parameters are controllable via any user interface. Rather than leaving a social circle or the sofa to dim the lights in preparation for a movie, for example, the family can quickly tweak the fixtures directly from their Control 4 app. The same goes for thermostats and window shades. It’s all just a button press away from complete, convenient, instantaneous control.

With more than 20 years under her belt covering all things electronic for the home, Lisa Montgomery has developed a knack for knowing what types of products and systems make sense for homeowners looking to update their abodes. When she’s not exploring innovative ways to introduce technology into homes, Lisa breaks away from the electronics world on a bike, kayak, or a towel on the beach.

Going to the Source

“The better you communicate with a client, the better you can deliver the end result. But you have to do that with visualization.”

High-end custom integrator Todd Anthony Puma talks about the challenges and opportunities of servicing the New York luxury market

by D. Craig MacCormack
February 26, 2023

Although Frank Sinatra probably didn’t have luxury home entertainment installations in mind when he belted out the line “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere,” that mentality seems to fit pretty well with high-end AV work across the Big Apple. After working amid the hustle and bustle of New York for as many as 20 high-profile clients a year on projects ranging from about $250,000 to $600,000, Todd Anthony Puma, president of The Source Home Theater, knows this all too well. He says working in the five boroughs comes with unique challenges but he embraces those as opportunities for growth.

How do you view your work and what are you trying to deliver to your clients at the end of the project?

We’re a lot of things to a lot of customers but I like to look at us as kind of like a custom-tailored suit or a concierge. We’ll give you what you request and then tailor it to your needs. And those needs are different for every person, just like body types.

Not everybody has the same body type with the same weight and they have different dimensions, and the same thing goes for us. A place might have the same exact square footage but the way it’s designed will utilize it a little more or a little less. And we basically work within those needs. We do cater to multiple needs.

We’ve transitioned our practice based on availability with products. In the past, we’ve primarily worked for celebrities and high-profile executives, but we’re now dabbling in the middle market just to keep things afloat while while we deal with the long wait times for products.

What are some of the differences in working with celebrities compared to “regular” people?

It’s a hush-hush world with us—which we don’t mind because we don’t get googly-eyed for any celebrities, unless they’re Slash, which would be the only person that I would be like, “Oh my God!” for personal reasons.

We promote professionalism, and handle their projects based on their wants and desires. The process is a little bit more enjoyable with the high-end part of the market because you’re like an artist and you’re constantly painting canvases, and you have a challenge with every single canvas you make. So it’s great because celebrities have so many creative minds working for them and endless amounts of income in order to do anything they want and desire.

Todd Anthony Puma

But you have to sell them the value, right? And just because somebody’s rich doesn’t mean they want everything we have to offer. But there is a value to what we have to offer, which is our creativity in communicating with their creative team, which is extremely enjoyable.

The middle market, on the other hand, is kind of like a fight. Don’t get me wrong—there’s still a fight in the high-end market but there it’s a communication fight. The better you communicate, the better you can deliver the end result. But you have to do that with visualization. Architects and designers show customers photos but the AV market doesn’t do that kind of presentation well. They’re always saying, “There’s going to be speakers, there’s a TV, there’s this control system that has everything you want. But I don’t have anything to show you.” So we’re asking them to spend a quarter of a million dollars on something we can’t show them. But I help customers to understand what we do by appealing to their imaginations, right? We put it into a picture. We build books with photos, fewer words. That’s how we sell our customers.

How do you handle the challenges that come with working with celebrity clients?

That wasn’t as much of a challenge originally because we’d be able to get the product overnight then build the process from there. So we’d be able to give them a solution and then build on that solution. We would make it clear that even if we couldn’t meet their timeline, we could at least start with the room that was most important to them.

Once they’d agreed to that, we would send out an email confirming everything, because people forget that celebrities are getting hit every second with something. There is no jerk client—there are only service providers who don’t understand their customers’ needs and take it personal. From the day you meet that client, you should know if this marriage is going to work.

What challenges do you face that are unique to the New York market?

The biggest challenge we’re always dealing with is RF interference. There are so many different solutions being used between ZigBee, RF, Wi-Fi—you name it. So you’re in a clutter of information being communicated back and forth through wireless transmission and receiving. When we walk in, we have this vision of what we need to do to make things as stable as possible between the keypads that are communicating wirelessly, between the remotes that are communicating wirelessly—and with their network, which they consider the most important thing, and I don’t blame them. So we plan ahead by having, say, two wireless access points on each floor in a seven-story brownstone. And we plan ahead for a third one, just in case there’s a spot that’s completely dead.

As the months go on, more people move in, and someone moves in with a similar technology upstairs, left, right, wherever it may be, and we have to be prepared to make a change without tearing apart the customer’s home. The biggest challenge for a New York City integrator is making that happen, as well as hiding things. “Simply beautiful” means it’s out of sight and out of mind. That’s what our job is all about. When you’re in New York, they’re spending top dollar on everything in their home—for the wood, the granite, toilets, you name it. They don’t want to see an ugly access point that was made just to get the job done, with a plastic container that looks like a trash-can cover. We have to figure out solutions with the architects and designers how to make something super ugly be both super functional and pretty.

