'Home For The Ages' With ELAN g! Brings Together Family Members Of All Ages

 The most important aspect of any home entertainment or control system is that everyone who wants to use it can do so easily without training. That’s why this ‘home for the ages’ located in Wisconsin features the ELAN g! Home Entertainment and Control System that is simple enough to be used by family members of all ages.

To give their relatives the best and most relaxing experience during their frequent visits to their new lake home, the homeowners wanted to include a state-of-the-art home entertainment and control system that’s easy enough for anyone to use and powerful enough to control everything in the house, from the TVs to the pool equipment.

“Having everything in our home tied together with the ELAN g! system does is amazing, but the best part is it takes less than five minutes to show someone how to use it,” the homeowner said. “We constantly have guests over and host parties, so there are people of all ages using the system. It’s as easy as using an iPod and the interface is the same no matter what device we use, so everyone in our family jumped right in and loved it!”

Hugh Connolly of Lake Forest, Illinois-based HVC Construction Consultants was the homeowners’ representative and in charge of design and development for the home. When Hugh was tasked with putting in a top-of-the-line home entertainment and control system, his cousin Mark Connolly of Scottsdale, Arizona-based Connolly Audio, LLC was his first choice. As first cousins who grew up outside of Chicago within 20 miles of each other, Hugh and Mark Connolly have collaborated on numerous projects throughout the years, both before and after Mark moved to Arizona. In fact, Hugh recently helped Mark design his own home theater in Scottsdale, in which Mark built a professional projection system controlled with the ELAN g! System.

So when the Wisconsin homeowners told Hugh they wanted to install a top-of-the-line home entertainment and control system, Hugh thought of Mark because he knew Mark would deliver every feature and capability the homeowners wanted. Mark flew in to consult and offer his advice, and he quickly developed a rapport with the homeowners and was contracted to design and install the home’s ELAN g! Entertainment and Control System.

“The family knew they wanted a competitively-priced system that gives them full consolidated control of every system in their home—lights, heating, air conditioning, security, surveillance, whole-house audio and video, even the pool equipment,” Mark Connolly said. “And the most important thing was that it be easy to use for everyone in the family, without having to teach them. When I heard all of those words—control everything, easy-to-use, affordable—I knew the ELAN g! System would be the perfect solution. They were thrilled when I showed them that it’s easy enough for them, their kids and their relatives to use with no training.”

And the system really does control everything in the home—seven Aprilaire thermostats, the Lutron lighting system, 24 audio zones that distribute to more than 50 ELAN Elios speakers, eight video zones, the home theater, the Elk Security System, the surveillance system and the Jandy pool controls.

The homeowner wanted a TV alongside the bathroom sink, so Connolly Audio installed an ELAN TS10 10-inch touch screen, which doubles as a TV thanks to its analog video input. Everyone in the family can control the system through another TS10 in the authentic Irish Pub-style bar, two TS7 seven-inch touch screens in the master bedroom and the main basement room, one TS2 four-inch touch pad, an iPad and nine ELAN HR2 remotes—one for every TV in the house! The system is also controllable through the ELAN g! app installed on every computer in the home.

In an effort to keep everything connected and simple to use, Connolly even connected the tennis house, a separate building from the main house located almost 900 feet away. He used cat5 cable to connect the properties so that the two surveillance cameras on the tennis house would be viewable right alongside the two cameras at the main house on the ELAN g! interface.

A walk through the home may only reveal six TVs, but there are two additional flatscreens that were custom installed to be hidden from view! In the great room a painting raises at the touch of a button to reveal an LCD TV built into the wall, and in the master bedroom another LCD TV rises from the base of the bed, giving the owners an uncluttered aesthetic without sacrificing access to their favorite television and movies.

Each of the home’s eight HDTVs can access content from three cable boxes and a Blu-ray player, and any of the 24 audio zones can be set to broadcast music from an iPort iPod dock, Sirius Satellite Radio, am/fm radio or ELAN g!’s own streaming music service, Shoutcast.

The equipment for the system is centrally located in two Slim 5 racks and includes an ELAN HC12 Home Controller, four ELAN S86 Multi-Zone Controllers, four ELAN D12 Amplifiers, one ELAN V85 Component Video Controller, two Panamax BlueBOLT M43Pros and a Panamax BlueBOLT UPS.
The home theater includes a JVC projector and a Screen Innovations Black Diamond screen along and is controlled with an ELAN HR2 remote.

Mark Connolly began experimenting with car audio at the age of 14 and turned his passion for technology and technical perfection into a career that has spanned more than 20 years in the custom installation industry. His expertise has helped him build Connolly Audio 100 percent by referrals, and now he is regularly called upon by industry colleagues to assist on and troubleshoot their installations. He designs and installs full home automation systems and professional home theaters for affluent clients who appreciate his wealth of knowledge and experience, and he prides himself on working closely with clients to deliver the exact solutions they want. Connolly Audio services what they sell, so every client is assured their system will remain as perfect as the day it was completed. With enthusiastic support from his wife Teresa and design assistance from his cousin Hugh, Mark installed a brand new, fully ELAN g!-controlled home theater in his own house that will serve as the client showroom for Connolly Audio.

Available starting at $2,000 for a single-room, four sub-system control solution, the ELAN g! Series Control System can be expanded quickly and cost-effectively to enable whole-home control of every system. ELAN g! provides users with the most uniform and intuitive icon-based control from their favorite devices, including TVs, touch screens, touchpads, PCs, iPhones, and iPads. And the system's IP backbone makes it just as easy to control the system from across the room—or across the globe.

The ELAN g! System has been awarded a 2011 Residential Systems Magazine RESI Award, a 2011 Custom Retailer Magazine EXCITE! Award, a 2011 CE Pro Magazine BEST Award, a Platinum Level 2011 CEA Mark of Excellence Award by the Consumer Electronics Association and a 2011 Gold Level Electronic House Magazine Product of the Year Award.