Bright Home Theater and Audio, Inc

Hanging Plasmas / LCD's -- Articulated Mounts and Surround Sound

noreply@blogger.com (Bright Home Theater) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:42:00 +0000

Hi, Bright Home Theater (BHT) recently installed a 50" plasma at a clients and he wanted the TV to be able to be seen from different parts of the apartment. Normally a Flat mount (flat and tight against the wall), or a Tilt mount (against the wall, but tilts anywhere from 7-15 degree's primarily to combat glare) are what we use.
However, Articulated mounts are cool, cool, cool. An Articulated mount is able to be pulled out from the wall a couple feet and can both tilt (as above) and turn left and right (some up to 180 degrees!) When needed or simply wanted there is no other answer for the Articulated mount.
However, there are some challenges!
1) Supporting the weight of the TV on an articulated mount when pulled out from the wall
2) Sound (How do you get sound that "sounds right" if you watching/listening from different locations?
First of all, our installation crew (Eric and Chris) know what to do to deal with the weight. Since they deal with brick, plaster or drywall they know a lot and have the tools to get the job done. Whether it is is reinforcing the wall with plywood or 2x4's or using the Hilti system they can get the job done.
Secondly: sound. We recommend Surround Sound Bars from Definitive Technologies and Polk Audio.
Here is a review of the Definitive Technology from CNET and Home Theater Review.
Surround Sound bars have 5 channels of sound in one speaker: that means the front right and left, the center and the two "rear" speakers. The sound bar on an articulated mount can be attached to the mount. This means the sound follows the TV. While not ideal, at least you can have a simulation of front back and center wherever you watch and listen from!
(Other reasons for surround sound bars are to decrease the cost and complexity of wire runs to rear speakers, to deal with rooms that have 3 sides of floor to ceiling windows, or simply to save space! et. al.)
The articulated mount and center channel mount we use most frequently are Sanus Single Arm or Dual Arm mount, with Center Channel Mount.
If you have any questions about mounting TV's and speakers please give us a call!
www.brighthometheater.com

BHT and Warranty's -- What We Do

noreply@blogger.com (Bright Home Theater) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 23:57:00 +0000

What happens if a piece of BHT installed equipment goes bad? A client recently had a Universal Remote Control ( http://www.universalremote.com/ ) go bad. I can only think of two other times this happened, but both times in the past the client or their cleaning staff had dropped them. In this case it appeared to be a short.
To facilitate things we sent over a messenger to pick up the bad remote and sent over a full programmed new remote from stock. We will deal with the RMA number and sending the remote back to the manufacturer and getting a new one. It should take about 2 weeks.
In the meantime our client was out about a day without the remote.

Beginning Somthing New

noreply@blogger.com (Bright Home Theater) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:49:00 +0000

Hi All, this is VP David DuPuy for Bright Home Theater. I want to type up a little something each week to give you some info on the latest technology we are recommending, buying or installing. I also would like to give you some insights into what it takes to install Audio and Video equipment in Manhattan!
This is meant to be informal and succinct (much like that sentence!) You will be able to check in and see some brand names of products we having great experiences with (or not so great) and hear real front line stories about New York installs.
No client names will ever be used however, only situations as they relate to A/V challenges and success's.
Thanks for reading and I will begin updating to give you product names and stories from the front!

Best HDTV: Plasma or LCD? DLP also exists!

noreply@blogger.com (Bright Home Theater) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:58:00 +0000

Most clients who come to us assume LCD is a better technology than Plasma. Sometimes it takes quite some doing to educate consumers that Plasma is still the best out there.
CNET has posted their Best HDTV's overall and we find it a handy reference to look at with clients. We have included the link here.
Shortly, in future blogs I will be listing the differences between plasma and LCD and why LCD TV's are making up ground against plasma's and what is happening to plasma HDTV manufacturing.
http://reviews.cnet.com/best-high-definition-tvs/
The top 4 out of 5 HDTV's are plasma's!
Oh, a Samsung DLP weighs in at #11. However, watch out for Mitsubishi making strides in this category shortly. Mitsubishi has hired a primier consultant to upgrade color accuarcy, color balance and contrast (all more important to an excellent picture than resolution i.e. 1080p, concerns. More on that secret, too.)
BHT