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Craig MacCormack is a Massachusetts-based writer and editor with more than a decade’s experience covering the AV integration industry. He was the executive editor for Commercial Integrator and has also written about digital finance, architecture and engineering, and local and national news and sports in his 27-year journalism career. You can connect with him on Twitter at @CraigMacCormack, but be warned, there’s a heavy Boston sports component to his tweets.

People First, Then the Gear

People First,
Then the Gear

By finding out all about their clients’ lives and needs well before they get around to talking about the tech, Britain’s Equippd sets an example other high-end integrators should follow

by Michael Gaughn

left | Equippd co-founder & director Matthew McCourt (at right) consults with a client at a job site

Secret Cinema

January 31, 2023

Custom integrators—the folks who come up with the gear for watching movies, running your lights and shades, cobbling together your security system, and so on—justifiably worry about just being seen as the tech guys, a stigma that leads to not being taken as seriously as architects and designers, which in turn often means they’re the last ones called in on a job. Some integrators have started to make an effort to show they understand lifestyle and design but the exercise often comes across as forced and insincere because most really are just tech guys at heart.

Consider the websites of the leading luxury integrators in the NYC market. They all look different but the messaging is all pretty much the same—not “we understand you” but “look at how great we are.” And the focus tends to be on brand names and on awards won, sometimes accompanied by a single image of a contemporary but sterile and depopulated room. Even the newer firms, which ought to be more attuned to design, usually display more attitude than empathy.

They could all afford to learn a thing or two from Britain’s Equippd. Everything about this Surrey-based high-end integration firm—from their website to their portfolio to how they engage their clients—shows they don’t just pay lip-service to but genuinely get design. Every page of their site speaks to lifestyle well before it broaches technology, and does so in a natural and disarming way that just can’t be faked.

I initially became aware of Equippd while wading though scores of photos of media rooms and private cinemas from a broad cross-section of luxury integration firms. Only one space stood out—the whimsical little theater tucked away behind a bookcase profiled in “Secret Cinema.” Everything about that room felt right. It not only looked comfortable and conducive to movie watching but evinced a deft ingenuity without ever being showy. Most striking of all was its apt sense of design, leagues away from the “we don’t really get how this works but we had to do something” aesthetic that mars most dedicated entertainment spaces.

Interviewing Equippd’s Matthew McCourt for “Secret Cinema” confirmed that the virtues on display in that theater, and in the company’s other projects, are just an organic extension of the well-considered, engaging, reassuring manner of the company’s principals. The brainchild of Matthew and his brother Charlie, Equippd adopts a familial approach that can’t help but put clients and collaborators alike at ease. Wanting to go deeper into why they get it right when so many other integrators don’t get it at all, I recently buttonholed Matthew for another transatlantic chat.

EQUIPPD

145B Walton Road
East Molesey
Surrey KT8 0DU

+44 (0)20 8191 7887
hello@equippd.uk

“If you hit people with all the brands and specifications very, very quickly, it’s just overwhelming because they don’t have enough time to digest any part of it, so they just shut down”

Your website does a nice job of showing clients how Equippd determines their needs, but could you walk me through the process a little?

It’s all about finding out how people live in their homes. Once you understand that, you can then put forward different types of technology that are going to enhance those areas or make certain things easier for them rather than going in and saying, “Yeah, this is Lutron! and Crestron! and this and that,” which will cause the client to go, “Well, what is that? Do we need that sort of stuff?”

Equippd co-founders Charlie and Matthew McCourt describe their process for determining a client’s needs

The Artechouse NYC show The Life of a Neuron incorporates the work of a number of artists to tell the story of neurons

“The desire to find the optimum solution for every project is what helps to get me up in the morning, along with knowing we’re going to be trying to understand a new customer and how they want to develop their house”

Before we dig down into different types of brands and things like that, there’s a bit of a journey we have to take people along because there are a lot of different things we do when we’re integrating into a home. We’re involved in the lighting, the heating, the shading, the entertainment spaces, the multiroom audio, their garden, their shed, their attic, the security. If you hit people with all the brands and specifications very, very quickly, it’s just overwhelming because they don’t have enough time to digest any part of it, so they just shut down. But If you instead try to understand how they live and show how you can improve that while making sure the space looks good—i.e., not see the tech at all or just see the bare minimum—we find that works well.

While there has been some effort to improve the look of the things people interact with, there’s still a long way to go.

Touchscreens are ugly. All of these things don’t look good, really. And alarm panels—terrible, terrible. Everything looks like it was from the ‘80s.

So what do you do to make all of that a little more palatable?

