Let's Talk Money - by Anthony Grimani

Selling a Theater as a Complete Room Can Help Ease Sticker Shock

“How much will this home theater cost, and what is included in this price?”

These questions sound familiar, right? I deal with them every day, even though, in my work, we don’t handle the construction, equipment sales, integration, or programming. Fortunately, an approach that I have been using seems to work very well for answering the “price” question without triggering sticker shock. > READ MORE

Excerpted from article published June 27, 2010 by Residential Systems magazine.

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THE GRIMANI FILES: Bringing Life to a Comatose Home Theater

This client was referred to us by the integrator, who completed this installation about 10 years ago. The room was a dedicated three-row home theater in an upscale neighborhood of Detroit. All the gear was state-of-the-art for its time - from the studio-grade speakers, to the professional HD video projection system. But the surround decoder finally gave up the ghost after several years of faithful service. The client heard that Dolby Atmos® was the latest thing, so he sourced a new processor. He expected it to be an automatic upgrade, but wasn’t aware that he also needed to add speakers for the Top and Wide locations. At any rate, it was time to install, configure, and tune the system for the new processor. I took the job and carved out two days - right before Christmas - for a quick jaunt from my temperate San Francisco Bay Area home to frigid Detroit. (Who doesn't like a little cold for the holidays?) While planning the trip, I found out that the system didn’t include any ...

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by Anthony Grimani “Um, what’s diffusion, and why do I need it?” is the question from my client. Slowly, I take a breath, count to ten, and consider my options. First, I could scream, stomp around the room, and pull out my hair. Second, I could suddenly remember that I’m terribly late for another meeting (which is probably true) and beg to be excused. Third, I could remain calmly in my seat, smile, and politely explain the answer. Considering the nature of this client and his job, it looks like it’s option number three. Here’s the sad thing. You might think that this client is a novice end user – the type whose digital clocks all blink 12:00. But he or she could just as easily be a custom integrator! I see it all the time: People who design home theaters for a living don’t know what diffusion is or why they need it. What’s particularly frustrating is that I have spent many hours over that past two decades doing my best to educate them. So let’s make this real. Do you know why diffus...

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Our client has a large self-storage unit for his collection of classic cars and wanted to add a top-of-the-line 2-channel audiophile environment to the space. The storage space is approximately the size of a small airplane hangar, and is located next to the Monterey Regional airport that services major 737 carriers. As you can imagine, jet noise and audiophile music could have been a combustible combination. PMI Engineering was hired to design a complete sound-proofed room, and MSR supplied specialty sound isolation materials along with a Dimension4 Symphony acoustical tuning system. The end result was music to the client's ears! For more info on MSR's innovative acoustical solutions, please visit our website .

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