All Articles Tagged Nirv

Julie Jacobson | 04/30 09:40 AM, 52 Comments

SpeakerCraft -- a subsidiary of Nortek, Inc (Nasdaq: NTK). -- has abandoned its Nirv multiroom audio, video and control system after spending four years on the project. Nirv was to be a whole-house A/V system requiring only a single Cat 5 cable to deliver content and two-way control using CobraNet networking technology. While home automation was a key element of the original system, announced in 2009, SpeakerCraft backed off of that feature to focus on multiroom audio and video. “Nortek is working very hard to better integrate all of its… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 01/30 01:14 PM, 18 Comments

Well, it took a few years, but the IP-enabled Nirv multiroom A/V system from SpeakerCraft is now shipping to a limited number of dealers. Several installations have been completed. “It’s unlike anything else SpeakerCraft has done,” says Nirv product manager Dan Kippycash. He doesn’t mean the product, necessarily, but the rollout. It is happening very slowly, with a handful of dealers getting access to the line - 33 are now certified - and the manufacturer participating in many of the early installations. “We’re not trying to do it too fast,”… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 11/14 10:18 AM, 2 Comments

CEDIA Expo 2011 was two months ago, but the innovations from the event are still fresh. While there were some mind-blowing products like Sony's affordable 4K projector, there were also some more modest developments that signify industry trends: Return of the touchscreens iPad and Android tablets were all over the show floor, as usual, but that doesn’t signify the end of the dedicated touchscreen. Seems they’re actually enjoying a comeback, even in the middle market. Both Control4 and URC introduced new 7-inch touchpanels that look like sleek tablets but act… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 09/29 07:44 AM, 22 Comments

This year at CEDIA Expo 2011, SpeakerCraft touted two completely opposite speaker lines: one that disappears completely behind the walls and another that is in-your-face and designed to be seen. The latter is the Roots line which takes SpeakerCraft back to its -- wait for it -- roots. The high-gloss brightly-colored bookshelf speakers and subs look like they’re from the 1970s, when SpeakerCraft was born. And that’s a good thing because these days retro is in. So is good sound. “I became a vinyl junkie and obsessed with two-channel audio,”… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 09/16 09:15 AM, 18 Comments

SpeakerCraft is working furiously to ready Nirv for shipping. The whole-house audio, video and control system has been revamped since its introduction at CEDIA 2009. CE Pro got a sneak preview last month at SpeakerCraft headquarters in Riverside, Calif. Feedback from beta testers encouraged SpeakerCraft to make some fairly substantial changes, according to president Jeremy Burkhardt. As if the system weren’t simple enough already, he says, “they told us to eliminate features.” For example, SpeakerCraft made the painful decision to cease development on its own touchscreens for Nirv, which simply… View this story

Steve Crowe | 07/01 09:22 AM, 14 Comments

SpeakerCraft. You either love 'em or hate 'em. But give them points for creativity. We've seen semi-nude dancers at CEDIA Expo 2008, a saloon at CEDIA Expo 1994, arcade games and more. The company's latest act doesn't have semi-nude dancers, but it addresses the latest about SpeakerCraft Nirv, which was introduced at CEDIA Expo 2009. The video below - in which Jeremy Burkhardt and Dan Kippycash (Dr. Nirv) are hanging out on railroad tracks - pushes the marketing envelope, but it also breaks some news about Nirv. Kippycash says Nirv… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 05/26 07:56 AM, 6 Comments

Daniel Kippycash has joined SpeakerCraft as product manager for the new Nirv whole-house A/V-over-IP system. Shown publicly for the first time at CEDIA 2009, Nirv is touted as the ultimate in networked audio/video, with whole-house 1080p video, audio, intercom, data and control -- all over a single Cat 5 cable. Kippycash is probably best known for his four-year stint at Crestron as director of business development, followed by a four-year go at a startup he founded called Xplore Solutions -- an ambitious developer of IP-based home automation systems that was… View this story

CE Pro Editors | 11/16 07:58 AM, 19 Comments

As 2009 draws to a close, SpeakerCraft president Jeremy Burkhardt, like most members of the custom installation industry, is looking ahead. With the economy slowly emerging from the recession, SpeakerCraft is preparing to aggressively go after the market segments that weren't always a priority for installers: mainstream consumers and retrofit installations. Burkhardt describes the company's forthcoming Nirv control/entertainment system as a product line that will redefine how the industry approaches control. Some CEDIA Expo 2009 attendees were speculating that you were targeting a "big control company." Can you say which… View this story

Tom LeBlanc | 11/09 09:10 AM, 0 Comments

You’ve heard of “cookie-cutter” solutions. Well, that’s not what will be discussed during the CE Pro webinar, “Package Products to Wrap Up Great Margins,” Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. EST, sponsored by Savant. The custom market is expanding and smart manufacturers — SpeakerCraft, Crestron and Savant, to name a few — are launching “affordable” products designed to appeal to more middle-market consumers. Packaging products or system packages are another way for CE pros to create new clients and expand their referral networks, according to Ben Jamison, VP of sales for… View this story

Tom LeBlanc | 08/04 01:48 PM,

Count me among those who enjoy Speakercraft's theatrics. I'm looking forward to what the company has in store for CEDIA Expo 2009 Not just what Speakercraft president Jeremy Burckhardt referred to as "the largest product introduction ever," which we now know is the Nirv IP-based 1080p multiroom audio/video solution, but also whatever whacky theme Speakercraft will create in its booth. A couple of years back it had an Eastern theme, complete with geisha booth attendants. Last year, well, I'm not really sure what that was. Some sort of exotic dance… View this story