Whether it’s interior design, system design, schematics, elevations of how walls are going to look, how keypads and touchpanels are going to sit, what else is on that wall, we’re always thinking in terms of what can we remove, how can we clean up that space. Our sole drive is, how can we simplify this? Because we’ve seen panels everywhere before in properties and light switches just everywhere. And it’s like, why? We’ve walked into houses before where even we can’t operate the light switch.

When it comes to new construction versus retrofit, how do your projects tend to skew?

New build and renovation form 90% of our work, with the last 10% being retrofit, which we tend not to do too much because we’re not geared that way.

What distinguishes renovation from retrofit?

You’ve got a lot of London residences where pretty much the whole home apart from the facade is getting knocked back, stripped out, and then completely remodeled from the ground up. We classify those as a full renovation because we’re still keeping the existing fabric or four walls of the structure.

That kind of new construction and renovation can often mean open-floorplan spaces with a mandate to include as many types of entertainment as possible but without compromising the picture or sound.

We love those challenges because design plays so much into that, looking at the space, understanding, “OK, how can we do this to be able to give them this multifaceted kind of functionality for the room but make it look good?” In an open space like that, you can’t just have what looks like a media room tucked away in one corner. It’s just not going to fit in.

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Achieving Serenity

Renderings of a multi-use entertainment space. The section of the paneled wall above the TV conceals a dropdown projection screen. For movie viewing, the wall section comes forward and the screen descends in front of the TV.

Have you had much call yet for video walls?

Not really. We did have one guy who wanted one as the splash-back in the kitchen. Where the hob and other stuff is would have basically been a massive TV. We quoted him but the project didn’t go anywhere.

Would it be fair to say that the living spaces themselves hold more interest for you than the technology you put in them?

Absolutely. The desire to find the optimum solution for every project is what helps to get me up in the morning, along with knowing that we’re going to be looking at something new, that we’re going to be trying to understand a new customer and how they want to develop their house, how that house is going to flow, how they’re going to use it.

Given all the things you can offer in a home, it seems almost inevitable you’d form as deep a bond with the client as the architect or interior designer does.

All the other trades do their work and then most often move on, but we’re there right at the start and then we’re also there right at the end. While the family are moving in, we’re meeting them, we’re meeting their kids, we meet their dog. And there’s a relationship that goes on after that, with any sort of tweaks and changes they want, or looking after systems and servicing them as well. I’ve always found that quite enjoyable, getting to know the people behind the home. That’s the part of the business I think is so important.

Great Video Wall Sound Is Here

“Using the TPI controller, I was able to place the sonic image in the exact vertical position where my traditional center speaker
is located”

An opportunity to audition a center-channel solution in his own home theater showed the author you can have a micro LED wall without compromising the sound

by Steve Haas
January 19, 2023

Last June, in “Million-Dollar Wall, Hundred-Dollar Sound,” I talked about how difficult it can be to achieve acceptable sound when using a video wall in a home theater since the front speakers can’t be placed behind the screen as they can when using a projection screen. I mentioned that almost all of the solutions I had encountered resulted in significant compromises but that TPI’s Movement System showed promise, mainly because it includes a controller that uses digital signal processing (DSP) to allow you to adjust the height of the sonic image created by the front speakers.

I recently had a chance to audition the Movement System in my own home theater and was extremely happy with the results. This system uses speakers placed both above and below the video wall to create a phantom sonic image (similar to the horizontal imaging of stereo speakers except done vertically) to match the effect of a traditional center-channel speaker mounted at ear level. And it can accomplish this without the use of additional DSP and without having to employ the services of a professional calibrator (although both are still necessary to achieve optimal performance). Based on my hands-on experience with the TPI system, I have every reason to believe that this solution, along with others based on the same concept, will significantly accelerate the use of video walls in home theaters in place of projection systems.

from theory to reality

I know from my work with solid video screens in museum and commercial environments that effectively placing the sonic image vertically is both achievable and worth the effort. Some people contend that our brains can’t comprehend a vertical image shift as readily as a horizontal one. While there is some truth to that, A/B comparisons of vertical placement show that it can allow the sound of dialogue to be placed where we expect to hear it emanate from when watching a movie or a TV show, which is between half and two-thirds of the way up from the bottom of the screen.

I had been eager to evaluate the TPI system because of its potential to create precise vertical positioning in a home theater environment—particularly since I will soon be calibrating a very large residential project in Florida that uses the Movement speakers.

TPI sent me the two speakers and controller necessary to create a virtual center channel. While I could have requested additional speakers for the left and right front channels as well, I decided to use just the center so I could focus on dialogue. If the system could do dialogue well, I knew it would also be able to handle the left and right positions.

above | Quantum Media Systems‘ Cinematic LED Wall

Million-Dollar Wall, Hundred-Dollar Sound

click on the image to enlarge

TPI’s Movement System uses speakers placed both above and below a video wall for the left, center, and right front positions. A controller is used to adjust the vertical position of the sound coming from each top/bottom pair, to create the same effect as if the speakers had been placed behind the screen.

also on cineluxe

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Bringing the Gallery Home

I set the system up in my home theater, which uses a traditional left-center-right (LCR) speaker array positioned behind an acoustically transparent Stewart projection screen. I then used both objective measurements done with pink noise and subjective listening with program material that contained a lot of dialogue to position the phantom sonic image by way of the controller. I also employed Symetrix DSP to assist with the A/B comparisons of the top/bottom vs. behind-the-screen imaging, as well as with top-only, bottom-only, and top/bottom image comparisons.

