Award-Winning Home Automation & Electronic Control Systems Integrators in Michigan

A great home theater system is more than just a place to watch your favorite shows and movies, it is an experience. With a solid setup, you can turn your viewing area into a space that allows you to become fully immersed in whatever you are watching, whether it is the latest Geico commercial or a James Bond film. HD video and audio technologies have come a long way in recent years, and even many older shows are being reworked to offer HD and blu-ray quality. Let’s take a look at 10 products that you can use to turn your ordinary Michigan home theater into an extraordinary one:

1. A great wireless lighting system that lets you dim and raise the lights for a total theatrical experience

2. Sony’s XBR- one of the highest performing HD, 3D, and Internet televisions on the market today

3. This Furman Elite-20 Pf I Power Source offers top quality and maximum protection for your home theater system

4. This Liberty Cable wall mount makes it easy to hang and tilt televisions up to 65” for perfectly angled viewing

5. Need more cable without signal loss? This HDMI extender from Liberty AV Solutions offers the perfect answer

6. Rigging your own system? A 250 foot reel of HDMI cable allows you to cut and crimp to fit, preventing tangled cords and excessive clutter.

7. A great digital media switcher from AMX makes it easy to select the components you want to use

8. Got digital media you want to share between devices? The MAX-CSE Encoder delivers it to any compatible device in your home

9. Leviton’s Connected Home structured cabling lets you distribute your home theater signals throughout your home

10. For an audio experience that is hard to rival, consider Leviton’s SpecGrade speakers

Home theater enhancement can be achieved a number of different ways these days, as technology seems to be growing at a record-setting pace. Building the ultimate Michigan home theater system is a great way to bring the best of the theatre into the comfort of your own home, and these 10 components can help you really make the most of the experience!

As mentioned in 2010, Grand Home Automation partnered with the Elf Foundation to help create the hospital’s “Room of Magic”. This room is a private custom home theater, designed to bring entertainment and happiness and to foster a sense of fun and magic that can go a long way in the healing process. There is no doubt that a stay in the hospital can be traumatic for children, and the goal we share with the Elf Foundation is to help create a fun and fantastic experience for kids at Michigan’s Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.

As 2010 came to a close, we were very proud to be putting the finishing touches on the project, which features a Crestron TPS-6L with the Streamline graphics kit. This new custom theater system is a perfect fit for the newly rebuilt and redesigned hospital, and it takes kids away from the previous setup of VHS tapes and into a totally immersive and exciting home theater experience. The system installed by the experts here at Grand Home is just one part of a massive redesign that is intended to improve not only quality of care for these patients, but quality of life as well.

The Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital is truly something spectacular, and we have been so proud to be able to take part in this project. Grand Home Automation is a trusted name in upscale Michigan home theater design, and it was nothing short of wonderful to be able to take that reputation for quality and to be able to use it to really help make a difference for children who find themselves needing to spend time in these facilities. While each of the patient rooms at DeVos now has a state of the art television, the theater is designed to provide an unrivaled experience. Taking a break from doctors and illness is important for every patient, and we are proud to have been able to partner with the Elf Foundation to create a state of the art AV system for this amazing hospital.

A little bit of magic can go a long way…

Especially when that magic comes from the unlikely collaboration of a world-class children’s hospital, a state-of-the-art entertainment system installation company and a non-profit organization to connect the two. We are thrilled to introduce the Magic Theater in the 11th floor play room at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Grand Home Automation, Inc. known for providing high quality audio, video, control, and integration services, is excited to partner with the Elf Foundation to design and install a state-of-the-art entertainment system for the benefit of HDV Children’s Hospital’s patients and families. This system will provide a sense of relief and fun-filled diversion for kids in what is often a tedious and somewhat traumatic environment.

The Elf Foundation was founded in 2001, with the express mission of creating private entertainment theaters – “Rooms of Magic” – for children’s hospitals, shelters for abused children, autism centers, and children’s rehabilitation centers throughout North America. Operating as a 501©3 non-profit organization, the foundation acts as a catalyst within the consumer electronics industry and in local communities to advance their mission of bringing the magic of music and film to special kids in a time of need. To date, the Elf Foundation has opened over 70 “Room of Magic” theaters.

At Grand Home Automation we are thrilled to partner with the Elf Foundation. Since 1996, we have aimed to build a reputation of providing well designed and implemented electronic systems for upscale residential clientele. Our clients appreciate our high level of technical expertise as well as the depth of knowledge and understanding required for customizing their services to the lifestyles they live. GHA has also won the accolades of our peers and suppliers within our industry. Our projects have earned us top honors in consumer electronics field competitions as well as the coveted national first place award in 2004 by Lutron lighting control company. In addition, Grand Home Automation, Inc. was recently been named for the 7th year in a row as a CE Pro Top 100 dealer in America. Even with these accolades, our heart still beats for community, and we’re honored to partner with such amazing companies to make room for magic in Grand Rapids.

Please visit www.elfsystems.org and www.grandhome.com for more information.

Comments

You may have heard that this year’s 2010 Super Bowl broke the record for the most-watched television program of any kind in the history of TV– with an average viewing audience of 106.5 million.

Bearing that in mind, why would anyone want to cram into a bar that’s as busy as a mall on Christmas Eve? If you have the right equipment at home, you won’t have to fight to get into an overcrowded venue, and you’re probably going to get a better view than the friend (of a friend, of a friend) who actually had Super Bowl tickets (and a box of tissue for the nosebleeds). If you want the finest viewing experience, leave it to three-time Super Bowl Champion, Jerry Rice, to give you some inspiration in getting the most out of your home theater setup.

Playing for the San Francisco 49ers for fifteen seasons and being regarded as one of the best players in NFL history doesn’t exactly lend itself to inconspicuous public outings with his family, and being a man devoted to his family (and, of course, a huge sports junky), Rice included a 750 sq. ft. theater in his own home to beat the crowds. The theater boasts several impressive components, including four Crown Audio amplifiers, rated at 30 amps each, which power 40+ Tannoy speakers and Electro-Voice subwoofers, to produce a 10,000 watt sound system. To put this into perspective, the Rices’ theater has better sound than an IMAX. And when he’s not participating in the pre-game coin toss, Rice can catch the big game projected onto his 123-inch Stewart screen, seated comfortably on any of the 16 graded CineLounger seats.

If Jerry Rice’s theater sounds appealing to you, and you have the modest $200,000 - $500,000 budget to use for your own home theater, you can have your version in your very own home. However, if that sounds a tad out of your price range, don’t worry; there are a few tips that will give you a quality experience, and may leave you with a little more money for the chips and dip. For instance, if you haven’t upgraded yet, and you’re looking for a great video experience, you’re going to need the crystal clarity of an HDTV with HD service. There is much debate between LCD and plasma, but for the fast-paced action of the big game, the smoothness of a plasma display is yet unsurpassed in providing a front row seat to the Super Bowl. You’ll also want to pick up a surround sound system to impart the energy of the stadium right into your home theater. A unit around 1000 watts will do the job nicely.

Just remember, though, that if you have a screen bigger than 55-inches, and you’re blasting the action through a Dolby 7.1 audio system — don’t charge for the brews, or you may receive a visit from your local law enforcement, courtesy of the NFL.