Hey guys I got a model home in a new subdivision.

4 rooms of audio 3 in ceiling 1 outdoor

Theater in the basement

Flat panel in the living room

Now I know you would have to see the place for specifics,  BUT what other than the obvious should
I show in this house.

the plans are a Russound 4 zone 4 source system
1080p projector with towers and in-ceiling in the Theater
46” panel, wrapped with L, C, and R with in-ceilings.
URC Mx800 Remote,

any “concepts” would help
doesn’t necessarily have to be brand specific

Congratulations Mistercee.  Hopefully the builder is willing to pay you for the setup.  There are questions I have that would change the direction I would go.  Like what’s the asking price of the homes, square footage and city.

In general, as a low voltage contractor I would be looking at the possibility of sellng:

Intercom (front door/gate plus in house)
central vac
alarm system
CCTV
structured wiring (phone, data, cable)
lighting control (in model homes it could help with occupancy sensing features, if you use a control system, you could trigger audio as you enter the home, back yard, theater…)

As for the audio/video - it is going to really depend heavily on the market you are working in.

-Morgan

Generally a model home is a place where we like to set our selves apart from the competition.  Try utlizing products only available through custom installers.  But also watch out for the bottom line which is the price.  Most of our builders know that we cannot give product away and for those intallers who do will not be in biz long…..This is a great opportunity for you.  Good luck….

are you just doing this for the builder or is he letting you use it as a demo-house?

1 - get paid up front. Models in my area do not generally push that high-end of tech because people are there to buy a house, not electronics. Are you using HD cable or blu-ray with that projector? If not, I would go 720.
2- are you on the hook for service/repair? these things run all day every day and could fail or foul-up if a customer or kid messes with it.
3- 4 source/4 zone? why? (unless its a demo house). save some money and go simple/cheaper. you can explain upgrades available without having to show it.

Hey KISS, THANKS

You make a lot of sense

go cheaper but do just a bit of noce automation to intrigue the customer and have him ask questions , then you sell him.You can lose alot of money going all out on a show house model,the idea is to put in a little (in a smart way) and get out alot.

Lighting control would be a great addition, both in the dedicated theater, as well as around the home… or at least in the entry and most used parts of the home. It’s relatively easy to install, and if you’re already using URC remotes, take a look at the URC/Lutron partnership which allows control of specially branded Lutron dimmers for use with URC remotes.

The URC/Lutron lighting control option is also expandable, so when you show someone that cool factor and they ask if it can be put in the rest of the home, you just say yes, replace a few dimmers and reprogram the remote. Now you’re the hero.

LUCKY.

Pin the perimeter doors so you could do some basic automation with customers coming in and out of the house. Think lights rising, a nice background music playlist, things that will be noticed right away.

I would definitely upgrade the remote interface. The MX800 is OLD. Try a MX880 (almost the same price, same programming, color screen) or better yet a two-way set-up. Yes the MX6000 is nice (and expensive) but by the time the house is ready for electronics RTI might have their z-wave setups out which can of course integrate with many devices. I’m not an RTI rep or anything but their product is closed (unlike some competition) which is really important to me.

I would also at least wire for a keypad that (with the right control system) could control ALL the subsystems.

I wouldn’t worry about the 1080P projector. Save some money with 720.

Where is the head-end? Consider doing a flush-mount rack system in the theater if you aren’t already.

Any form of lighting control is going to be important.

I disagree with downgrading the multi-source multi-zone setup. A keypad that has choices and any type of source control is a huge selling point over a passive VC system. In my opinion any 4 zone system shouldn’t be using anything but. The Russound isn’t bad but you might check out Nuvo Simplese because it might actually cost less than a VC system.

Thanks for all your feedback guys