Using the TPI controller, I was able to place the sonic image in the exact vertical position where my traditional center speaker is located. I then used the Symetrix DSP to tonally optimize the system so the sound from the top and bottom speakers closely matched that of my existing center speaker, even though they are from two different brands.

What was especially interesting is that the top and bottom pair exhibited a unique fullness of sound that wasn’t due to any type of distortion or phasing but that only added to their presence. Even though I had set the sound from the speakers to arrive at the listening location at exactly the same time, this presence took on an immersive quality because the sound was coming from two different directions, even though it created a solid sonic image in one specific location.

problem solved

The combination of objective measurements and extensive listening has convinced me the top-and-bottom-speaker solution will work. And it has significant advantages over the other existing approaches. By using direct-radiating sound as opposed to reflecting—or bouncing—sound off the video-wall screen, it avoids problems with the reflected sound from the screen becoming mixed with direct sound from the speakers, which creates distortion. Also, having large speakers mounted on the ceiling and aimed at the screen can be both unattractive and distracting. The top-and-bottom approach is especially effective with larger video walls where it can be difficult, if not impossible, to place the center-channel image at an acceptable height using LCR speakers mounted either above or below the screen.

Another advantage is that sound can be optimized for positions in addition to the traditional sweet spot in a theater, which isn’t possible with a single speaker no matter how well it has been calibrated. The type of system considered here would allow for the creation of presets to shift the sweet spot if the homeowners, for instance, wanted to sit in the front row instead of the center row because of the type of programming they were watching.

Also, the shallow height and depth of the Movement speaker cabinets allows them to be easily placed in the relatively small areas available above and below large video walls and allows for flexible placement within those areas. Admittedly, they can’t be used if a client wants an LED screen to fill the whole wall, but doing so would also create basic, non-audio-related problems with things like sight lines. It would be possible, though, to incorporate the speakers into a angled proscenium that would allow them to be positioned forward of the screen, an arrangement that could accommodate any desired screen size.

To have a speaker system that can be optimized without compromise, allowing you to place a pure, strong sonic image exactly where you want it, is going to be a game-changer for creating high-quality sound to go with LED video walls. Given the potential of what I experienced with this system in my own theater, I am looking forward to calibrating the system in the Florida installation next month, which will allow me to take the Movement System from an experimental situation into a real-world home theater environment.

Steve Haas is the Principal Consultant of SH Acoustics, with offices in the NYC & LA areas. Steve has been a leading acoustic and audio design & calibration expert for over 25 years in high-end spaces ranging from home theaters, studios, and live music rooms to major museums and performance venues.

a rendering of TPI’s Movement L center speaker

After the Storm

The outdoor entertainment system in this Florida home was so well executed that even the wrath of Ian couldn’t faze it

by Lisa Montgomery
November 29, 2022

Coastal living comes with many perks. The wrath of Mother Nature isn’t one of them. This spacious, elegantly appointed outdoor entertainment space, however, managed to withstand a recent beating from Hurricane Ian, thanks to a well-designed, expertly-executed seaside installation of durable AV equipment by Wicked Smart Homes of Sarasota, Florida.

Is endowing the outdoors with sensitive AV equipment risky? Certainly. But it’s a practice Wicked Smart Homes does on the regular for its base of waterfront clients. “For boating families like the owners of this property who spend the majority of their time outside, having an open-air living space like this is a premium amenity that provides a seamless transition from the boat to the house,” says company president Mark Bolduc.

Although an entertainment system like this is a fairly standard feature for outdoor areas in Sarasota, this residence takes it to a whole new level. A trio of waterproof, weather-resistant Seura displays graces the area. The homeowners didn’t skimp on size in their choices. An 85-incher hangs in the lanai (shown below), a 65-inch unit occupies another recreational area, and friends and family can even catch of glimpse of a 75-inch display as they float in the grotto.

What’s playing? Anything their hearts desire. From movies to sporting events, YouTube videos to footage captured by Visualint surveillance cameras peppering the property, a huge library of high-def content is at their fingertips. Family members see and select from a custom menu via a Savant home-control app on their mobile devices, direct the video to any or all displays, and control the volume just as they would if they were using the home theater inside their house.

Securely mounted to exterior structures and engineered to weather the elements, the displays don’t let windy, wet days hamper their performance. “Of course, hurricanes are an entirely different matter. As part of our exclusive Hurricane Service, we temporarily remove TVs and other gear from the premises,” Bolduc says.

