CE Pro Community

Introduce Yourself!

2008-03-27T14:35:32-05:00

I’m Jason Unger, the publisher of cepro.com ... my wife and I live outside of Washington DC, recently relocated from Boston.

Thankfully, we never picked up the accent

Home Theater / Whole House Audio Design Software

2008-06-20T13:56:46-05:00

Can anyone recommed an off the shelf HT and or Whole House Audio design software package? I would like to show my customers layouts of what their system would look like. This includes wiring schematics, device placements and etc. Any help would be appreciated.

AV Distributors Needed

2008-07-23T12:33:12-05:00

Can any recommend an A/V distributor other than AVAD? I’m just trying to build my list of suppliers. I believe I saw something from CE Pro about distributors sometime ago. I can’t seem to put my hands on it though. Any help would be appreciated.

Demo Material

2008-05-12T08:41:56-05:00

I am presently in the process of opening my first showroom. While the equipment availible is endless,weeding through and finding good demo material is a different story. Any suggestions?

What type of trainings would you like your distributor to offer?

2008-08-23T01:05:38-05:00

We are in the process of putting together our training schedule for 2009. We’re always looking for new ideas and better ways to help our dealers. I’m hoping a few of you could let me know what you would like to see more of or less of. Are you happy with the trainings and seminars offered at your local distributor? Would you attend seminars on finance, business management, local laws and codes etc.? Are there issues or topics you are looking to learn more about? If so, what are they? Your input would be greatly appreciated.

Sonos is to music as X is to video?

2008-08-18T20:00:20-05:00

In my opinion, a PC’s access to the Internet offers the best content for a consumer. The best part of Sonos is being able to deliver 3 million songs of Rhapsody content anywhere or frequently listened to MP3’s from a NAS. The future is not media servers. The future is unlimited content libraries that you rent and consume how you want.

That said, if Sonos is that medium for music right now. What is the analog in the video world? What can distribute video content from places like Hulu, ABC.com, BBC.com, MovieLink and others in the same way to multiple rooms?

The Official CE Pro 100 Thread

2008-05-02T14:32:00-05:00

The CE Pro 100 is out!
http://www.cepro.com/article/ce_pro_100_reports_9_revenue_jump/

The list always seems to be controversial for some reason or another. What do you really think?

WANTED - The definitive CE Pro photo

2008-08-04T11:11:44-05:00

Greetings!

Glad to see this board has been gaining interest recently.

Here is a challenge that I hope will spark activity, interest, and perhaps give us all some new perspective on how to look at what we do as an industry.

I ask peers at various industry events this question and get a lot of blank stares, a forum is a great place to ask this question, so here it goes.

For years I have browsed through the trade publications, consumer magazines, and ‘best installation’ contest entries looking for one thing…

The most definitive photo or illustration that captures and says what a CE Pro really does for a home and its occupants.

Based on the typical illustration I see year in and year out, it seems that even the best PR and Marketing Professionals that serve our industry cannot come up with anything more than a picture of a nice room, with a big screen, and a touchpanel positioned in the frame of view.

It always the touchpanel that makes the attempt at communicating that there is more involved here than a TV on the wall.

Most of the photos of drop dead brilliant designs that are well executed either say to me ‘CEO Home Theater’ - ‘Nice Kitchen’ - or ‘Beautiful Living Room - who is the interior designer?’

Look at the CEDIA calendar, year over year, the images depict a home theater or a multi-purpose room of sorts that shows video screens and some sort of complex control.

This focus on the TV and the remote seems natural since they are visible - but they short change the CE Pro big time - its more than just TV’s - right?

We all know it is so very much more, but it is how to capture and communicate it in a single image what is a CE Pro and what do we do for homes and their occupants that has been very illusive.

I seem to think an illustration or animation might be the way to wrap it all up into a single message that says it.

So, who has seen it?

Who already has it?

Who can create it?

I have loads of great photos of my own projects throughout my career, they are fun to look at, share, and talk about with others, but on their own, without explanation, they fall far short of telling the story quickly and completely.

OK, so some discussion is sure to occur over this, but to make it fun, I will put up $100 in the form of an Amazon gift certificate to the CE Pro that submits, posts, or even points someone else’s single photo or illustration that says it all to an industry outsider without explanation.

This is not a contest, think of it more as a scavenger hunt - I just want to make it real.

Best-

Niles Products

2008-07-21T16:51:37-05:00

I’m just curious to hear your thoughts on multizone whole house audio distribution products made by NIles. More specificaly the ZR4 product. I have a few clients who have inquired about it and would like to make an informed recommendation on installation, programming, capatibility and etc. Any help would be appreciated.

Study for Audiovideo professionals

2008-07-22T17:56:06-05:00

Hi my name is Austin Wong and am working for a strategy consulting firm in Chicago, L.E.K. Consulting. We’re conducting a 20-30 minute online survey for A/V professionals in exchange for a $50 amazon.com gift certificate. For those CTSers out there, we are also members of Infocomm.

More information here: http://www6.intellisurvey.com/run/eri0766062/?pan=2

If you have any questions, feel free to private message me and my contact info is at the url above.

Thanks, Austin