04.27.2007 — For far too long, the focus within the consumer-audio industry has been on its backlash against portable-music players and home-theater-in-a-box (HTiB) systems.

Quietly, under the radar, while many manufacturers were revolting against these types of products, the multiroom-audio category has been building momentum thanks to increased awareness, more attainable price points and more user-friendly features.

One of the main drivers responsible for the growth of the category has been the revenue opportunity it provides homebuilders. The Consumer Electronics Association's (CEA) "4th Annual State of the Builder Technology" study found that multiroom audio is an increasing part of the options available for new homes, along with technologies such as structured wiring.

More recent CEA data from the "U.S. Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecasts 2002-2007" study further validates the growth of multiroom audio, revealing that speaker sales are growing in large part from greater investments in multiroom audio and HTiB owners wishing to upgrade their equipment.

Now that multiroom audio is establishing itself as a growing category, custom professionals have an opportunity to take advantage of the sales possibilities the category offers. These opportunities present themselves in three areas: basic systems, upselling advanced systems and add-on subwoofers.

Nevertheless, the task at hand for installers remains education. As much as the category has grown, its benefits still need to be communicated to both the public and builder sectors.

Cater to the Client's Senses

Over the past several years, the rise in prominence of Apple iPods, satellite radio and HD Radio has sparked a renewed enthusiasm by the general public for audio entertainment. Installers interested in capitalizing on the public's appetite for audio need to teach builders and consumers about how the category can enhance daily home activities.

David Rodarte, president of NuVo Technologies, says that with the installation community becoming more comfortable with the prospects of selling the category, sales are improving. Even so, there is more work that needs to be done. "Experienced dealers recognize the profit and consumer appeal of the category and are experiencing higher close ratios," he notes.

"These dealers indicate they expect compounding annual year growth in the 20 to 25 [percent] range. The CEA is reporting in the 15 percent growth rate at factory level, and emerging integrators, such as electrical and security contractors, along with network providers, are beginning to lose their trepidation of offering the category.

"They have discovered it is easy to install and is a great offering to more of the mass market or 'mover-upper' new-homebuyer. The primary obstacle to higher growth rates is educating the builder that whole-home audio adds profit for them, is appropriate for any new home, affordable and the consumer really wants the option. A number of CEA surveys show that the homebuilder does not believe that consumer demand exists."

Rodarte says the most practical way to grow these sales is to incorporate performance into the education curriculum. The best way to accomplish this, he notes, is to emphasize how good the equipment sounds and how it delivers a fun experience. "Whole-home audio is fidelity. I still scratch my head when I hear an industry person refer to multiroom audio as 'background' music," he says.

"There are many fine manufacturers producing multiroom systems that deliver substantial watts per channel to very efficient architectural speakers. When you deliver high fidelity, you enable the consumer to set a mood -- whether it's an intimate dining experience, a 'rock the house party,' or a quiet listening experience. You must paint the picture of the lifestyle enhancement that whole-home audio delivers."

He continues by saying that it is imperative that installers demonstrate to homeowners that they can enjoy their favorite music throughout their homes. Rodarte explains that dealers who use demo content that connects emotionally with their client are more likely be successful in selling products and services.

"Match the demonstration to the demographic of your client. Music is emotional and it sets off memories," says Rodarte. "If you know the approximate age of your client, calculate back to their high school and college age eras. For example, if the is client 52-years-old, he went to school from 1968 through 1976. Visit a site such as http://www.acclaimedmusic.net for the top hits and artists of that era, or ask [the customer] what their favorite XM channels are. Your sensitivity in providing 'their music' means exposure to your source upselling options. Also, find out in what areas of their house they desire music. Do they want music in the kitchen area? How about the deck, patio or master bedroom? These are the most frequently added zones or rooms by consumers."

Rodarte recommends integrating upselling tactics into the presentation to help sell products that further enhance the listening experience. "I also encourage dealers to demonstrate whole-home audio systems by introducing low frequencies via a subwoofer," he says.