This goes for the speakers as well, and this outdoor living space is filled to the gills with sublime audio. Music chosen via the Savant app streams to visually discreet speakers occupying six independent listening zones for full, even coverage throughout the property. These same speakers deliver audio for the displays, which is “a much better approach than relying on each display’s built-in speakers to do the job. They would definitely struggle to be heard in an active, open-air environment like this,” Bolduc explains.

Despite the widespread audio, the speakers go virtually unnoticed, with Sonance Visual Performance Extreme speakers flush-mounted into ceilings and Coastal Source speakers tucked within the landscape. Bolduc took great care to nail down the placement of each speaker before artificial turf was laid. “Unlike sod, once turf is down, it’s impossible to trench into it to make adjustments,” he says.

Another important factor to the speaker installation was structural durability. Although the Coastal Source speakers are engineered to withstand harsh weather conditions, Wicked Smart Homes went a step further by mounting each speaker to a concrete form. “The speakers are structurally sound and going nowhere, but for extra assurance, we made them detachable for temporary removal during our prep for hurricanes like Ian,” Bolduc continues.

Now that the storm has passed and the AV is back in action, al fresco entertainment brings this luxurious backyard to life. No matter where the party happens, there’s a beautiful display and invisible speakers to keep friends and family entertained for hours.

Bringing the Gallery Home

video | Refik Anadol, Melting Memories

Museums and galleries have a lot to teach about the best ways to display digital canvases in home environments

by Kirsten Nelson
November 22, 2022

You know that feeling you get when you walk into a room and see a bouquet of flowers? There’s a brief moment of surprise. Those aren’t usually there! It’s a new element in your roomscape, and it brings a quiet thrill.

Maybe it’s not flowers. Maybe it’s a new book, or a new bottle of Scotch, or a new arrangement of throw pillows. Something that you added, that you love, that’s a delight to contemplate, and it wasn’t there just the day before.

Now imagine that feeling amplified spectacularly in the most refined way possible. I’m not talking about fireworks or a parade. I’m talking about something that awakens the senses while also magically blending into your home in a way that makes each moment better. It combines the novelty of seeing something new with the soothing harmony we try to cultivate in our home.

That is what it’s like to add one of these new attention-grabbing digital canvases to your home. It’s an ambiance changer. It’s a scene-setter. And it’s dynamic, capable of constantly changing, so it will always feel new.

The phrase “digital canvas” is being thrown around a bit haphazardly these days. Anything that can help display digital art or the exotic works in your NFT collection is called a canvas. But in what seems like a limited interpretation of the possibilities presented by these new speculative realms of art—some of the works being generative, constantly changing in response to data inputs, movement, and the environment surrounding them—we seem to be hung up on

Kirsten Nelson, “Your Home is Your Canvas“

(2/11/22)
a look at how emerging technology is going beyond just making homes smart to making them expressive

video | Refik Anadol, Melting Memories

Tim Sinnaeve, “Enriching the Artist’s Digital Palette“

(8/19/22)
Barco Residential’s Managing Director on how artist Akiko Yamashita’s comments in “Natural Wonder” show that the creative community is beginning to embrace the potential of digital canvases

photo | Refik Anadol, Quantum Memories (Bitforms Gallery)

Natural Wonder

Destinations | Artechouse

rectangles. As in, we’re still hanging up the same old 16:9 panels and wondering why it feels like we’re only watching TV when in fact we’re looking at expensive works of art.

What is it about looking at fine art, anyway? Why does it create a moment of pause instead of merely lulling you into a soporific state? We probably can’t answer that question in this brief piece of writing, but we can address how fine art is typically displayed in galleries. And we can examine how we might make sure these new digital works get the same treatment as the other “static” pieces of art in our homes.

The Shape of Art to Come

To do that, first we need to get beyond the rectangle. How many oil paintings actually adhere to a 16:9 aspect ratio? And what about sculptures? Many of these new digital works have more in common with sculptures. They might be rendered in 3D, or in many cases their interactive elements make them feel more like an art installation than a print on a wall. That being the case, do we really want to lock them into the same tight frame we wrap around commercials and sports?

The makers of video technology see a future beyond the rectangle. Tim Sinnaeve, Managing Director of Barco Residential, is a passionate advocate of discovering new forms and means for displaying digital art in the home. “The whole idea of a 16:9 aspect ratio is very limiting when you’re talking about art,” he said. “And it’s a limitation that actually also negatively impacts the art world, and most importantly artistic freedom, because you get this self-fulfilling prophecy where the artist feels like they have to create their work in 16:9 because that will fit the screen it ends up on. Then on the other side, the thinking goes, ‘All the art that’s available is 16:9, so that’s why I’m using a 16:9 display or a TV.’”

If we want to get to a near future where we see more creative additions of these multi-faceted, multi-sensory works into our living spaces, we need to consider the experience you have in an art gallery. What elements help to elevate artwork? How can we ensure that a piece is displayed in a manner equivalent to its value?

