“It was interesting working with three brothers, all with different personalities,” says Rod. “That was fun. Jason is obviously very focused on the sales, then the other two guys are on the technical side. It was kind of like, if I wanted to do something, Jason would say, ‘Yes.’ Brian would say, ‘No.’ And Clint would say, ‘Maybe,’” Rod says laughing.
Savant provides all of the home’s automation.The system includes distributed audio, with Bowers & Wilkins in-ceiling speakers in nearly every room, as well as distributed video. Two massive 85-inch Sony 4K TV are in the great room on the main level and in the den adjacent to the billiards room on the lower level. All primary areas feature multicolor lighting control, which has a particularly sublime application near the large aquarium, complete with a storm effect that puts out “clouds” and makes thunder noises. Motorized shades, controllable locks and gated entry, video doorbell, surveillance, security and more are all easily controlled by the Savant app on the family’s smart phones, tablets, hand-held remotes and wall-mounted touchscreens.
The outdoor living area features a restaurant-quality grill, a 65-inch Seura outdoor TV mounted over the fireplace, Bowers & Wilkins all-weather speakers and a ceiling-mounted heating coil that makes everything comfortable nearly year-round.
From an entertainment standpoint, the standout room is the dedicated home theater in which family and friends can relax in plush, reclinable theater seating to enjoy 4K images from the Sony video projector on the 200-inch Stewart screen. A 7.4.4 JBL Synthesis audio system provides thoroughly enveloping three-dimensional surround sound from formats such as Dolby Atmos, DTS-X, IMAX Enhanced and more. Drawing upon the heritage of the JBL brand, this JBL Synthesis system combines leading-edge signal processors, equalizers, amplifiers and loudspeakers to create the most realistic listening experience possible. With horn-loaded compression drivers (an essential of cinema sound rarely heard in consumer systems), wide-dispersion titanium tweeters and high definition crossover networks, Synthesis loudspeakers are among the most powerful and capable instruments ever to be used in home theaters. A special fabric wrap has been strategically applied to improve room acoustics.
“For the theater,” says Rod, “we just said to Jason, ‘This is what we want to achieve. What do you recommend?’ We just specified what outcome we wanted, and ListenUp selected the equipment and what we needed. It’s taken a lot of work to get the sound right, but it sounds great now and we get a really good experience.”
“I’m a technical guy,” Rod continues. “I sold a software company a few years ago, so I was fairly clear on what I wanted, which I think created a few challenges for the team.“
Rod wanted to automate the entire home’s electronics, including the lighting, distributed audio and video systems, theater, door locks, garage doors, even the fireplace and the gates at the front of the house.
“We’ve got color control lighting throughout most of the house. It’s fantastic for setting moods. We’ve created scenes throughout the home, and connected it with the Lutron system outside. I definitely like being able to have that all automated, because with a house this size, you don’t want to have to walk around switching lights on and off.
The shades and front doorbell are also automated. “When somebody rings the doorbell, it also rings through the speaker system, so we can hear it throughout the whole house,” Rod says. “I can say, ‘Alexa, goodnight,’ and it shuts the shades, switches the lights off and arms the alarm system.
“My favorite part of the system is probably the distributed video. It’s nice to be able to start watching something on one TV and finish on another if we want. The system that ListenUp did provides that luxurious feeling.”
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