HTSA’s cocktail party was held on the eve of the opening of the 20th Anniversary CEDIA Expo, at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.

See More of the Reception at Dealerscope

Stephen Silver

The Home Theater Specialists of America (HTSA) and Sharp announced this week that 23 individuals from 16 HTSA member organizations have been given their Solar Energy Certification, as the result of a two-day course taught earlier this summer in both New Jersey and California.

““This was an incredible opportunity for our members. HTSA represents some of the finest integrators in the world and our clients are constantly asking how we can help reduce their carbon footprint, while enhancing life at home,” HTSA director of training David Berman said as part of the announcement. “Now we have 16 members who are qualified to install solar panels, a major step for the organization.”

Read the Original Article at Custom Retailer

By David Dritsas

With CEDIA just around the corne, Luxury CE asked David Berman, director of traning for the Home Theater Specialists of America (HTSA), some questions about what he expects to see at the upcoming show and how HTSA fits in.

What do you think will be the biggest news to come out of the show?

David Berman: 3D TV will be very hot and so will music servers, despite the decision on the video side against Kaleidescape. I also believe the new Crestron Prodigy entrance will gain a lot of attention.

Stephen Silver

The Home Theater Specialists of America (HTSA) and Sharp announced this week that 23 individuals from 16 HTSA member organizations have been given their Solar Energy Certification, as the result of a two-day course taught earlier this summer in both New Jersey and California.

““This was an incredible opportunity for our members. HTSA represents some of the finest integrators in the world and our clients are constantly asking how we can help reduce their carbon footprint, while enhancing life at home,” HTSA director of training David Berman said as part of the announcement. “Now we have 16 members who are qualified to install solar panels, a major step for the organization.”

Read the Original Article at Dealerscope

Article by Adam of Barretts Home Theater

At our most recent annual HTSA Custom Manager’s Meeting we spent a lot of time discussing technologies within the home that go beyond the traditional audio/video model.  In fact, during one particularly intense brainstorming session, Richard Glikes, Executive Director of HTSA, suggested the idea of changing our name from Home Theater Specialists of America to Home Technology Specialists of America.  Whatever lies in the fate of our name, it became clear to all of us that it is time to shift our focus beyond our audio video roots and reach our clients on a higher level.

That isn’t to say that we’ve forgotten where we come from.  We still specialize in audio and video, but that experience is no longer confined to the living room or basement.  We’re sending sounds and images throughout the home via media servers and touch screen panels.

But those touch screens are designed to do more than make the operation of your distributed audio and video system convenient and easy.  They can incorporate the functions of your HVAC controls as well.  The largest energy bills of the year come during the hottest and coldest months when we’re either fighting to stay warm or trying not to overheat.  We can program your system to work when you need it to work.  For example, we can have it can turn off an hour after you leave in the morning and turn on an hour before you return.  That way you can come home to a climate controlled house without having to waste energy while you’re away.

And having one keypad on the wall that does everything can also help avoid what we call “The Wall of Shame.”  The Wall of Shame (or WOS) is a combination of your thermostat, security keypad, volume control and light switch(es) all fighting for space on the wall.  In other words, it’s an aesthetic nightmare.

And while on the subject of light switches, a home automation system can simplify that too.  Your lighting can be programmed to turn on and off to save energy just like your HVAC, but it can also localize your control.  It gives you the freedom to turn on the lights in the garden, the front porch, the hallway that leads up to the bathroom, while simultaneously turning off the lights in the living room and basement, without having to run around the house searching for a dozen different light switches (see The Wall of Shame).  And if your home was designed to showcase natural lighting from windows and skylights, we offer shade control as well.

As you can see, home technology isn’t just for watching movies anymore, and your neighborhood audio and video stores aren’t just selling TVs and speakers.  We’re designing systems to lower energy costs, simplify the control of all the systems in your home, and generally improving your quality of life.  We are truly striving to be the Home Technology  Specialists of America.