The answer may vary, with options that include direct-view LED video walls or projection setups, but ultimately what we’re talking about is that suddenly ubiquitous “digital canvas.” It’s the surface that will determine whether an artwork looks like it was worth the investment.

“The canvas actually becomes part of the value, because it determines how the art looks, and how you experience it,” Sinnaeve said. “If you’re a serious collector, you need to work with professionals to make sure that the right digital canvas is selected.”

Once you’ve seen a major digital work on a proper LED screen or lighting up a wall with high-end video projection, there’s no going back. “Going from that level of depth and quality to seeing it on an 84-inch OLED TV is just night and day,” Sinnaeve said. “It’s between something that moves you and that you really would like to be a part of your life, compared to something that just doesn’t do it. And technically the work is the same.”

More than just a video technology decision, “it’s really about looking at it from an architectural and design perspective and considering where and how you want your digital canvas to create an experience,” Sinnaeve said. “The way you approach that shouldn’t be that different for digital art

Steve Haas, “Million-Dollar Wall, Hundred-Dollar Sound

(6/24/22)
Video walls have become a big status thing—and an even bigger investment—but getting them to sound good isn’t as easy as you might think

Touch displays like the ones already being used in museums will up open an unexplored world of educational and entertainment experiences for domestic settings

versus ‘traditional’ art, at least from a philosophical perspective. There are the fundamentals of displaying the work and then there are factors related to how the artist intended it to be seen as well.”

That’s where we get to the curator role that many custom residential technology integrators may soon be adding to their skillsets. Savvy installers will be able to work with artists to realize the artist’s vision while also presenting clients with a beautiful experience of digital fine art at home.

Setting the Scene

We need to also think about the environment surrounding these works. Start with the lighting. Just as you would think about properly lighting a physical work of art, work with a professional integrator who knows how to ensure your digital art is depicted in a manner befitting its merits rather than receding into the background because it just looks like a TV.

Many digital artworks also have a sonic element, and some of them are actually entirely audio-based. But even for visual-only pieces, it’s important to consider acoustics and sound as part of the experience. To get some insight into these invisible-but-essential factors, I spoke with Steve Haas, CEO and Principal Consultant with SH Acoustics.

Especially because digital art might be installed in large open spaces in homes, you should be sure there’s not a lot of cacophony created by reverberant reflections. Think about the enveloping hush of a gallery and how that adds a luxuriously contemplative level to the viewing experience. The addition of some properly designed acoustic control can help to deliver that effect at home. Also, if there is a sound component, you might want to acoustically isolate the room to prevent the creation of—or distractions from—disturbances elsewhere in the home.

You might consider using some of the high-tech directional speakers that can precisely aim where sound is traveling—the kind they’re using at compelling new immersive-experience emporiums like the Illuminarium in Atlanta and Las Vegas. These spaces go beyond the usual multi-surface video projection into full-scale aural choreography, which together will make you forget all about the outside world.

“Having rooms like that, filled with unique content that updates regularly, I could really see that happening,” Haas said. His work in museum experience design and in high-end residential media and acoustic design have combined to give Haas a unique vision for how we might reimagine our homes.

“I see having these elements that are interspersed throughout the house in a very purposeful, creative way that introduce video and soundscapes and all the other elements that make that experience fully immersive,” Haas said. “And sometimes, if it makes sense, potentially adding informative or educational content, which can also change, of course.”

Going beyond home theaters or media rooms, you might add dynamic digital artworks to corridors, atriums (direct-view LED walls are bright enough to handle high-brightness areas), foyers, great rooms, or anywhere you want to experience additional levels of engagement. In recreational spaces, there’s even more possibility, with full-scale video, sound, and lighting activations in personal nightclubs, bowling alleys, patios, pools, and more.

From there, Haas takes it one step further, returning to the idea of immersive exhibits found in museums. “Think about having custom-produced media from any of the top museum content producers,” he suggested.

“How can you create this hybrid, totally unique world in somebody’s home that might even have didactic meaning, historical content, or educational content for their kids or anyone else?” Haas asked. “Each of these thematic experiences can represent something important to the family’s lives, the same way a museum presents media or physical content that’s important to the institution’s mission.”

That might also address the “these kids today and their phones” challenge—though it’s hardly just the kids. Every generation is now compulsively interacting with screens and content on a regular basis. What if the home was similarly compelling with ever-changing atmospheric elements? Maybe then we could get more people to look up from their screens and enjoy living together.

Steve Haas’s firm, SH Acoustics, did the acoustic and audio design work for the Statue of Liberty Museum, which features the kinds of video displays and interactive technologies that could be creatively deployed in a home environment

Kirsten Nelson is a Brooklyn-based writer, speaker, event content producer, and podcast host who writes frequently for technology brands, integration firms, and experience design agencies. She was the editor of SCN magazine, and before that, co-launched Residential Systems. Kirsten is also a co-founder, editor, and writerly salon host of CreativeStack, a newsletter for the experience design community.

