On Wednesday night of last week Len Wallis Audio was honored to receive the prestigeous SmartHouse Award for ‘Installer of the Year’.

The judges’ comments were:
‘Over the years Len Wallis has won several awards for his work.
It’s a name synonymous with excellent service and high quality installations.
At a retail level Len Wallis is constantly refining his offering ensuring he remains competitively advantageous.
Services such as taking a consumers old Hi Fi gear, refurbishing it and then offering it for sale through their second hand department, with 100% of the funds being donated to the Variety Club is just one way that he stays in touch with his customers.
Len Wallis delivers some of the biggest and best custom install jobs in Australia.
We congratulate Len Wallis and his team on winning the SmartHouse Custom Installer of the Year award.”

This means that this year we have won the trifecta – having earlier collected the CEDIA “Best installation over $500,000” award (plus also the Best Installation $250,000 – $500,000 and the ‘Best Media Room” at the same awards ceremony), and the ‘Installation of the Year’ award from Sound and Image. 

I would like to add my personal congratulations and thanks to all of our staff who put in the hard yards which then leads to recognition such as this. 2011 will be remembered as a tough year, yet despite this the LWA staff has come up with some very impressive results.
Well done.

If you are building a new home or simply renovating the chances are that you would have considered some form of Home Automation. It is also possible that you have dismissed the concept as unnecessary. Obviously that is what the owner of the home where the photograph above was taken was thinking at the time.

We are all aware that over the last few decades the amount of ‘electrical/electronic’ stuff we cram into our homes has expanded dramatically. Lighting control, blind control, irrigation control, security, air conditioning and heating, distributed audio and video, home networking, the list goes on. It makes very little sense to deal with all of these sub-systems in isolation, and that is not simply to avoid the mess above. Doesn’t it make sense that if the security in your home is breached at night that selected lights automatically come on? Or that the hall and family lights come on when the garage door is activated as you come home? A simple ‘night’ button on a control panel can set all of the sub-systems represented by the switches above to the desired setting when you retire at night.

Many people are scared of Home Automation, and in some cases with good reason. A poorly designed and executed automation system can be a headache. The other problem is that many people get carried away and try to implement every conceivable scenario possible with their automation system. This invariably leads to confusion and frustration. Our suggestion – keep it simple! A well designed Home Automation system will (should) make your home life much more convenient. If it doesn’t don’t blame the concept – blame the designer.

The benchmark of a well though out and properly implemented Home Automation system is when the home owner would not consider not installing automation in their next home.

We are very proud to announce that Len Wallis Audio received the award for the ‘Installation of the Year’ at the Sound and Image awards which was held at the Windsor Hotel in Melbourne last Saturday night.

This installation also received both the CEDIA ‘Best Integrated Home over $500,000’ and ‘Best Media Room’ awards earlier this year.

The project covered many facets of our industry, the most important being automation. Everything from door locks, window reed switches, floor heating, air-conditioning control and distributed audio and video were to be integrated. Ease of control and product control was the number one priority.

Quality content was also high on the list of priorities so a Sooloos Music server & Kaleidescape Blu-Ray movie server with 3 zone players was used. This was all distributed with the Crestron digital media system to 9 zones of vision & 22 zones of audio.

In one particular zone we have used a 103’ Panasonic Plasma built into a joinery unit along with Speakers from Krell & Velodyne this makes for an entertainers delight. This room has electronics doors which from one touch on the Crestron screen opens up to a large terrace area.

The backyard & pool areas also incorporate a James Audio sound system which includes 2 X underground subs & 16 X Satellite speakers all controlled from a waterproof Crestron remote.

In terms of security we have incorporated 15 X fixed cameras & 1 X Panasonic PTZ camera with a 300x zoom to the Crestron digital media system so any camera can be viewed at any location via the Crestron touch screens & plasma/LCD displays. Via the touch screens the user can monitor internal PIR status which changes state when movement is detected. The status of windows, doors and gates is also displayed here.

A PC Aqualine pool control system was used, and this system was also integrated into the Crestron, providing full control of all pool functions (water temp, air temp, filter on/off etc.) Heater on/off, spa on/off, water feature on/off were also controlled via the Crestron touch screens.

All Windows include reed switches which are monitored on the Crestron touch screens.  All Doors include reed switches which are monitored on the Crestron touch screens and electronic locks were utilised on all external doors (12 in total).

It only seems like yesterday that 3DTV was the must-have technology of the future – this has quickly given way to IPTV – TV that accesses the internet. 3D TV was a fun product, let down mainly by a lack of software. IPTV on the other hand will change forever the way that we watch TV. At LWA we have long held the belief that the traditional methods of accessing our entertainment are quickly going the way of the Dodo. We will soon access all of our music, movies, documentaries, games etc on-line. For an increasing number of people purchasing physical DVD’s, CD’s etc is a thing of the past. Similarly we are also going to witness a change in the way we watch TV. Increasingly we will access programs that we want to watch on-line, via our TV set. We will be able to watch what we want, when we want to watch it.

If you need proof of who rapidly this category is growing the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) have an award category for ‘European AV Streaming TV’ (The EISA awards are becoming one of the most prestigious awards in our industry). It is no surprise that the 2011-12 award in this category went to Loewe for their Individual 46 Compose 3D TV. While connectivity is obviously a very important factor in this award, much was made of both the picture quality and the audio performance of this TV, or as the jury worded it ‘superior sound and picture quality with unlimited connectivity’.

This screen is packed with technology. Based on a full HD 400 Hz LCD panel with LED backlighting it features an in-built 500GB hard drive recorder.

You can steam content from the Individual 46 Compose to any other compatible Loewe screen, and with their Follow Me function viewing can be resumed at any time, irrespective of when the film or program was paused, or for how long it was paused. You can watch a program via the in-built in this screen and at the same time stream from the on-board hard-drive to a secondary set.

