Wyrestorm Taps Stampede To Serve As Its First Distributor Of Pro Av Solutions

WyreStorm, a global manufacturer that specializes in innovative HD audio and video distribution products, and is a leading adopter of HDBaseT™ technology, today announced a strategic partnership with Stampede Presentation Products, Inc. to help drive sales of its ProAV solutions through the broad range of channels served by Stampede’s 11,000 dealer network. 

According Mark Dziekan, National Sales Manager of WyreStorm Pro AV Solutions, Stampede is the first distributor to be appointed by WyreStorm. 

“We are thrilled to announce this partnership with Stampede, a sales partner that shares our philosophy of providing meaningful value added distribution solutions to the professional marketplace," Dziekan said. "The Stampede team brings a complete program to its customers, a program that includes the industry’s broadest array of products that are backed up by a strategically focused management team, world-class online training, and outstanding customer support.  Their understanding of the AV/IT convergence that is now reshaping our markets makes them the ideal North American distribution partner for WyreStorm.”

“Our 11,000 dealers look to Stampede to bring them the products and solutions they need to help them grow their business every day of the year,” Stampede President & COO Kevin Kelly said today. “WyreStorm’s Pro AV Solutions will help them do just that.  They offer innovative AV switching, extender and HDBaseT distribution opportunities that our dealers, and their businesses, will benefit from. Full HD audio and video performance and reliability are essential when servicing the sophisticated design projects that our commercial and broadcast AV dealers work with. We are confident that the addition of WyreStorm products to our line will provide them with the high level of professional performance and flexibility demanded in those applications.”

According to Kelly, Stampede will offer WyreStorm’s Pro Plus matrices, award-winning digital amplifier, extenders and converters.  With a wide range of high performance WyreStorm HD AV distribution solutions to select from, Stampede customers will benefit from greater reliability of one-brand distribution solutions, consolidated product sourcing, and increased order management efficiencies.

Stampede will exhibit the WyreStorm product line at CEDIA 2013 at Booth #2531.  For more information about WyreStorm visit www.wyrestorm.com.  For more information about Stampede visit www.stampede-usa.com. 

Homeowner Builds, Lives In and Sells Homes With The ELAN g! Entertainment and Control System

Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based custom integrator Home Concepts, Inc. has found the perfect client—he’s a loyal customer, he loves the latest technology and he has built, lived in, and then sold three houses in the last five years, installing an ELAN® Home Systems A/V distribution system in each, and outfitting the latest one with the ELAN g! Entertainment and Control System. The latest system is so impressive that it won the CEDIA 2011 Electronic Lifestyles Silver Award for Integrated Home in the $70,500 – $105,500 level.

Homeowner Dr. Femi Adekeye, a Calgary-based Occupational Health Physician, said, “I enjoy designing and building homes, and including the latest technology adds a new level of interaction and sophistication with each house I build. We’ve been using ELAN systems for about five years now, and the systems keep getting better and better. I use my iPhone to adjust the system and check on things constantly, because I always have it with me, and the ELAN g! app is very simple to use. The whole-home control of audio/video, lighting, security and surveillance will be a big selling point when I put this home on the market, just as the audio/video systems were in my last two homes.”

The 6,000 square-foot home features an extensive audio/video system to keep the whole family entertained — the 7.1 home theater uses a Runco projector and 106” screen, seven ELAN in-wall speakers and a Sunfire HRS-12 subwoofer, and the rest of the house has six flat screen HDTVs including a 52-inch in the family room and master bedroom, a 40-inch behind the bar and three 46-inchers side-by-side in the gym. There are 12 independent audio zones and a total of 24 speakers, in addition to the home theater. These systems get their media from three satellite feeds, an am/fm receiver, a Sony 400-disc Blu-ray changer, Shoutcast Radio (built in to ELAN g!) and Apple TV for videos. The system also integrates with the home’s security, four outdoor surveillance cameras and DVR, and the CentraLite lighting system.

According to P.J. Aucoin, Sales Manager of Home Concepts, Inc., the company has been in business for seven years and has been an avid supporter of ELAN products since day one. “We were excited when the ELAN g! Entertainment and Control system was released, and that’s pretty much all we use now. I love the off-site programming capability so I don’t have to make a house call to change a single button, and it’s amazing when I show my clients that the user interface is the same on an iPad, an in-wall touch screen and a TV on-screen display. This is the second CEDIA award we’ve won in the Integrated Home category for an ELAN g! installation, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.”

Work has already begun on Dr. Adekeye’s next home, so now it’s just a matter of time before this home with the ELAN g! Entertainment and Control System is on the market.

The family can control the ELAN g! system through a TS7 seven-inch in-wall touch screen in the kitchen, seven TS2 touch panels throughout the house, several iPads, the kids’ iPod Touches and Dr. Adekeye’s iPhone and office computer. The equipment rack, tucked away in the wall of the home theater behind tinted glass, houses an ELAN HC12 Home Controller, ELAN V85 Component Video Controller, two ELAN S86A Multi-Room A/V Controllers, an ELAN C2 Communications Controller and an ELAN DT11 Tuner.

