Now, things are somehow clear when it comes to serious audio: you're either into it or not, the middle road is very thin and few manage to walk on it. “In” and “out” do not relate to the money you spend with audio gear but are more closely bound to how you spend it and on what kind of gear.
Some people prefer few things delivering the utmost in audio quality and thus buy state of the art audiophile gear meant to fill the air in the listening room with sweet sounding tunes. Others prefer good quality but at volumes to rock the house; the neighbor's house, that is!
It looks like there is a new category of people who are willing to spend big bucks just to have their entire house resounding to the music – and not from a single (demolished, eventually) room but from as many sound sources as architecturally possible.
Marge and Chuck Dushek have recently moved to a 7,500 square-foot home and decided they will not spend any dime on futile technology but save everything for a dream-sound system. And so they did...
Asking Sound Design Systems to do the job, the Dusheks managed to create a profile for the most important listening areas and the ones which would not be dedicated to such serious listening. Doing this separation was highly needed for keeping a budget under the (very serious) sum of 30,000 US Dollars.
Eventually, the key-zones were fitted with hi-end speakers while the lesser ones received less expensive units. Room by room, every corner of the new residence has been “mapped” for sound distribution until there was no place left untouchable by the music: even the walk-in closet and the steam shower cabin have gotten proper speakers! A total of 49 speakers were planted in the Dushek house and they covered veranda and porch as well as the garage...
Enlarge picture
Controlling all the zones was first accessible by means of 5 Elan keypad panels spreaded around the house but in just a couple of months the Dusheks operated the first and essential upgrade: the Elan VIA! 64 touchpanel placed din the office. A touchscreen was dearly needed as the Dusheks quickly grew sick of just reading lines and they wanted pictures of the albums they had stored on the basement server.
The new controller allowed them not only to set up the listening conditions in a very visual manner but as well improved their music searches by means of displaying images of the albums' covers.
Enlarge picture
Enlarge picture
Even more, the Elan sound equipment was the first choice for the Dushek project due to one very cool capability: it can be set to play different tracks in different zones: imagine the possibilities for a party – as some people want to waltz in the main room, while others would rather have metal and beer in the back garden (provided you could gather up such a party-ensemble).
The Dusheks are clearly happy with spending $2,000 as they really enjoy throwing parties in their new home and this option suits their way of living like a glove.
Again, the cost for this truly monumental piece of architecture and sound engineering led to a $30,000 bill for Marge and Chuck Dushek... nevertheless they are a cool example of people loving music and quality sound. With all their house!
Finally, a small quote from Electronic House, depicting briefly the amount of gear piled up in the Dushek residence:
"Elan MM650C in-ceiling speakers (20)
Elan MM650D in-ceiling speakers (3)
Sonance Symphony in-wall speakers (4)
Sonance Virtuoso in-wall speakers (2)
Sonance Symphony XTR in-ceiling speakers (9)
Sonance Symphony XSSTR
in-ceiling speaker
Sonance Ellipse in-ceiling speakers (2)
Sonance Mariner 100 outdoor speakers (2)
Sonance Mariner Jr. outdoor speakers (2)
Sonance Symphony 624TR
in-ceiling speakers (3)
Sonance Symphony CR101SST
in-ceiling speaker
Elan VIA! 64 touchpanel
Elan Z250 keypads (5)
Elan VS100 volume controls (16)
Elan D1201 power amp
Elan D1651 power amp
Elan System 6 multiroom controller
Elan VIA! dj Series music server
Elan dual digital tuner
Polk Audio XM tuner
Elan Z880 video switcher
Elan SC4 serial controller
Elan PVIA4 patch panel
Elan ZPWR power sources (2)
Middle Atlantic Slim 5 equipment rack
Liberty Wire & Cable cabling
Panasonic 37-inch plasma TV”
Who wana spend such a huge amount ?
opcorn:
Some people prefer few things delivering the utmost in audio quality and thus buy state of the art audiophile gear meant to fill the air in the listening room with sweet sounding tunes. Others prefer good quality but at volumes to rock the house; the neighbor's house, that is!
It looks like there is a new category of people who are willing to spend big bucks just to have their entire house resounding to the music – and not from a single (demolished, eventually) room but from as many sound sources as architecturally possible.
Marge and Chuck Dushek have recently moved to a 7,500 square-foot home and decided they will not spend any dime on futile technology but save everything for a dream-sound system. And so they did...
Asking Sound Design Systems to do the job, the Dusheks managed to create a profile for the most important listening areas and the ones which would not be dedicated to such serious listening. Doing this separation was highly needed for keeping a budget under the (very serious) sum of 30,000 US Dollars.
Eventually, the key-zones were fitted with hi-end speakers while the lesser ones received less expensive units. Room by room, every corner of the new residence has been “mapped” for sound distribution until there was no place left untouchable by the music: even the walk-in closet and the steam shower cabin have gotten proper speakers! A total of 49 speakers were planted in the Dushek house and they covered veranda and porch as well as the garage...
Enlarge picture
Controlling all the zones was first accessible by means of 5 Elan keypad panels spreaded around the house but in just a couple of months the Dusheks operated the first and essential upgrade: the Elan VIA! 64 touchpanel placed din the office. A touchscreen was dearly needed as the Dusheks quickly grew sick of just reading lines and they wanted pictures of the albums they had stored on the basement server.
The new controller allowed them not only to set up the listening conditions in a very visual manner but as well improved their music searches by means of displaying images of the albums' covers.
Enlarge picture
Enlarge picture
Even more, the Elan sound equipment was the first choice for the Dushek project due to one very cool capability: it can be set to play different tracks in different zones: imagine the possibilities for a party – as some people want to waltz in the main room, while others would rather have metal and beer in the back garden (provided you could gather up such a party-ensemble).
The Dusheks are clearly happy with spending $2,000 as they really enjoy throwing parties in their new home and this option suits their way of living like a glove.
Again, the cost for this truly monumental piece of architecture and sound engineering led to a $30,000 bill for Marge and Chuck Dushek... nevertheless they are a cool example of people loving music and quality sound. With all their house!
Finally, a small quote from Electronic House, depicting briefly the amount of gear piled up in the Dushek residence:
"Elan MM650C in-ceiling speakers (20)
Elan MM650D in-ceiling speakers (3)
Sonance Symphony in-wall speakers (4)
Sonance Virtuoso in-wall speakers (2)
Sonance Symphony XTR in-ceiling speakers (9)
Sonance Symphony XSSTR
in-ceiling speaker
Sonance Ellipse in-ceiling speakers (2)
Sonance Mariner 100 outdoor speakers (2)
Sonance Mariner Jr. outdoor speakers (2)
Sonance Symphony 624TR
in-ceiling speakers (3)
Sonance Symphony CR101SST
in-ceiling speaker
Elan VIA! 64 touchpanel
Elan Z250 keypads (5)
Elan VS100 volume controls (16)
Elan D1201 power amp
Elan D1651 power amp
Elan System 6 multiroom controller
Elan VIA! dj Series music server
Elan dual digital tuner
Polk Audio XM tuner
Elan Z880 video switcher
Elan SC4 serial controller
Elan PVIA4 patch panel
Elan ZPWR power sources (2)
Middle Atlantic Slim 5 equipment rack
Liberty Wire & Cable cabling
Panasonic 37-inch plasma TV”
Who wana spend such a huge amount ?
opcorn:
