The Inside Chat - Wow House 2026 Shows Smart Home Tech Vanish Into Design

The Inside Chat - Smarter Installs, Happier Clients

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2455040/fan_mail/new] Sign up for our weekly newsletter - https://linkly.link/2gPF0 [https://linkly.link/2gPF0] The gear keeps getting better, but the real win is making systems easier to live with. We start with a brutally honest installer moment (including a recording mistake) and then get into what actually worked on a recent outdoor upgrade: stripping back a complicated garden setup and rebuilding around simple zones, practical placement, and products the client will actually use day to day. If you’ve ever debated “best sound” versus “best experience,” you’ll recognise the tradeoffs immediately.  We also talk new hardware that’s shaping premium home cinema and smart home integration. Procella’s P8 in-wall speaker sparks a broader conversation about real-world performance, dispersion, and why showrooms don’t always match living rooms. From there we jump to huge displays, including a Sony CLED wall seen at AWE, and what bigger screens mean for resolution, content quality, and the return of the 8K debate as LED video walls become more common in high-end projects.  In the news, we break down Kaleidescape’s new Strato K player, Chowmain Soft’s Control4 IP driver for Sky Stream (goodbye IR buds on many installs), and ScreenX as a potential next step for immersive cinema. We wrap with Autolabs networking, training roadshows, and why industry events matter, especially after EI Live gets canceled for 2026. If you like practical installer insights with real product takeaways, subscribe, share the show, and leave a review so more integrators and home theater fans can find us. Sign up for our weekly newsletter - https://linkly.link/2gPF0 [https://linkly.link/2gPF0] Get the latest News, Reviews and Opinions: Inside CI - https://linkly.link/2cM2p [https://linkly.link/2cM2p] Support the Podcast by using our Affiliated links: Start earning Microsoft points using the Bing app and get discounts on your Tech - https://linkly.link/2gVsi Support the podcast by shopping on Amazon - https://geni.us/npUEx [https://geni.us/npUEx]  An award-winning VPN deal from Surfshark - https://linkly.link/2cM3B [https://linkly.link/2cM3B] Start your own podcast and receive $20 - https://linkly.link/2acMf [https://linkly.link/2acMf] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2455040/support]

How AV8 Raises The Bar For Premium Home Cinema Distribution

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2455040/fan_mail/new] Sign up for our weekly newsletter - https://linkly.link/2gPF0 [https://linkly.link/2gPF0] Barry just launched AV8 Distribution, and the real story is not a logo or a press release. It is what happens when someone with decades in the custom AV and home cinema world decides to bet on relationships, service, and performance, then has to deliver from day one. We talk about the leap from employment to ownership, the flood of industry feedback, and why reputation in high-end AV is built on the moments nobody sees, like late-night commissioning support and getting a project over the line across time zones. We get concrete about how AV8 supports integrators: a tightly curated premium portfolio, early-stage design involvement, and co-branded proposal packs that help clients understand viewing angles, screen sizing, speaker placement, and expected results without reducing everything to a price line. Barry explains why dialogue clarity and correct calibration are often the difference between a “loud” room and a great cinema, and why demonstrations at real facilities can change a client’s mind faster than any spec sheet, whether you are showcasing movies, immersive music, or the finer details of a reference system. Looking ahead, we dig into where premium residential AV is moving next, including direct-view LED, large-format displays for sports spaces, and the practical challenges of placing speakers when the screen is the wall. We also explore new growth areas like outdoor audio, home nightclubs, and studios, plus the goal of making distribution feel more like a community than a transaction. If you care about premium home theater design, AV commissioning, and support that matches the promise, hit play, subscribe, share this with an integrator friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show. Learn more about AV8 Distribution - https://linkly.link/2kIUw [https://linkly.link/2kIUw] Sign up for our weekly newsletter - https://linkly.link/2gPF0 [https://linkly.link/2gPF0] Get the latest News, Reviews and Opinions: Inside CI - https://linkly.link/2cM2p [https://linkly.link/2cM2p] Support the Podcast by using our Affiliated links: Start earning Microsoft points using the Bing app and get discounts on your Tech - https://linkly.link/2gVsi Support the podcast by shopping on Amazon - https://geni.us/npUEx [https://geni.us/npUEx]  An award-winning VPN deal from Surfshark - https://linkly.link/2cM3B [https://linkly.link/2cM3B] Start your own podcast and receive $20 - https://linkly.link/2acMf [https://linkly.link/2acMf] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2455040/support]