“My clients love how easy it is to go from lighting to HVAC to security all on one touch screen,” said Aucoin. “In new homes for sale, the ELAN g! Entertainment and Control System is what people gravitate to and remember about the home more than anything else. Pushing one button to turn on the lights or music in any room is so much more impressive than just a big TV hung on a wall, and it really separates these homes from others on the market.”

Available starting at under $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 room appliance. 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. The standardized interface works across platforms, so that the trendy g!Mobile app users love on the iPhone appears and works similarly on ELAN touch screens, valets and handheld remotes as well as users' televisions and mobile devices. 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.

Home Concepts, Inc. was formed by a group of highly trained and experienced CEDIA members to provide clients with certified professional home automation design and installation. The integrated Home Concepts team includes professional system designers, CEDIA certified installers and engineers who strive to make every project an award-winning system. The extended team includes contractors, electricians, security professionals and homebuilders. Their collaborative team approach allows them to build rewarding relationships with their clients and ensures high quality products and service from a diverse, dedicated team. For more information, please visit www.homeconceptsdesign.com.

Niles SI-1230 12-Channel Power Amplifier Inducted Into CEDIA Product Hall of Fame at CEDIA Expo 2011

The Niles® SI-1230 12-Channel Systems Integration Amplifier was inducted into the CEDIA Product Hall of Fame last week at CEDIA Expo 2011 in Indianapolis, Indiana. According to CEDIA, "The Product Hall of Fame was developed to show the origins of the residential electronics industry and track the progression of product development and technology."

The SI-1230 Systems Integration Amplifier is a 12-channel power amplifier that delivers exceptional sound quality and offers unique configuration features that solve common whole-house distributed audio challenges.

“We developed the SI-1230 Systems Integration Amplifier to help the professional systems designer simplify and optimize today’s complex installations through an array of application specific features that enhance flexibility and performance,” said Mike ‘Sparky’ Detmer, President of Niles. “Niles continues to lead the custom audio industry in both design and innovation, and our passion for excellence has now been recognized with the SI-1230’s induction into the CEDIA Product Hall of Fame. I accept this honor on behalf of everyone here at Niles. ”

The SI-1230 is a 12-channel amplifier that delivers a solid 30 watts per channel RMS into 8 ohms and 37 watts per channel RMS into 4 ohms. The massive Multi-Tap Toroid power transformer features six independent secondary transformers for each of the six amplifier modules. As a result, the SI-1230 delivers twenty percent more power than its predecessor, the SI-1200. This extraordinary power supply design provides the energy necessary to deliver solid, deep, controlled bass response to a house full of speakers.

In addition, Each of the SI-1230’s six adjacent output pairs are bridgeable, allowing for up to six 80 watt channels by sliding the bridging switches located between each pair to the “bridged” position. This enables you to allocate more power to specific locations, such as large rooms or outdoor applications.

ELAN Home Systems' HR2 Awarded 2011 Resi Award for Best Remote Control

ELAN Home Systems last week was awarded the 2011 Resi Award by Residential Systems magazine in the category of Remote Control for the ELAN HR2 Remote. The award was presented to ELAN at the 2011 Resi Awards CEDIA Expo Reception in Indianapolis, Indiana.

"With ELAN g! we set out to create the best whole house system, making sure that the whole family could enjoy it," said Paul Starkey, president of ELAN Home Systems. "The HR2 is the most logical extension of that system because everyone has and uses a remote control. We aimed to break the mold of whole house control - and together, the ELAN g! Series and the HR2 remote do just that.”

Each year, Residential Systems magazine presents the prestigious Resi Awards to honor the best products exhibited at CEDIA EXPO, based on their industrial design.

“This year’s Resi Awards finalists demonstrate, once again, that innovation and elegant design need not be sacrificed during challenging economic times,” stated Residential Systems editorial director Jeremy Glowacki.

The sleek ELAN HR2, the company’s first ever remote, features the ELAN "g!" engine and hybrid use of backlit buttons with a 2.4" OLED touch display. This provides all the function of hard buttons and a touch screen packaged in a stylish remote that weighs a mere 8 ounces. Nearly a year of development went into the remote's shape and button layout, and that plays out in a very pleasing and easy-to-use button configuration, with a crisp clear touch display of the g! icon controls. This delivers quick-touch access to media, climate, lighting and security subsystems. Its ergonomic design is easy on the hands and eyes, and is ready on pickup thanks to a noiseless accelerometer and instant-on electronics. Integrated Wi-Fi and IR ensure rich metadata content as well as speedy local control of sources and TVs.

Beyond function, a major part of the remote's appeal is the gentle and artistic sculpting of the bottom and back so that depth quickly goes from one inch in the palm to a half inch midway up for an easy and balanced grip. Its Lithium Polymer battery provides superior battery life with the display on or on standby. A stylish charging base is included and keeps the HR2 in a handy upright position - ready to grab-and-go with a minimal footprint.