"As we know, high frequencies are very directional because you can hear where they are coming from. We install architectural speakers for both space and design effectiveness. This creates what I refer to as hot spots, which produces, 'too much right, too much left, no imaging.' Low frequencies, being omni-directional or perceived in a non-directional fashion, help to add more depth. It sure makes the experience richer. Try demonstrating the system with a simple subwoofer 'on' and 'off,' then offering the option to the kitchen/great room area."

Make the System People Friendly

After the demo, the next phase of the sales process that installers have to be aware of is how the electronics will blend into a home environment. Joe Finn, Eastern Regional sales manager for Velodyne Acoustics, says integrators should consider three points to help them meet the intangible considerations of installing a multiroom system into a client's home:

• Customers often don't know that they need a subwoofer or what it does. They don't understand that swapping big speakers for small in-wall speakers means that the bass goes away. That's not a knock on any in-wall speaker vendor; it's the laws of physics.
  
  
• Customers that realize they need a subwoofer don't want a large one. Less expensive models usually are larger, as engineers take advantage of the "free amplification" afforded by larger boxes. Small (and usually costlier) high-performance subs are usually easier to "hide" in a home theater quote than in a multiroom audio quote.
  
  
• When you go to secondary locations, installers are usually just running wires to the in-wall speakers. They need to install wiring in a manner that allows for a small, but quality, self-amplified subwoofer to be part of the plan in each location.

Other issues that can materialize during an installation, Finn says, include aesthetic elements, like the capability to blend a boxed subwoofer into a smaller room, such as a den, bedroom or kitchen. He adds that this type of challenge puts the onus on the installer to investigate the advantages of some of today's well-engineered, architectural subwoofers that not only deliver thunderous bass, but the ability work with the rest of the system to fill the room with sound.

Emphasize Performance

Upselling a client into a higher performance multiroom system is always a nice way to augment sales, but the job isn't done when the client leaves the show room.

Once a system is sold and an installation is booked, the next point of emphasis needs to be performance. To be more specific, the task now becomes the ability to deliver the quality audio experience that was promised during the sale.

From a technical standpoint, this means an installer has to focus on room acoustics. Acoustics can have a dramatic affect on how a system performs regardless of what type of equipment is used. A common acoustical problem that installers run into involves how low frequencies or signals below 500Hz propagate throughout a room.

Explaining the problem, Paul DiComo, marketing manager for Polk Audio, says the problems start when sound waves collide. "Room modes [commonly referred to as Standing Waves] are produced whenever two waves of identical frequency interfere with one another in a room. This phenomenon can occur at any frequency, but in a practical sense is only a concern with low frequencies [bass]," he says.

"Simply put, when a subwoofer produces bass waves in a room, those waves bounce off of walls in the same way the waves in a pool reflect off the pool's sides. When the original waves and reflected waves encounter each other in the room, they either reinforce each other to make the bass louder or they cancel each other out by making the bass less loud or canceling it altogether. The result is uneven bass response throughout a room. One listener may hear very loud bass while another listener just a few feet away may hear almost no sound at the same frequency. The frequencies where the peaks and nulls occur are a function of the dimensions of the room."

DiComo notes that there are no tried-and-true methods that installers can utilize to minimize the problem of acoustics, but he says some of things installers can do include avoiding in-corner subwoofer placement, which may increase output at the expense of smoothness. Elaborating further, he says that adding extra subs along the walls can yield volume while also serving to smooth out the problem of room modes.

"One of the ways of dealing with uneven bass response in a room caused by room modes is to use judiciously placed multiple subwoofers that excite the room modes in different ways," he says. "Putting two subwoofers in the same location will make the bass louder, but it will do nothing to reduce the effects of room modes. Four subwoofers placed in the middle of the four walls will reduce the worst room mode problems."

In some ways, selling multiroom audio is like putting together a puzzle. When a dealer combines a stirring demo with quality components that are ergonomically friendly and also adds solid installation training, that company should be in good position for sales growth. Without all of these parts, the revenue stream is incomplete, just like a puzzle missing that final piece.