System design is perhaps the most amorphous portion of our work. In a nutshell, we want to help you envision some moment in the future when you could be enjoying your new entertainment system. In order to make this exercise as specific as possible, we try to break it down room by room. For example:

1. In the Kitchen:
   • If you were sitting around with friends, would you like to have music playing?
   • Do you listen to All Things Considered while you make dinner?
   • What is the room layout? What are our speaker placement options?
   • Would it be helpful if you could control all of the lights from one spot?
2. In the Family Room:
   • Are you likely to rent a movie and stay home on a Friday night?
   • Do you enjoy watching the big sporting events? Do you invite friends over?
   • Would a Home Theater System make these events more fun? Would the kids enjoy it?
   • Are there lighting issues or window treatment problems that should be addressed?
3. On the Deck:
   • If you had friends over for a barbecue, would you want some music playing?
   • Ideally, how would you like to control the sound?

And so on. There are no pre-determined “right” answers to these questions. Usually a family will be interested in some options, not in others. Maybe you don’t even have a deck! What’s important is to walk through all of the choices before building the system. We can use this same exercise to plan other home electronics. Perhaps an intercom system; Do you need to monitor a baby's room? Or broadband internet wiring, or closed circuit TV. It’s often a useful way to begin thinking concretely about what you will want.

Some designs have required literally months of meetings with clients, architects, interior designers, cabinet makers and contractors. Others have been worked out in a quick one hour meeting. Everyone has a different level of interest in the underlying details. Whatever the time frame, our job is to guide the conversation, and to help uncover all of the potential issues.

Once there is a conceptual agreement, we can begin the next steps. These will involve preliminary system engineering, selecting components, pricing the options, and developing specific proposals for you to consider. Ultimately we want to turn your ideas into hardware and electronics that we know will deliver the experience you are looking for.