The industry's most intuitive new control solution - "g!" - is what powers the HR2, and it is a welcome advance over the complexity of its predecessors. "g!" features uniform, icon-based control from favorite devices including TVs, touch screens, touchpads - even PCs and iPhones. The standardized GUI interface works across more than 11 platforms, so that the trendy g!Mobile app users love on the iPhone appears and works similarly on ELAN's HR2 and all other g! touch controllers as well as users' televisions and mobile devices. Individual "apps" for each subsystem allow the user to control security, climate, lighting, media, irrigation, pool/spa, messaging, video and photos with the flick of a finger. Access through the system's IP backbone is fast and secure through any ELAN home interface or globally with mobile Internet enabled devices like the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Netbooks and PC Tablets.

ELAN HR2 Handheld Remote Control:

• 
  
• All the speed, response & graphics of a touch screen
• All the ease-of-use, simplicity-of-programming & affordability of a remote control
• 43 backlit Hard buttons 3 additional programmable buttons
• 2.4" OLED display
• Noiseless accelerometer for activating LCD and backlight
• 802.11g communication provides robust metadata feedback
• IR blaster for line-of-sight control
• Quick & easy programming using the ELAN Configurator
• Compatible with all g! System Controllers
• Ships standard with battery and charging base
• Controls all AV sources with metadata feedback for supported devices
• Controls security, lighting, and climate with metadata feedback
• Supports all drivers that run on other g! interfaces

MidwichHome Features The Brands Of The AVC Group At The 2011 CEDIA Home Technology Event

MidwichHome, the newly appointed exclusive United Kingdom distributor of the brands of The AVC Group will be showcasing UK market product introductions from ELAN Home Systems, Niles Audio, Xantech, Sunfire, and ATON at the 2011 CEDIA Home Technology Event, 28-30 June, 2011. The introductions will be made and displayed at MidwichHome’s Stand B7, at the ExCeL London.

Lee Hooker, sales manager for MidwichHome, said: “We are proud to present these iconic custom installation brands to the United Kingdom market. The AVC brands provide professional installers with industry-leading audio, video and control solutions for residential applications, and through this exclusive partnership we are pleased to establish Midwich as the UK’s leading source for custom home electronics installations.”

Product Introductions from the brands are as follows:

ELAN Home Systems will announce that its ELAN g! Series Home Control System is available for immediate delivery to UK customers with built-in multi-language support. ELAN will also be introducing its “Killer Combo” control solution, which combines the award-winning HR2 multimedia-and-home-control remote with the new HC4 four sub-system Home Controller into one affordably priced packaged solution. Also ELAN will introduce two new system controllers to its family of on-wall, can-mount, and rack-mount controller series that feature integrated serial ports, IR ports, relays, sense inputs, and audio outputs — the new ELAN HC4 and HC8 System Controllers which are available for delivery within 30 days.

NILES Audio will introduce the third generation of its DS Directed Soundfield Ceiling-Mount Loudspeaker line and the new ICS Ceiling Mount Loudspeaker lineup. Niles will also announce that it is now shipping the IntelliControl ICS IM-NET Module, the latest in the growing family of source integration modules for the GXR2 MultiZone Receiver. IM-NET plays popular digital music file formats stored on the home’s network and streams music from Internet radio services.

Xantech will debut its Quick Configuration software installation/configuration mode for its MX88 IP-enabled multi-zone audio/video controller. By employing Quick Configuration software, the installer can instantly configure the MX88 for multiple zones and sources throughout a residence without the need of an external computer to program the system. The MX88 can be used to control every aspect of the home theater including audio/video, lighting and drapes. Additionally, it can be programmed to control the air conditioning/heating system, home security and video surveillance cameras.

Sunfire will be unveiling its powerful yet budget-friendly Dynamic Series of subwoofers, in 8”, 10” and 12” models. Tuned for both low frequency Home Theater Effects and powerhouse musical bass lines, these new subwoofers boast up to 600 Watts Peak Power. Also being introduced is the Sunfire Universal Wireless Subwoofer Kit. Comprised of a receiver and transmitter, the Kit is compatible with any third-party manufacturer’s powered subwoofer and eliminates new wires — making the placement of a subwoofer anywhere in a room easier than ever before.

ATON will be introducing to the UK market the industry’s first pre-programmed Whole House “Music & More” System, the ATON AH66T Kit. The new kit features the AH66T Multi-Source Multi-Zone Controller plus six (6) OLED2 touchpads that offer full-color graphic control and feedback. With built-in programming to run market leading sources like the iPort® and Lutron™ RadioRA®2, the affordable multi-room audio solution allows dealers to rapidly deploy a first-time or add-on audio system with iPod® & lighting control capability ready to go.

About MidwichHome:
Established in January 2011, MidwichHome is the home technology division of Midwich, the UK’s leading trade-only distributor of AV, IT and consumer electronics.

Midwich was named Specialist Distributor of the Year at the Channel Awards 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, and AV Distributor of the Year at the AV Awards 2003, 2006, 2008 and 2009. Midwich won the Microscope ACE Award for AV Distributor of the Year 2008, 2009 and 2010 and Logistics Team of the Year 2010. The business is currently ranked 174 on the Times Top Track 250 of private mid-market companies. To find out more, visit www.midwich.com.