Their Loewe MediaPortal allows you to access other sources sitting on your home network, such as digital radio, or photos, movies or music stored on external hard-drives. Loewe MediaNet opens up the world through access to the internet.

This is a very attractive TV, giving a great picture, better sound than we have come to accept from the vast majority of screens out there, plus all the convenience of connectivity. Loewe screens come at a premium (the Individual 46 Compose sells for $6,990), but once you see, hear and play with this TV you will understand why.

They have also released a service called ‘Chart History’ which provides the song and album Australian charts dating back many decades. Not for every one, but certainly fun for some of the more mature generations such as myself.

For the month of June only the Olive 4HD music server will come with a free Apple iTouch. Once loaded with the Olive App the iTouch becomes the easiest and most elegant way to control the Olive. There is no doubt that Olive has reshaped the industry perception of the media server. Simple to use, great performance and affordable. The addition of the iTouch makes the package even more attractive.

Olive continues to impress even the harshest of critics with their products. The most critical of all industry magazines is Absolute Sound, famous for reviewing the most exotic audiophilia on the market. They have just devoted five pages to the big brother of the 4HD – the 06HD. Their opening line was ‘A truly outstanding component in a highly competitive world’, and they finished by saying ‘I give it a strong recommendation to anyone who does not speak Geek as a native tongue’. Well worth a look!

Every year CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association) judges professional custom installation jobs and gives awards in a number of categories. This year Len Wallis Audio won awards in three of them.

Best Integrated Home Installation over $500,000

The same house won this and the Best Media Room! The brief handed to Len Wallis Audio for this project was direct – the owners wanted the place to be full of technology, they wanted to make provision for the future by planning and documenting everything now. With five bedrooms, a formal dining and living space, family room, steam room, theatre room, large backyard and swimming pool, this dwelling was an opportunity for our company to stretch those tech wings.

The plan was to reach into every corner of this structure. Security, access control, lighting, pool control, air-conditioning control and audio visual control have been incorporated onto a single platform in the form of a Crestron control system using fibre-optics. The owners can use any of the seven fixed in-wall touch screens to control all facets of the house.

Best Media Room.

The theatre room was one zone that defined the beauty of this project. It’s an entertainer’s dream that includes 103in Panasonic Plasma built into a joinery unit along with the amps and Krell speakers. It’s the ultimate in entertainment and includes 24 audio and video sources to choose from including a Kaleidescape HD Blu-ray movie server and Sooloos HD Music system. With the big picture comes big sound! Krell resolution floor standing speakers along with centre channel and two Velodyne 12in subwoofers are driven from the Marantz Flagship processor and seven-channel power amplifier.

Best Integrated Home Installation: $250,000 to $500,000.

The essential element of this job was to have audio in 13 areas and video in 8 areas of the home. All areas had to be able to access multiple sources for program material. Two major theatres were included, one with an 85” Panasonic plasma screen which had to be concealed beneath the floor on a motorized lifter, to emerge and be raised to 700mm above floor level whenever a video source is selected. The lifter alone weighed 250kg! The other theatre had a 65” screen, while a more modest 50” went to the Master Bedroom.

Control systems were Crestron/CBUS, with speakers used being mainly flushmount types from Focal and Speakercraft, and subwoofers by Velodyne. The surround sound amplifiers were by Yamaha.

If you would like to learn a little more about the services we have to offer please view this interview with our custom division manager, Dee, at the recent CEDIA Expo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCYl-RugHmI

Sonos has unveiled its Sonos Controller for Android app at this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The free app transforms most Android™ smartphones into a wireless music controller for the Sonos Digital Music System and will be officially released for download soon. Watch a promotional video here.

The Sonos Controller for Android features Sonos’ latest innovation in the home music experience – music voice search – allowing users to find any artist, album or track by simply speaking into the phone.

Sony has started a new music streaming service along similar lines to Rhapsody, called Anubis.FM – not Bandit.FM as previously thought. This will be immediately available to Australian customers, while Rhapsody is not – unless you know how to trick the system!

For a monthly charge of just $12.99 you’ll have access 24/7 to a huge catalogue of music that you can listen to via streaming.

Sonos has been the major force in multi-room wireless music distribution for the past few years, and they keep on improving their offer by means of new items, upgrades and control options. Sonos have adjusted the prices of all their main items, making it even better value. The new prices are as follows, with reductions of 10-14% on the zone players.

ZP120 was $899 now $799, S5 was $699 now $599, ZP90 was $599 now $549. The Controller CR200 was $599 now $549, WD100 Dock was $199 now $189, Zonebridge was $179 now $169.

On the control app front they have just announced (in addition to the iTouch/iPhone/iPad apps) a new Android app – to be released soon. This will enable lots of smartphones to become Sonos controllers – at no cost to the user!

For an overview of Sonos go to our Sonos System page.

If you’re strapped for space, or just don’t want to have a music system that looks like a music system, this is for you. It’s a load-bearing shelf (up to 25kg), just 51mm thick and 1m wide by 30cm deep, called Horizontal ($999). It can be used in any room, including the kitchen or bathroom.

As well as the 30-pin iPod/iPhone/iTouch dock there’s an audio input and a USB. It also has a composite video output for playbeack of video material off your iPod/iPhone. It has 2 x 25w amplification driving two forward firing tweeters, and two downward firing bass-midrange speakers. The frequency response is 50Hz-25kHz (+-6dB), adequate for the purpose. While this is not expected to replace any serious sound system, it is a very neat idea which will have a lot of appeal in particular locations.

There are seven decorator colours too, although the timber finish will cost a bit more at $1299.
More details on our Product Page.