Bright Home Theater Recommends the iPhone Sonos Controller Application

noreply@blogger.com (Bright Home Theater) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:54:00 +0000

We are pretty excited here at Bright Home Theater. Or at least those of us who have an iPhone/iPod touch.
SONOS, which we often recommend and use here in the office and in our showrooms, came out with an application which enables your iPhone/iPod touch to control your SONOS system. In some initial tests the controller works just as well as the regular controller.
In the intense inter-office battle between bragging rights between the iPhone and the Blackberry, it looks like I am another step ahead.
So to all of our clients using Sonos, please download the application and try it out yourself!

Here is the Sonos announcement:

Sonos. It's getting better all the time.

The Sonos experience has gotten better yet again, this time with new software upgrades that bring your customers more choice about how they access their music, and a whole new world of free music.

More music control. Introducing the new—and free—Sonos Controller for iPhone™. Customers who have iPhones or an iPod® touch are likely prospects for a Sonos purchase—now that the Sonos Controller for iPhone app turns an iPhone or iPod touch into a full-fledged Sonos Controller.

The iPhone connects to their existing wireless network, not to the Sonos mesh network. But it still has all the basic functionality of the Sonos Controller. With this application, they can walk in their front door, take their iPhone or iPod touch out of their pocket and control music in every room of their home with just the touch of a finger.

The app is free and downloadable on the iPhone App Store. Check out this demo for more information. Then spread the word to your customers and prospects.

More free music. There’s Sonos Radio, the free connection to more than 15,000 Internet radio stations. Sonos owners can tune in the world—from Antarctica to Zimbabwe—just by tapping a button on their Controller.

We’ve just added another free online music service—Last.fm. Your customers can create and influence personal radio stations based on their artist and genre preferences, directly from their Controller.

They can also now access Pandora® free of charge—and still free of computers—to hear music based on their personal music preferences.

Sonos owners can take advantage of these upgrades by simply updating their system’s software. It’s a good time for them to add new zones, so they can bring more free music to more rooms of their home—for the holidays and beyond.

Considering these upgrades, there’s also never been a better time for customers still considering a Sonos purchase to take that step.

Sonos ZP90 and ZP120 Released

noreply@blogger.com (Bright Home Theater) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:28:00 +0000

Sonos ZP90 and ZP120 Released with more Wireless Goodness

A few weeks ago I got a call from the good folks at Sonos asking if I would be interested in reviewing their latest under embargo. No problemo I explained. Subsequently I had the good fortune to receive a ZP90 and ZP120 for testing. I had recently written about the frustration I had during a block party that my ZP100 was too far for reliable control from our front yard, resulting in some strange body movements to get it to pick up. The new ZP120 and ZP90 units use MIMO wireless technology and "SonosNet 2.0" to up to double the reception range and I can affirm that this is a definite help- block partygoers will be pleased. The changes also benefit the controller which sadly, hasn't been updated. Another benefit though is the update to the Sonos software, which now supports music collections with up to 65,000 tracks, and $200 in free music offers.

The ZP120 is a much smaller (and cooler temp) package than the ZP100, and I'll be posting a video review over the weekend comparing the two. Between changes to the power amp and losing the 10/100 Ethernet hub (you get two ports, one in, one passthru). I would have liked to have seen at least one extra Ethernet port since my ZP100 doubles as an ethernet hub in my home entertainment system. The overall size is only 7.3in wide by 8.15in deep, a definite improvement and the sound is so good, I would recommend a Sonos to any music enthusiast who A) Loves to entertain and B)Has $499 to burn on the ZP120, or $999 for the bundle including the diminutive ZP90 and ZP120. More over the weekend.

noreply@blogger.com (Bright Home Theater) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:11:00 +0000

Sonos ZP90 and ZP120 Released with more Wireless Goodness

NY DAILY NEWS

noreply@blogger.com (Bright Home Theater) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:31:00 +0000

Professional touch helps get the most from your home theater system

By GREG GATTUSO

Thursday, June 26th 2008, 10:06 PM

High-end installations typically feature concealed wires and recessed speakers for a clean, uncluttered look.

An integrated system lets you send movies and music to TVs and speakers throughout your home.

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Eye-popping picture. Crystal-clear sound. Your own comfy couch.

The appeals of home theater are many. Generally described as a TV larger than 32 inches connected to a surround sound system and DVD or Blu-Ray player - home theaters are becoming more and more commonplace in New York homes, whether for playing video games, watching sporting events or just catching up with your Netflix list.

And with the economy in a slump, time-starved New Yorkers are discovering entertainment value that matches or exceeds the movie theater experience, right in their own homes.

Roughly 22% of U.S. residents have a home theater system, according to a recent study by research firm Parks Associates. And new home builders are increasingly offering home theaters as built-in standard packages, the firm said.

But that's not to say everyone is getting the most from their home theater systems. While prices may be dropping on electronics with each major holiday, the complexity seems to increase with each new model.

Perhaps that's why home video installation is becoming a fast-growing field. While they may never be able to compete with chains and online stores as a retailer, installers are busier than ever tending to upscale clients who want their systems to work seamlessly together.

Cost for a single room starts around $5,000 depending on equipment, while an integrated apartment - with video and audio controlled from a central location - can easily cost $50,000. A whole house integration could easily set you back $1 million.

But even if you're not prepared to spend six figures on your system, a professional can help you fine-tune your existing equipment for just a few hundred dollars.

"All TVs need to be calibrated," said Kerry Bright of Bright Home Theater. "Manufacturers deliberately set the TV too hot. They jack up the contrast and the intensity so it'll look good in the showroom. But keeping those settings right out of the box can be bad for the TV."

For $300 or $350, he said, an installer can calibrate your set to make the picture more natural and film-like, and eliminate "crushing whites" - those white splotches that show up on HDTVs.

Audio components should also be properly positioned and calibrated to ensure proper sound levels, Bright said. If you want to try it yourself, a $50 sound pressure level (SPL) meter can help get the job done.

"Sound is our biggest concern," Bright said. "It's easy to get a big TV, but receivers are more complicated. Everybody wants to see a kick-ass movie that sounds great. We use 'Lord of the Rings' and 'I Am Legend' in our showroom, and they look and sound better than the movies."

Bright said in the last couple of years, he's noticed that customers are choosing sets much larger than the 42-inch models that were once the standard. "Now it's at least 50 inches, with more and more people going for 60 inches or 65," he said.

Another trend he has noticed is a "backlash" against buying top-of-the-line equipment.

"Midpriced gear provides an amazing experience," he said.

Regardless of price, customers should have a professional do the installation, as even experienced home electronics shoppers can become overwhelmed.

Sonos ZP80 & ZP100 WiFi Music System

noreply@blogger.com (Bright Home Theater) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 21:42:00 +0000

Sonos ZP80 & ZP100 WiFi Music System
By John Atkinson • October, 2006 Don't get the wrong idea. I don't watch trash TV. I am not interested in the doings of people who are famous merely for being famous. I was probably the last to realize that Paris Hilton was not the name of a French hotel. But the kitchen TV just happened be tuned to Channel 4 when I switched it on while I was preparing dinner. No, I do not watch NBC's Extra, but as I was reaching for the remote I was stopped in my tracks by what I saw. The show was doing a segment on the new L.A. home of Jessica Aguilera, or Christina Simpson, or . . . well, it doesn't matter. What does matter was the host's mention of all the cool stuff the bimbette had had installed in her new pied-à-terre: "...and a Sonos audio system, of course."

Sonos has obviously arrived. Any doubts I'd had about making the Santa Barbara–based company's new ZP80 and older ZP100 the subject of a Stereophile feature review, or about featuring the Sonos CR100 system controller on this issue's cover, disappeared. But I had already been given an inkling that this company was on an upward path when I visited a dealer last March and had seen a large stack of Sonos boxes in their custom-install warehouse. "Sonos is the easiest way of putting together a multiroom system," the dealer told me. "The stuff literally walks out of our door."

