Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to AV in the Wild, the podcast that dives deep into the heart of the pro AV industry. Out in the field, on the move and in the moment.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Hello and welcome, everybody, to an amazing episode of AV in the Wild. But this is a special one because it's a mashup, you know, how we all fell in love with Countdown.
[00:00:23] Speaker C: Does cats do Countdown?
[00:00:25] Speaker B: Yeah, even I said it. I even said it wrong.
What are we going to call this one, Jeff?
[00:00:29] Speaker D: I don't know. Maybe we call it the integrated AV in the Wild home.
[00:00:33] Speaker C: There you go.
[00:00:36] Speaker D: Yeah, something like that. I mean, obviously part of the wildwoods team. So I know Sam really well, but also been running and hosting the integrated home podcast for some years. So, yeah, I'm all things residential avenue.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: So tell us. Actually, let's start. How would you describe our. We're a lot younger in our podcast.
[00:01:02] Speaker D: You probably are a lot younger too.
[00:01:05] Speaker B: Really not. But I wish. But in terms of our podcast, it's still. We're still kind of finding our way and working out where we're going with it. But yours is obviously a bit more established.
[00:01:16] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, we started it with a. With a focus that we've been agency for Cedia, which is the trade body for the residential integrator space.
And working with them for a number of years gave us a lot of connections into that community. So we just thought, you know what, we need to just share ideas, information and chat from the integrated community with that audience. And nobody was doing it, so we thought, well, why not? And actually it's grown and grown.
You know, we. We've got a loyal audience. There's. There's lots of people out there who love to hear what we're talking about, but it's by integrators for integrators. That's. That's the thing.
[00:01:57] Speaker B: Given that this particular show, ISC is owned. Co owned by Cedia and Avixir. I mean, that's almost what we're representing here. Right. We do the Ibixa end and you're more on the Cedia end.
Do you think that tie is getting closer? Because to me, it feels like it's. It's the closest it's ever been.
[00:02:16] Speaker D: Absolutely.
[00:02:17] Speaker B: It used to be so separate that Resi didn't speak to Proav and it just, you know, it wasn't. There's so much more crossover. Why do you think that's happened?
[00:02:25] Speaker D: Well, there's a lot of. There is a lot of crossover. I think the associations have learned a lot from each other and are working Better together at that level. I think also this show is demonstrating what a mashup the world of AV is.
[00:02:39] Speaker B: It really is.
[00:02:40] Speaker D: And I mean, there's, there's a. There's a direction on the show floor plan that says the residential stuff is in Hall 2.
No, it's not. I mean, there's a bit in Hall 2, but honestly, Hall 0, Hall 3, Hall 4.
[00:02:56] Speaker B: I mean, there's a lot of nice toys in Hall 3 that I'd be happy to have in my house.
[00:03:00] Speaker D: You know, it's all over. And I think that that's the thing. You know, you're seeing this, the blurring of the lines is absolutely there. And it's really interesting that whilst the AV integrators, you know, a lot of them will still stick to. Clearly I'm a residential integrator and clearly I'm a pro AV integrator and those dividing lines are still. There's some blurring. But it's really interesting that the technology doesn't necessarily respect that and I think.
[00:03:30] Speaker B: That'S quite a nice thing for integrators to not be a jack of all, you know, for them to be known to be specialists in one area. Because I think understanding the context that you're working in is so important. Your approach to design and delivery in a home environment is going to be different if you work into a listed building, right?
So it's understanding that. So I don't think that's a bad thing. But I totally agree with you. The technology is the technology.
So why wouldn't we have your kit in. In somebody's home?
[00:04:03] Speaker D: And I think we're all conscious, particularly in the hospitality space, where the brands that are owning those big spaces want it to feel more homely.
And we've been doing case studies and projects at Wildwood recently where co working spaces, they want the feel of a members club, they want the feel of something that's very home. And I think those are really interesting developments, blurring, conflagrations, whatever you want to call it, but it's a really interesting time for that.
[00:04:37] Speaker C: Interesting what I mean, going to the sort of technology, the world of AV is vast. You know, again we talk about video, audio and all the rest of it, but again, in the residential space, in the kind of smart home space, you've got things like Circadian lighting, you've got blinds, you've got audio, video transmission as well as in the whole automation piece. What's the kind of trend for this year from a technology point of view and where is it iteration where again, like, you know, speakers, for example, you know, how much better can they get? Where are the kind of real kind of developments?
Don't use the word AI though. And then you, then we'll do AI separately because again, that's just a cop out.
[00:05:13] Speaker B: But you can use the term smart home.
[00:05:15] Speaker C: Smart home again. So where are the. Who's really innovating and who's iterating?
[00:05:20] Speaker D: Well, I think the. There's a lot of iterating going on in the world of audio.
[00:05:26] Speaker C: Right.
[00:05:27] Speaker D: And we've got to a kind of.
[00:05:28] Speaker C: Peak, I guess, or a maturity in that space.
[00:05:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:31] Speaker D: I think it's interesting the brands here. We've got a lot of the established hi Fi brands. I mean, it's interesting to see Bang and Olufsen on the floor.
[00:05:38] Speaker B: I was shocked to see them.
[00:05:39] Speaker D: I mean, I don't really class them as a CI brand, but here they are. And very different to other speaker brands who are here. But you've got, I mean, sonnets have a big stand here. You've got.
[00:05:51] Speaker C: I'll go Genelec because I'm a big fan of Genelec.
They're an amazing brand.
[00:05:56] Speaker D: Dali. I was on the Dali booth this morning, you know.
[00:05:58] Speaker B: Yeah.
I mean you can see if, if you've got a Dali speaker and you know, you know, it's there, honestly, it, it, it has a presence.
[00:06:07] Speaker D: Yeah, it's a piece, isn't it?
[00:06:09] Speaker B: It's a state.
[00:06:11] Speaker D: It is, it is. But what, what I think you're seeing from a lot of those hi Fi established names is a recognition that CI is important, an important part of their market. So I mean, even on the Dali booth, just behind those big statement floor standings and cabinets they've got there, you can see the architectural speakers, the in wall stuff, the in ceiling stuff that they're doing. And you know, there's, there's a recognition that that is of value and I think it's great to have those brands taking notice of CI and raising the bar in terms of audio quality, performance. Performance and everything else. And I think that is great.
We did some work with L Acoustics last year and the stuff that they're showing is rich, you know, but they're a huge pro AV brand and they've got a residential super yachts as well.
[00:06:57] Speaker C: They do the whole yachting stuff as well.
[00:06:59] Speaker D: Absolutely. So, so you know those immersive environments that you, you can create now. And KRAA here again, big pro AV brand, but the sort of tiny linear speakers that they do is really nice for CI.
[00:07:13] Speaker C: So iteration on audio.
[00:07:15] Speaker D: Iteration on audio, video and projection. For home cinema, again, you've got some of those huge brands here. Tiny part of it is what they're doing. It's also in the home cinema and it's better picture quality, it's crisper, quieter projectors for those home cinema environments, again, largely iterative, I would say.
[00:07:34] Speaker B: One of the things that I think in the last that I came across that I just hadn't really thought about, I met a digital artist who we were doing some work with and they sell their digital art to hotels and, and people have it in their homes.
[00:07:53] Speaker C: Again, Samsung have got these frame TVs and LG, I know, have got one.
[00:07:57] Speaker B: So again that it's the shift from going into a gallery and buying a piece of art when you could have a digital piece of art, which is still, you know, got the price tag. And it's still something that's been created in a bespoke manner by an artist.
So it's still got all of those things. But if you're bored of it, you can change it.
[00:08:17] Speaker D: Right.
[00:08:18] Speaker B: If you've spent five, six grand on that picture.
[00:08:22] Speaker C: Now that they do.
[00:08:22] Speaker D: Yeah, we had, we had a group of influencers that CEDIA hosted here yesterday and it was. They were coming from a world of design or architecture and some of them were just home writers and they brought them here and it was really interesting looking at their stories and some of the stuff that they picked out. So they, one of them put on the story, the CC screen. I don't know if you've seen that. It basically pops up from out the ground and then unfolds in front of you with the picture.
[00:08:47] Speaker C: Origami.
[00:08:48] Speaker D: Like origami. And, you know, it's those sorts of things that maybe. I think we in the industry just feel like, yeah, that's been around for a few years, but actually it still really catches the imagination of people who.
[00:08:58] Speaker B: Aren'T people still want the one that. The TV that pops out the foot of your bed.
[00:09:02] Speaker C: Yeah, yes, yeah, yeah.
[00:09:04] Speaker B: Which has never appealed to me because I'm tall.
[00:09:06] Speaker C: To us, we do it all the time again, I guess, to end users. Again, we kind of get lost in the works. Like we live and eat and breathe and sleep this stuff. But to people coming in, it's still innovative and still new.
[00:09:16] Speaker D: It's still innovative. And that's the same with the clients that a lot of these integrators are working for. You know, they haven't seen it, they're not aware of it. They need education and there's loads of stuff here that will still blow your mind even.
Even though it's been around for a couple of years now.
[00:09:29] Speaker C: So that's obviously where. And again, 8k, I'm guessing there's a whole bunch of stuff around 8k.
[00:09:33] Speaker D: Yeah, there's loads going on in that sort of thing. And you know how quality keeps getting better every year, screens getting thinner, everything is just still moving in that direction. And that's great because obviously prices come down as well for the more moderate 4K.
[00:09:53] Speaker C: So that's obviously audio then and video. What about automation and lighting?
[00:09:58] Speaker D: We are working here for Lutron, which is really interesting. And what Lutron is showing is digital addressable fixtures because they bought all Luna a fixtures company last year. They've obviously acquired Quechra a couple of years ago on the human centric side, bringing those together, making them digitally addressable, bringing them into the Lutron ecosystem. I mean Dali's been around for a while in the commercial space, but if you have that digital addressability within the fixtures as well as within the control system, you know Neil is going to mean reduced backroom space that you need all the intelligence in the fittings. You're not going to need going to.
[00:10:37] Speaker C: The edge rather than.
