Electronic House magazine features serving up multimedia in the home -- Imagine having hi-fi music and DVD-quality video piped into every room of your home, including patios and decks, with nothing visible but elegant wall-mounted keypads and speakers.
Not only is such a design neat and tidy, but it may also be easier to operate than a regular audio/video setup. Make no mistake: It�s still best to have a high-quality whole-house audio and video system installed by a trained professional. The good news is that with today�s gear, you won�t feel as if you�ve adopted a new member of the family because an installer has to spend days at your home setting up the system.
A whole-house audio/video system is usually controlled by handheld remotes or wall-mounted control panels, with all of the source equipment and amplifiers hidden in one closet. The best systems accommodate extra sources such as satellite tuners, DVD players, CD changers, media servers, iPods and digital video recorders (DVRs), all of which can be located in various rooms. When correctly configured, these sources can be experienced in any room.