Media zervice
I have been writing about ways of implementing a media-server–based system for a while now, beginning with my May 2005 review of Apple's $129 Airport Express WiFi Hub, which, with its line-level and digital outputs, is still the cheapest, if not the easiest, way of feeding music around the home from files stored on a PC. But the Airport Express was supplemented by the $299 Slim Devices Squeezebox (see September 2006, p.128), which takes the level of audio performance up a notch, and allows direct control of the remote media server from the listening chair.

The Sonos system is more sophisticated than the Squeezebox in that it sets up its own proprietary, encrypted WiFi network, said to be optimized for streaming audio files rather than for making use of a general-purpose network. It can also dispense with the computer, working with a network storage hard drive (see Jon Iverson's sidebar, "Network-Attached Storage"). Most important, it moves the display from the processor to the remote. The Sonos CR100 controller's ($399) full-color, 3.5" LCD screen not only allows easy navigation of your music files on up to 16 network devices, it will also display all the metadata associated with each track, including the album-cover art, if you've stored that. This controller is one of the neatest consumer-electronics products I have encountered: it is sealed to prevent damage from liquid splashes; it has modes for both deep and shallow sleep, from which it can roused by being picked up; and as well as a motion sensor, it has a light detector so that its control buttons are automatically backlit when the ambient light drops below a preset threshold.

I had put off reviewing the Sonos system because the company's first product, the ZP100 Zone Player ($499), included a power amplifier—all the owner needed to add was a pair of speakers. As useful as this feature is for non-audiophiles, it didn't fit with my own vision for server integration: a unit with line-level and digital outputs that could be painlessly integrated with an existing high-end system. But when, in May, Sonos introduced its ZP80 ($349), which omits the amplifier, it was exactly the trigger I needed. I asked for a review sample.

Zone Players
I didn't get just the ZP80, but the company's ZP80 Bundle ($999), which comprises two ZP80s, a CR100 with charging cradle ($50), and a ZP100. While a Sonos system can be set up with a single ZP80, this means the host computer needs to be in the same room as the audio system, as there needs to be an wired Ethernet connection between it and the Zone Player (footnote 1) (or a wired connection between the ZP80 and a network drive; again, see sidebar, "Network-Attached Storage"). The beauty to me of a distributed-music system is that the noisy PC can be in a different room, and for that you need two ZP80s. The first acts as the WiFi hub, and can also be used to access the Internet for Rhapsody (PCs only) and other streaming services, as well as for Sonos' own software updates. The second ZP80 (and a third, a fourth, etc., as well as one or more ZP100s, up to a maximum of 32 players in all), as well as the CR100, all log on to the network created by the first ZP80.

The ZP80 is a small, elegant plastic box with three buttons (for Mute and Volume Up/Down) and a white LED on its front; and, on its back, two Ethernet ports, a pair of RCA jacks for analog output, another pair of RCAs for analog input, and a pair of S/PDIF digital outputs, one on an RCA, the other on an optical TosLink jack. The ZP100 looks similar but is larger, is finished in darker gray with a perforated top panel, has the same buttons on the front and the same array of jacks on the back, with the addition of two pairs of heavy-duty, spring-loaded speaker terminals. The terminals are fed from a class-D amplifier section rated at 50Wpc into 8 ohms, this powered from a quite hefty toroidal transformer.

Zones
I set up one ZP80 in my basement test lab, which is where the Mac mini that houses my iTunes library resides, and connected it to the computer with an Ethernet cable. (Sonos players work with both Mac and Windows XP computers.) The second ZP80 went in my main listening room, connected to my Mark Levinson No.30.6 D/A processor with AudioQuest's OptiLink-5 TosLink optical link, and to one of the unbalanced pairs of inputs on the Mark Levinson No.326S preamp. The ZP100 went upstairs in the bedroom, driving my 1983-vintage Celestion SL6 speakers, which are usually driven by a Linn Classik receiver. The ZP100 had no problem being recognized by the Sonos network and playing back audio files without glitches, despite being two floors and many walls away from the server in the basement.