Rooms for Improvement

the entertainment spaces in this Australian home are undeniably spectacular—but after a decade in use, they were ready for a major sonic makeover

by Michael Gaughn

October 31, 2022

This story could have easily just been about the Theo Kalomirakis-designed Art Deco home cinema. Or it could have focused instead on the jawdropping one-of-a-kind entertainment area, with its discreet stage, ability to accommodate 250 guests, and epic views of Sydney Harbor. But there turned out to be an even bigger—though not quite as showy and obvious—story to be told, about how these kinds of high-end spaces have become so elaborate and flexible and the trends and technologies influencing and supporting them are evolving so quickly, that we’re now being presented with an unprecedented array of opportunities—but also the continual challenge of staying ahead of the curve.

Every home cinema is a completely custom and unique machine. And the open-floorplan multi-use entertainment areas that are beginning to supplant dedicated theater rooms (like the one profiled in “Achieving Serenity”) are even larger and more complex machines that have to be able to handle a wider and wider variety of tasks. You don’t need to be a techie or have any interest in what’s going on under the hood to realize that creating something like that and keeping it functioning optimally means relying on massive processing power. The key thing to remember is that these systems are basically one-off computers and subject to all the thousand shocks and upgrades our digital brethren are heir to.

Because of that, this is also a story about not the visible but the invisible. As spectacular as these rooms are, they’re literally useless unless someone keeps a constant and careful eye on all manner of things that are never seen by their users. Acoustical designer Steve Haas has developed a reputation as a master of that unseen realm, one of a you-can-count-‘em-on-the-fingers-of-one-handful of people who know how to not just tame but maximize these intricate, individually crafted mechanisms so they can achieve and maintain peak performance. The portfolio of his company, SH Acoustics, extends well beyond private residences to museum and commercial venues as well, and Haas found himself having to draw extensively on that broader pool of knowledge in order to make this Australian homeowner’s exceptional mandate a reality.

A VERSATILE PERFORMER

The seven levels that constitute this 55,000-square-foot residence—let’s call it the Sydney Home—rest terraced in a rock face overlooking the harbor, with the iconic bridge and opera house prominent in the dioramic views from its primary living spaces and numerous terraces. It shouldn’t be a surprise to hear that a home of this caliber would hold a theater from a premier designer like Kalomirakis, nor that Haas, who has collaborated on some of Theo’s most ambitious efforts (including the legendary Paradiso) should have been called in to handle the acoustic and audio chores.

The entertainment area, with its spacious bar & lounge area and terrace with epic views of Sydney Harbor, can comfortably accommodate 250 guests

The stage area, with the main speakers hidden behind the fabric at the top of the proscenium. Steve Haas took the client to the Steinway showroom in New York to help him select the Model B grand piano.

The home has seen performances by numerous A-list artists, including Sting, Michael Bolton, and Australian native Delta Goodrem (above)

“Once I had some dialogue with the client, we realized there was a need to have me consult on other keys areas of the home,” says Haas, “especially what they call the Level 1 entertainment space.” It’s not unusual for a home of this size to have a place for holding parties, hosting events, and staging live performances, but you’d be hardpressed to come across another similar space as well realized or as chameleon-like as the one here.

The room gives few clues to its other capabilities when they’re not in use, feeling causal, comfortable, and domestic. Furniture groupings and large canvases help disguise the stage’s true identity, with the main speakers for performances hidden behind fabric panels in the soffit above the proscenium, and with a dropdown projection screen and monitor speakers tucked into the ceiling of the stage area.

The client’s desire to have the room provide exceptional sound for parties, fundraisers, and other large events as well as for both movies and live entertainment created a unique challenge for Haas since each use had its own set of not necessarily cross-compatible needs. The music for parties had to be able extend into the bar area, out onto the various terraces, and into other parts of the home as well, while the stereo sound for performances needed to match what you would expect to hear in a high-end nightclub, and the movie system had to supply satisfying surround for groups as large as you’d find in a commercial cinema—all in a wide-open room filled with glass, wood, and other structural and decorative enemies of quality sonic reproduction.

Haas was especially concerned about architect Alec Tzannes’s design for the ceiling, which used suspended elongated 3/4″ rectangular slats to create a barrel vault that would conceal the multitude of speakers, subwoofers, lighting cans, and ducts. “The client actually flew me over to Sydney to make the case,” says Haas, “because he had consulted with a local acoustic expert who had said there would be no problem. And I looked at it and said, no. This is absolutely wrong.” His solution was to use round dowels instead. “After we did our calculations and I created a physical mockup of the dowel system, we saw that the sound would bend around them in a way that would have a negligible effect.”

The curve of the ceiling was also a problem since it would tend to reflect and focus the sound from the speakers instead of spreading it evenly throughout the room. To help address that, and all the many reflective surfaces, Haas took advantage of the space above the dowels to apply extensive sound absorption.