The Inside Chat - Wow House 2026 Shows Smart Home Tech Vanish Into Design

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2455040/fan_mail/new] Sign up for our weekly newsletter - https://linkly.link/2gPF0 Your next client might not need a full rebuild, they might just need the right upgrade in the right place. We kick off with real-world install updates, including a bespoke media wall build with hidden speakers behind fabric, a tight-but-mighty 3.1 approach, and the kind of practical design constraints integrators deal with every day. Then we head to the Chelsea Design Centre for WOW!House 2026, and it’s a genuine turning point: technology that’s finally led by interior design instead of fighting it. We talk through what stood out, how immersive video and audio can feel “there” without being in-your-face, and why lighting control and discreet integration are showing up across more rooms than ever. If you work in luxury smart home integration or home cinema, this is a must-see signal of where client expectations are heading. On the industry side, we push two big actions: complete the CEDIA market survey so the UK channel has better data, and get yourself to the AWE Expo for proper hands-on time with brands and reps. We also run through the latest gear and business news, including the Hisense XR10 laser projector for big, bright outdoor viewing, Sony’s Bravia 9.2 and 7.2 true RGB TVs and what that could mean for OLED, an AI-driven Remote 3 approach built around Home Assistant, a Trinnov team move, and Denon’s refreshed X-Series AVRs with HEOS and optional Dirac Live upgrades. If you enjoyed the mix of project talk and AV news, subscribe, share the show with an integrator friend, and leave us a review. Sign up for our weekly newsletter - https://linkly.link/2gPF0 [https://linkly.link/2gPF0] Get the latest News, Reviews and Opinions: Inside CI - https://linkly.link/2cM2p [https://linkly.link/2cM2p] Support the Podcast by using our Affiliated links: Start earning Microsoft points using the Bing app and get discounts on your Tech - https://linkly.link/2gVsi Support the podcast by shopping on Amazon - https://geni.us/npUEx [https://geni.us/npUEx]  An award-winning VPN deal from Surfshark - https://linkly.link/2cM3B [https://linkly.link/2cM3B] Start your own podcast and receive $20 - https://linkly.link/2acMf [https://linkly.link/2acMf] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2455040/support]

What’s New In Custom Install - Live from Cedia Summits Part One

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2455040/fan_mail/new] Sign up for our weekly newsletter - https://linkly.link/2gPF0 The fastest way to learn what’s changing in custom install is to listen to what integrators and manufacturers are actually solving on the show floor. From the CEDIA Tech Business Summit, we bring you short, practical conversations packed with real install takeaways: what’s new, what’s working, and what to keep in the van so you can fix problems without turning a job into a science project. We start with AWE on the gear that keeps systems stable, including Eero mesh networking in Wi‑Fi 6 and Wi‑Fi 7, and why active optical HDMI at 48 Gbps is becoming the “just make it work” answer for modern 4K HDR and projection rooms. We also get into the refreshed Denon Home speakers, the value of a physical microphone disable switch, Dolby Atmos music, and the upcoming option to use Denon Home as wireless rear surrounds with compatible Denon AV receivers, all tied together with HEOS multi-room audio. Then we hit smart home integration and infrastructure: Janus Technology on Control4 and Crestron Home drivers, virtual thermostats, smart TRVs, and a genuinely useful smart energy monitoring dashboard that can turn PV generation and usage history into better automation decisions. BlueStream shares where AV over IP, Dante, AES67, and power management PDUs are headed. We round out with Gallo and Aquavision on new speaker formats, custom colours, and a configurator that simplifies specifying complex TVs, plus Nice on wired, wireless, and hybrid smart living. Finally, KEF previews a serious outdoor lineup built around Uni‑Q, buried subs, and new DSP amplifiers designed with integrator control in mind. Subscribe for more integrator-first conversations, share this with a teammate, and leave a review with the one product trend you think will matter most this year. Get the latest News, Reviews and Opinions: Inside CI - https://linkly.link/2cM2p [https://linkly.link/2cM2p] Support the Podcast by using our Affiliated links: Start earning Microsoft points using the Bing app and get discounts on your Tech - https://linkly.link/2gVsi Support the podcast by shopping on Amazon - https://geni.us/npUEx [https://geni.us/npUEx]  An award-winning VPN deal from Surfshark - https://linkly.link/2cM3B [https://linkly.link/2cM3B] Start your own podcast and receive $20 - https://linkly.link/2acMf [https://linkly.link/2acMf] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2455040/support]

Are We Throwing Away Perfectly Good AV Tech?

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2455040/fan_mail/new] Sign up for our weekly newsletter - https://linkly.link/2gPF0 A surprising amount of perfectly usable AV equipment gets tossed every year, not because it’s broken, but because the industry moves fast. At the CEDIA Tech of Business Summit, we sit down with Ian Morrish to talk about two ways the AV world can reduce waste and accelerate impact: Together for Cinema and GivingBack.tech. Ian shares what it looks like when our day-to-day tools become something bigger. Together for Cinema works with manufacturers, distributors, integrators, and volunteers to install cinema rooms in children’s hospices and other deserving venues across the UK. The project has already delivered 61 rooms, with more on the way, representing roughly £1.7 million in donated products and services. We talk about the moment the lights go down, and the projector fires up, and why hospices, while heavy at times, can also be some of the most dynamic, joyful places you’ll ever visit. Then we dig into GivingBack.tech, a practical platform for repurposing surplus AV gear. Instead of dumping B-stock, discontinued stock, or second-hand equipment, companies can list it, and charities or community interest companies can request what they need, with donors shipping directly to the beneficiary. It’s a simple workflow with a big payoff: less landfill, more working tech in the community, and real stories of corporate social responsibility that don’t feel performative. If you’ve ever wondered what to do with that replaced projector, old display, or leftover audio kit, this conversation gives you a clear next step.  Subscribe for more interviews like this, share the episode with someone in AV, and leave a review telling us what piece of gear you’d repurpose first. Get the latest News, Reviews and Opinions: Inside CI - https://linkly.link/2cM2p [https://linkly.link/2cM2p] Support the Podcast by using our Affiliated links: Start earning Microsoft points using the Bing app and get discounts on your Tech - https://linkly.link/2gVsi Support the podcast by shopping on Amazon - https://geni.us/npUEx [https://geni.us/npUEx]  An award-winning VPN deal from Surfshark - https://linkly.link/2cM3B [https://linkly.link/2cM3B] Start your own podcast and receive $20 - https://linkly.link/2acMf [https://linkly.link/2acMf] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2455040/support]