Once the Sonos Desktop Controller software had been installed on the Mac mini and was running, it recognized the three Zone Players, and each was initialized by my simultaneously pressing the front-panel Mute and Volume Up buttons. The Desktop Controller also searched the Mac mini for music files, finding and listing both the music in my iTunes Library and the other music files that are stored on the computer's hard drive. That, other than naming each Zone Player—"Den," "Media Room," "Master Bedroom," etc.—and setting the defaults for each, such as Fixed or Variable volume, was all it took to set up the distributed audio system. No messing about with IP addresses, passwords, or security settings. It couldn't have been easier (footnote 2).

One thing I really liked about the control interface was that while each zone's player can have different music playing, all selectable by the handheld controller even if you're not in the same room, it's possible to link two or more players—or, in what Sonos calls "Party Mode," all of them—so that they all play the same music in accurate synchronization. If, as I do, you have players set to different defaults—the listening-room ZP80 is set to Fixed output level, the bedroom ZP100 to Variable—the master volume buttons on the Controller affects only the applicable players.

Footnote 1: It is possible to use a single Zone Player with an existing WiFi network to get around this problem, using an outboard WiFi bridge connected to the Zone Player via Ethernet, but the handbook warns about compatibility problems.

Footnote 2: At the very end of the review period, the CR100 controller stopped working, apparently terminally. The LED turned red, indicating that it needed to be recharged, but after I'd connected it to the charger, it wouldn't turn on again. The manual states that the CR100 can be reset by holding down its Mute and Music buttons for at least three seconds or until it beeps, but this didn't help. Neither did resetting the Sonos Controller on the host computer. This turned to be due to a faulty battery. Sonos will replace faulty hardware under warranty by overnight "white glove" shipping.

Real Estate - Wired to Sell, New York Times

noreply@blogger.com (Bright Home Theater) — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 13:34:00 +0000

Wired to Sell

Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times

Let A Chip Do It The control panel for the home automation systems at Liberty Harbor in Jersey City.

By LISA KEYS

Published: June 10, 2007

WHEN Parimal Pandya, a 32-year-old network consultant at AT&T, walked into the sales office at Liberty Harbor, a mixed-use waterfront development going up in Jersey City, the sales agent launched into a standard pitch: the layouts, the finishes, the amenities.

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Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times

Th control panel for the home automation systems at the Ikon in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Mr. Pandya wasn’t listening. “I’m thinking, ‘I’ve heard this a million times,’ ” he said. “Then I notice the blinds going up and down, and I think: ‘Who’s controlling that? I want to know more about that.’ ”

What captured Mr. Pandya’s attention was the home automation system. Residents at Liberty Harbor — 10,000 in 250 buildings when the complex is fully built out in 10 or 15 years — will be able to do this from touch screens in their apartments or from any computer with Internet access, enabling them to make adjustments from miles away.

It may sound space age, but sophisticated smart-home technology is increasingly available and includes automation systems that allow residents to control lighting, raise and lower window shades and change a room’s climate, via computers. In many instances, they can manipulate a variety of audio and visual functions, allowing users to listen to different types of music in different rooms or transfer a movie from one plasma-screen television to another.

In apartment buildings, automation systems can link to concierge services, enabling residents to make restaurant reservations or reserve a Zipcar, without picking up a phone. Enhanced systems with integrated closed-circuit televisions allow residents to see what’s going on inside and outside their homes from another location. Such security applications provide convenience, too: diners can see if there’s s a line at the restaurant down the block, parents can receive text messages when their children arrive home and executives can admit repairmen to their homes via cellphone.

In some buildings residents can go online to see if there are washing machines available in the laundry room, or to monitor their off-site wine cellars and order up bottles.

This sort of technology may be most familiar to buyers of new houses in the suburbs, but it is now becoming the latest must-have amenity in condos at every price level that are being built in and around New York City.

At Liberty Harbor, smart-home technology is standard in all apartments, from the rentals and studios that start in the mid-$300,000s, up to the single-family town houses that cost as much as $1.6 million.

Mr. Pandya, who bought a two-bedroom apartment for $500,000, was so excited by the electronics that he said he forgot to consider anything else about the apartment. So despite leaving a deposit the day of his visit, he had to call the sales agent and ask for pictures of the kitchen and bathrooms.

“I didn’t know what the finishes looked like,” he said. “I figured it must have a kitchen for the price I paid.”

