I was approached by a client in 2005/6 who was looking to have their home rennovated. They weren't 100% sure what they wanted Tuff Systems to do for them but the following criteria were put to us:
- Listen to music in the garden and almost every room in the house.
- Watch Sky HD in every room with a TV.
- Have surround sound in their Lounge and Familly Room.
- A lighting system throughout the whole of the house.
- Install a CCTV system.
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Lighting System
Due to the house being relatively new, a full electrical rewire was uncecessary. As a result we were presented with the choice of installing fresh cabling to every room to provide for a centralised lighting system or utilise the existing infrastructure for a modular one.
We chose the latter which meant a Rako lighting system would be the most suitable product. Rako Lighting Systems are modular and can be hidden very easily through the appeture of a light fixture, providing a very discreet retro fit. Another benefit was that the battery operated keypads negated the need for any further wiring and proved for a very quick and efficient install.
The Rako lighing system was then interfaced with the Crestron Home Automation System to allow control of the lighting system from keypads around the house, to create a fully automated experience.
A Rako MB1 module was installed, which records your lighting usage patterns as you live in the house, so that when you are away, these can be replayed as a bonus security feature.
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Multi Room Audio
The clients requirements demanded a very capable and scalable Multi Room Audio System with 10 zones of audio, two of which were Home Cinema rooms with 5.1 and 6.1 surround sound respectively. Due to the pedigree of the installation, we chose to use a Crestron Adagio system which gave us 12 independent audio zones with a maximum of 10 audio sources. To this we connected; 2 FM/AM Radio Tuners , a 4 Zone Sound Server, 2 Sky Boxes and a DVD Player, enabling the user to listen to any of these audio sources anywhere in their home.
Various Crestron touch panels and touch screen remotes were allocated around the home to control the system. We used basic LCD Keypads in audio only zones, 4" colour touch screens in audio and video zones and a 12" colour touch screen in the kitchen as it was the "hub of the house." A 10" Colour touchscreen remote was also provided with roaming capability, so that it could be used in any room they desired.
Bower and Wilkins were the speakers of choice for the installation, with 6" ceiling speakers being installed in all rooms except the Cinema's and Master Bedroom.
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Home Cinema
It was specified that there were to be two TV rooms with surrond sound, one should be high end and the other reasonable high end. It was very important for us to keep the Cinema Rooms very discreet and minimal and not have the equipment dominate the room. We achieved this by locating the DVD players Sky boxes and Amplifiers in a centrally located rack, hidden away but yet conveniently accessible.
For the Family Room, we used a Pioneer PDP 506XD, which was wall mounted centrally above existing fitted furniture. Around the screen we installed Bowers and Wilkins CWM LCR 7's into the brick wall and we used B&W CDS3's, dipolar speakers, which offer awesome rear channel effect. A Proac subwoofer was discreetly located beside the sofa, hidden from view.
For the Lounge, we used the Pioneer 5000EX, the first ever full HD screen sporting the best contrast ratio seen to date. As this room requires something a little more special we installed B&W CWM LCR8's, with a single 6" B&W ceiling speaker making up the 6.1 configuration. As a finishing touch a REL Storm subwoofer was used to really shake the room when it was needed!
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Multi Room Video
Due to the installation being prior to the explosion of HDMI, and the lack of HDMI custom install products on the market at the time, we wired the house in component video cable. This allowed us to send analogue HD signals up to 1080p to all TV rooms within the house. A Kramer RGB HV switcher was used to control the flow of video and the Crestron Adagio system looked after the audio distribution.
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Integrated Security
We upgraded the exisiting alarm panel to a Texecom Premiere 24, which provided us with the ability to integrate it with the Crestron Home Automation System. This enabled us to interface with the alarm system through Crestron allowing the user to arm and disarm the system from the convenience of their touch panels.
Using the alarm sensors throughout the house we were then able to create automated responses from doors opening and closing. Whenever the garage doors opened the lights were programmed to automatically come on and if the front door was opened after dusk, the hallway lights came on. We were also able to program panic buttons onto the keypads around the house and whenever the alarm was set off after dusk, all the lights came on as a further detterent.
A Dedicated Micros Eco 9 digital CCTV recorder was installed with an 8 camera system, which was then integrated with the Multi Room Video System. The user was able to view the cameras through any of their TV's and also through compatible touch screens.
For ease of use, the Dedicated Micro's unit was programmed onto each touch panel so that the user could control which cameras they wanted to view and select multiple cameras to be viewed at once. We also networked the unit so that the user could view and manage the system over their computer network.
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For more information, or a no-obligation chat about your requirements, call 0845 304 5472 or request a quote
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