Barretts The Home Theater Store has been a family owned and managed audio and video specialist since the opening of our first store in Oak Park in the summer of 1966. Chicago’s first Mitsubishi television retailer, Barretts commitment to service has been confirmed by the fact that we have grown to become Chicago’s leading Home Entertainment authority.

The truth is that for the last twenty five years our industry has been plagued by a common problem. This problem is still one of the most cited issues with consumer electronics purchasers. The problem simply defined, is “ease of use.”

You may have heard of the flashing twelve. This is merely an example of manufacturers making the operation of their products incredibly difficult, even when it comes to performing the simplest of tasks such as setting the clock on their VCRs.

When it comes to control, the scenario described above has left an indelible negative imprint on the minds of today’s consumers.

Those of us who have been around the CE industry since its early days, have always thought of control in two ways: there was remote control and then there was home automation. The home automation category was to never be touched by an average consumer.

The remote control category usually indicated a handheld device that was universal or could be programmed. Older still, it might have been a type of learning remote. Examples of these types of controls were the PRONTO, Universal, Harmony and many more.

The second category, also known as home automation was often reserved for the rich and famous. CRESTRON and AMX have been the primary players, but recently companies like SAVANT and Control4 have become competitive in this space. Most people felt these types of control systems were too expensive, but new technologies have allowed these companies to offer some extremely competitive price points.

The last few years have seen a radical shift within the control category and systems with incredible flexibility and functionality have improved their reliability and user-interface. The result is an increasing number of competitors offering multitudes of lower cost solutions.

Consumers can now control everything from distributed audio to lighting, to HVAC, to telephony, to home theater and much more. The best part is that it can be done for thousands of dollars instead of hundreds of thousands.

The most difficult lesson to learn is when it comes to implementing some sort of control system, you always want an expert to install and program the system.

The closest analogy that comes to mind in order to illustrate this point sufficiently is that of the computer. Can you imagine offering someone a hard drive, a video card, an audio card, a modem and all the other things that are on the inside of a computer and asking your average to consumers to assemble and use said device? Can you spell disaster?

In much the same way we have been asking our customers for years to buy a receiver, DVD, TV etc. and put them all together and make them function as a single system!!! LOL! No wonder the flashing twelve is still the number one complaint from consumers!

As systems become more intricate and more devices are added to these systems the necessity for a consultant or expert advisor becomes painfully clear.

What is the great news? You can now afford an extremely versatile control system and the expert advice of a high quality installation company for far less than we used to pay for just the control system only a few short years ago.

Don’t trust your lifestyle to just anyone who says they can do it for less. Find a partner who has been there and will continue to be there.
David Berman

Director of Training and Public Relations

Home Theater Specialists of America

Last year you blended art with product, but this time it was almost ALL art. Why the shift?

Budgets are tight around the world and we want to spend as much as we can on product development and education vs. union labor and a big-ass heavy trade show booth.

At CEDIA 208 we choose to use an existing structure that three brothers (the Do Lab) built by hand — no union labor required since it was art made in an artistic way on site.

We choose to use a recycled booth that has appeared at half a dozen concerts nationwide from Coachella to Burning Man to Rothburry.

We picked live art and music as it embodies what we do. The venue was perfect to allow our speakers to crank and the dream of live performance to happen.

For many years we have wanted a live show at CEDIA. This year our team pulled it off with our friends from Lucent Dossier. Music is why we are in business, music is what it’s all about. We love performers and this was a dream come true.

Did the marketing ploy work?

Our dealers get the fact that there is no ploy.

What you see is a company that looks whacked out. Our dealers get that we exist to serve them from education to making the best sounding and easiest products to sell and install in the world.

We market as ourselves to the industry and spend millions on high-end look-and-feel products for target end users.

The dealers that didn’t get it were not our targets.

Read the full interview at CE Pro.

HTSA Executive Director Richard Glikes talks to Dealerscope about the state of the industry.