The plummeting cost of bandwidth — the amount of data that can be carried in a given amount of time — and of home technology components and an increase in the types of applications available are making electronic amenities much more common.

“Technology is the fourth utility,” said Herb Hauser, the president of Midtown Technologies in Manhattan, a company that designs and installs systems in new and existing apartments. “We wouldn’t move into a building that doesn’t have water or electricity. Within a relatively short period of time, we won’t move into an environment unless it has good information services.”

Call them “technomenities,” a term Mr. Hauser favors. In some cases, the technology is offered buildingwide. In others, the systems are available as optional add-ons, and they are usually showcased in model apartments to impress potential buyers.

“I think housing and technology are synonymous,” said Peter Mocco, the developer of Liberty Harbor. “The kinds of things that can be done with technology to enhance your quality of life are such that it’ll be like the transition from washboards to washer/dryers, from iceboxes to refrigerators.”

At an April open house in a model apartment at North8, a Toll Brothers building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, buyers checked out the spacious rear garden, they admired the white-oak floors, and they fiddled with the built-in iPod dock installed in a living room wall. Toll Brothers has offered some home-theater options in its suburban developments, but this is the first time it has included high-tech options like the iPod dock, which is part of an audio system that can broadcast music throughout the apartment.

“We wanted to demonstrate what people can do in terms of upgrades,” said David Von Spreckelsen, a vice president at Toll Brothers. “There was a really good response. Anyone who has been to that model really thinks it is a great idea. We’ll have to consider it in future projects.

“As there’s more and more product out there, and the competition is steeper and steeper, it’s something you can do to distinguish your project,” he added. “It shows really well — you hear it, you see it. When you walk into a model, it’s impressive.”

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Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times

The model at North8 in Williamsburg has a built-in iPod dock.

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Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times

James Sweeney is the vice president for telecom infrastructure at Liberty Harbor.

Shige Suzuki, the first person to buy an apartment at North8 after visiting the open house, chose a technological upgrade that cost about $7,000 and includes the iPod dock and a wireless touch screen that controls the speakers hidden in the walls, the lights and the heat and air-conditioning.

“I like clean and simple,” Mr. Suzuki, a 32-year-old brand manager, said in an e-mail message, noting that innovative technology was more common in homes in his native Japan. “I sometimes watch the celebrity show ‘Cribs’ on MTV. They have wonderful homes, but sometimes they show us messy wires and unprofessionally installed AV systems. I like wireless AV systems and invisible speakers.”

Happily for Mr. Suzuki, his preferences are becoming affordable enough for the noncelebrity market.

“The bar has risen in terms of people’s expectations of home entertainment systems,” said Cyrus Claffey, the president of Clareo Networks in Manhattan, the company that designed and installed the automation systems at North8. “With plummeting flat-screen TV pricing, advertising by Bose on TV, people’s expectations are completely different than they were five years ago.”

“No luxury developer would build a kitchen without a Sub-Zero fridge,” Mr. Claffey added. “It’s the same thing with technology. Our model is to align ourselves with real estate developers. Our goal is to help them sell units using technology.”

Other developments that have home automation systems include 995 Fifth Avenue, at 81st Street, once known as the Stanhope. Its touch screen will allow residents to control the heating and air-conditioning but also to make restaurant reservations and to ask the garage to deliver their cars.

At the Ikon, a condo rising at McCarren Park in Williamsburg, every apartment comes with a video intercom system that allows residents to communicate with the concierge. There are also optional upgrades, costing about $3,000 to about $18,000 or more, that include heating and air-conditioning controls, audio controls and a “nanny cam,” which allows parents to monitor what’s going on at home.

Though the technology may sound complicated, the operation is intuitive, users and designers insist. Most companies offer continuing support and service, and when things do break down, there are no moving parts to fix, they say.

As Mr. Hauser of Midtown Technologies put it: “It’s all application-based, which means that a problem is all inside the computer software. Correcting the problem is usually a matter of reloading the software or finding a virus. They’ll never have to tear up the wall — the plumbers will do far more damage to your walls.”