[00:10:38] Speaker D: Exactly. So I think for integrators looking at that, they're thinking and you know, Lutron is the number one in that high net worth residential market. So anyone getting a Lutron control system is now thinking, you, you know what that space that can now be a wine cellar, cigar room, kids room, whatever, and freeing up space, freeing up installation time. That's what integrators want to hear. So that was a big thing. And I think just generally that whole kind of light conversation I think is really interesting in the residential space because what we're seeing is number of talks here all around well being and how people want to feel in their home. Light is obviously a big driver. Circadian Light is coming up and I think we're at a point where again we've been talking about it for a few years actually. Clients seem to care about that. And looking at how well being is. Is translated into the home through technology, I think is a really interesting dynamic.
[00:11:39] Speaker B: When I think of ISE and how ISE has grown as a show, do people actually recognize the. The crossover or are resi people still trying to, to kind of keep themselves into in those.
[00:11:53] Speaker D: I think, I think those, I think they. There is still a distinct residential AV integrator. There is a little bit of crossover, there's. There was a Talk in the conference session around that dreaded word. Can I say it? Resi. Mercial. Can I say that? You know, we've got to find a better term, but there's definitely a space where some integrators from RESI are working in those kind of projects.
[00:12:18] Speaker B: Do the CEDIA people see this as something that should be a fixture in their diary, or do they still prefer to go to cedia?
[00:12:25] Speaker D: Oh, gosh. I think this show is the international event for European integrators. I've been going to the Expo in Denver the last few years and certainly from the UK and Europe.
It's nothing like the audience you get here. There's a few, but not many.
[00:12:44] Speaker B: And conversely, why should Pro V people actually participate more? And what can they learn from. From the resi?
[00:12:52] Speaker D: Well, I think it's that kind of.
It's those nuances. You know, I think. I don't want to be disparaging about what the Pro AV guys do, but it's looking at things like.
[00:13:05] Speaker B: But you're going to.
[00:13:06] Speaker D: It's looking at things like elegance, aesthetic.
[00:13:09] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:13:10] Speaker D: And how that can flow into the work that they're doing and what clients care about. In terms of the look, it's more.
[00:13:18] Speaker C: Front end, isn't it? Again, the Pro av, I guess, is behind the scenes rather than the front end. Sorry, go on.
[00:13:24] Speaker B: I don't want to use the C word, but do you think it is post Covid?
[00:13:29] Speaker C: Oh, that's. Oh, that would wonder where you're going then.
[00:13:32] Speaker D: I mean, it's a trend, I think, I think, you know, because we've been.
[00:13:37] Speaker B: At home and we, we want our offices to feel a bit nicer and we want our homes to feel nicer as well when it comes to.
We don't want the clunky black boxes everywhere.
[00:13:48] Speaker D: But do you remember when the workspace, you know, like when Google were putting like bean bags and slides and coffee bars and everyone was thinking, you know, Californian weirdos doing that. But actually now that's been normalized. It has been normalized a bit. And I think, I think you've just.
You have to think about that AV space, that AV in the relaxing comfort field space that the brands want as workspace. You just have to think differently about it. And there's a lot that people can learn, I think, from, From RESI on that.
[00:14:17] Speaker C: Okay, obviously people from the Pro AV wanting to get into resi, what's your kind of. Where should they start? What's the ease? How do they ease into it? What's your.
[00:14:26] Speaker D: I Would absolutely have a wander around the floor here. I mean Hall 2 is great. There's Lotus stuff in Hall 3, 4 and 5 as well as we said. But Hall 2's got great audio in 7.
Yeah.
I think also just have a chat with some of the people on the CD booth.
It's a very open, honest, transparent trade body. They're open to talking with people and I think check out some of the talks that are going on. I think there's loads of interesting stuff here has been this year. Sure there will be in the future. Just keep an eye on where the trends are going.
[00:15:01] Speaker C: Fantastic. Well, I think we've kind of scratched the surface. Maybe we can come on your show and we'll do a match up the other way. And it's like where can people from people watching AV in the world, where can they find out more?
[00:15:11] Speaker D: Where you Integrated home podcast we're on all podcast platforms. We're audio only but we do a bit of video and we're probably going to try and do more of that this year.
[00:15:20] Speaker B: But yeah, so those listeners who follow Jeff, that's what he looks like.
[00:15:24] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:27] Speaker D: And yeah, so Spotify, Apple, podcasts, we're all over that. And yeah, social channels. So we've got LinkedIn, we've got Instagram, we've got, you know, all those stuff. So follow us, keep, keep up to speed with us. And yeah, delighted to have you on in the future.
[00:15:41] Speaker B: Stay wild.
[00:15:41] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:15:42] Speaker D: Stay wild. Thanks a lot.
[00:15:43] Speaker C: Thanks for tuning in, everyone.
[00:15:45] Speaker A: That's a wrap on this episode of AV in the Wild. Big thanks to our guests and to you, our listeners, for joining us on this journey through the AV landscape. If you liked what you heard, don't forget to subscribe. Share Leave a Review it helps us keep the conversation going. Catch us next time as we hit the road again with more voices, more stories and more of what makes AV wild.
Until then, stay curious, stay connected and stay wild.