Not only have the homeowners and their guests been impressed with the result, so have the numerous A-list artists who have sung there—Sting, Michael Bolton, and Australia’s Delta Goodrem among them. “Michael Bolton said it was one of the best-sounding places he’s ever performed in,” says Haas.

MIXED SIGNALS

Cut to a decade later. The homeowner tells Haas he’s concerned the digital signal processors (DSPs) tasked with handling all the various audio responsibilities are beginning to fail. It’s not that the gear is faulty—it’s just at the end of its lifespan. “It’s not uncommon to see DSPs fail after 10 years,” says Haas. “They’re essentially computers, of course”—which means they’re just as likely to start crapping out as any laptop or desktop PC. And they’re subject to the same rapid technological advancements, with all their inevitable upgrades. Staying a step ahead of the upkeep is just a fact of life with anything this diverse and complex.

Achieving Serenity

Inside the Ultimate
Home Entertainment Space

Million-Dollar Wall,
Hundred-Dollar Sound

Theo Kalomirakis: A Personal History
of Home Theater

The 7.1-channel surround sound system in this Theo Kalomirakis-designed home theater was recently upgraded to Atmos via the addition of eight Wisdom Audio ceiling speakers

PROJECT TEAM

acoustical designer

Steve Haas
SH Acoustics

theater designer

Theo Kalomirakis
TK Theaters

custom integrators
Datascene

architect
Alec Tzannes

Haas saw the task as not a chore but an opportunity to bring all the various types of DSP currently in the house under one brand and system. And while he was at it, why not upgrade the private cinema to Atmos as well?

With its 7.1-channel California Audio Technology speaker array, the cinema had been serving the homeowners well since its inception in the early ‘00s. But, having been impressed by Wisdom Audio’s ceiling speakers, Haas felt that adding eight of them to the room to create an Atmos configuration would significantly enhance the movie-watching experience. And the speakers were compact enough that he could have them installed without having to engage in a massive do-over.

Not that the upgrade wasn’t a challenge. Because they couldn’t dismantle the whole ceiling, Haas wasn’t sure what he, the contractors, and the custom integrators from Sydney-based Datascene would find when they attempted to tap into the preferred speaker locations. So they adopted a surgical approach, working their way carefully around the duct work and other impediments. And because there are bedrooms just above the theater, a tremendous effort had been made during the original construction to ensure none of the sound would bleed through the ceiling. Honoring this, they kept as much of the existing treatments in place as possible as they added the new speakers, also providing sound-isolation caps in each of the speaker locations.

Premium theaters like this one often rely on a tip-top-of-the-line sound processor from a company like Storm Audio or Trinnov. But Haas went with a Marantz AV8805 instead because it provided the desired sound quality without all the additional bells and whistles of the higher-end models and would more readily work in tandem with the QSC Q-Sys pro-audio DSP he was deploying throughout the other key areas of the home.

It was also time to replace the projector—and rebuild the projection booth, which, located near the cliff face, had been infiltrated by moisture. Haas helped the client pick the new projector, consulting with Barco and coming back with a recommendation for its Wodan model. But this required an acoustical makeover for the booth since the new projector was significantly louder than the previous one and the noise would have been distracting, especially for anyone sitting in the last row, which rests up against the booth wall.

Acoustical designer Steve Haas calibrating the sound for the Level 1 entertainment area.

At 38 feet, the room is unusually deep for a private theater. “In a room like that,” says Haas, “you can get so sonically disconnected from the front that by the time you get to the rear seats, it feels like you’re in a different space.” To address this, he used acoustical treatments to disperse the sound so that the experience would be the same no matter where someone is sitting.

For all the defining trends the Sydney Home represents, maybe the most significant is its extensive blending of consumer and pro gear. As high-end homes incorporate more elaborate entertainment areas like dance floors and live-performance spaces, they need to be able to provide sound on par with what artists expect in professional venues—along with the ability for DJs, sound mixers, and others to be able to jack in their gear.

Also, a multiform multipurpose system as flexible and complex as the one here can quickly exhaust the abilities of the hardware available on the consumer side of things. It often takes robust, function-specific professional gear to rise to these emerging challenges.

Haas, who is just as comfortable working on recording studios, concert halls, and galleries as he is on domestic environments, turned out to be the ideal fit for a project this ambitious. As a member in good standing of that previously mentioned acoustical elite, he was able to bring the necessary combination of expertise and experience to bear. Relying on someone whose knowledge is limited to the residential world to master something like this is a sure-fire recipe for disaster. Since entertainment areas are only going to get bigger, more versatile, and exponentially more complex, better to place them in the hands of people like Haas who not only think, but perform, well outside the home theater box.

Custom Integration

Integrators, Trust, and the Trades, Pt. 2

Integrators, Trust, and the Trades

The Guys Who Get Design

Making a Statement

Going to the Source

People First, Then the Gear

Great Video Wall Sound Is Here

After the Storm

Bringing the Gallery Home

Rooms for Improvement

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