New technology is enabling new buildings to enhance their security systems, including keyless access, digital surveillance systems and in the not-too-distant future, biometrics, in which camera recognition of residents’ faces will be needed for entry.

“All the developers are doing this type of stuff,” said Jon Ecker, the president of Peace of Mind Technologies in Manhattan. “A lot of it ends up being a marketing solution and an amenity for prospective buyers and tenants. When they know there’s video intercom or card access, that’s looked at as a special feature of the building.”

Then there’s the wow factor that technomenities can provide. The Ritz-Carlton Residences in North Hills, on Long Island, will be chockablock with technological innovations, said Dan Pfeffer, the president of Midtown Equities, its developer.

Before his company begins a project, he said, he assembles his technologically savvy staff in his office. “We start by talking about things that bother them in their day-to-day lives,” he said. “We take these problems and try to create solutions.”

One such problem, Mr. Pfeffer said, is the seemingly interminable wait for the front gate to open — something that won’t happen at the new Ritz-Carlton. “There’s no reason to wait,” he said. “We’re going to give you a device, a chip, that goes in your car. As you get closer to the gate and enter the deceleration lane, it’ll judge your speed and open by the time you get there.”

Then, when residents enter that gate, the valet will automatically be notified. He or she will be there to meet them, along with the concierge, who will be ready to help with packages. As residents walk into the building, the elevator will waiting to whisk them to their floor, eliminating the need to push a button.

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Gabriele Stabile for The New York Times

Parimal Pandya bought a two-bedroom apartment for $500,000.

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Big Brothers At the Archstone-Clinton, a rental building on West 52nd Street, a high-tech laundry room allows residents to log on to a Web site to see if a washer or dryer is available.

Such technology “differentiates our product from other products on the market,” Mr. Pfeffer said. “It’s not just about what the place looks like anymore. As developers, we spend a lot of time designing our units. I’d say we spend almost as much time now designing the technology that goes into our properties.”

The same goes for sales centers, which are increasingly high-tech, too. The soon-to-open sales center for the Ritz-Carlton in North Hills, for example, “has the ability to adjust the rooms based upon who you are and what you like — the style of music, the temperature, the lighting,” Mr. Pfeffer said. In the model’s media room, a single male may find baseball games and high volume, and older couples may get softer lighting and old movies.

Technology can also power special features, like the off-site wine storage available at the Element, a condo rising on West 59th Street. Residents will get a password to allow them access to a virtual cellar; they can buy wine online, request delivery and see real-time calculations of their “liquid net worth.”

And at the Archstone-Clinton, a rental building on West 52nd Street, a high-tech laundry room allows residents to log on to a Web site to see if a washing machine is available; it will also send an e-mail or text message when their washer or dryer has stopped. (When residents log on, the machines being used are shown in red and even vibrate a bit.)

Though technology like this may seem up-to-the-minute and urban, it actually grew out of a suburban phenomenon. “The trend started in stand-alone homes,” said Kunal Shah, the vice president for strategy and sales at Clareo Networks. “We found that when baby boomers sell their suburban homes, they want the same things they had there, here.”

That was a big selling point for Mr. Pandya, the buyer at Liberty Harbor, whose current home in Princeton, N.J., is tricked out with a remote-access climate control system he installed himself, multiple plasma-screen TV sets and digital picture frames, which are connected to the Internet and can be automatically updated with new pictures from friends and family. “I’ll have suburban convenience with an urban lifestyle,” he said. “I want to be a New Yorker, but I still want to have my toys.”

By LISA KEYS

Published: June 10, 2007

Welcome

noreply@blogger.com (Bright Home Theater) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 14:23:00 +0000

You should always check references, talk with current clients, and look for relevant certifications. In the case of installing quality home theater systems it is important that installers handle quality equipment and have a particular interest in the quality of high end sound and video not just the hottest new product. At Bright Home Theater in Manhattan we always provide a list of references for anyone asking for it. We also handle quality brands like Totem speakers, Arcam Audio and Video equipment as well as Marantz, Denon, Pioneer, and highend speaker lines like Von Schweikert. Please feel free to give us a call for any of you Home Theater Installation questions. We love answering questions even for do it yourselfers.

Kerry Bright
Bright Home Theater and Audio