Clifton Park, NY
(Home built in 2011)
I have been building a new house with a (Control4) home control system with lighting, HVAC, security, audio and video control. I've been doing some of the work myself, partly because I enjoy it and partly to manage costs. While some AV firms want complete control of the project, these guys have worked with me from the beginning to recommend and purchase materials including conduit, cabling, and equipment. I do what I can, and leave the really hard stuff to these professionals. They have saved me many hours of research since keeping up with the latest and greatest gear is a full-time job. Really the only problems I have had is with the quirks of manufacturer's equipment, never with Audio Obsessions, and these guys always have a solution on hand to work around these technological quirks. I have frequently had email answered over the weekend within minutes of posting questions. They provide exceptional service, encyclopedic knowledge of equipment, and the flexibility to install and configure sophisticated technological solutions.
Woodstock, NY
(Home built in 2013)
Several years ago when I knew that I was going to build a rather large, high end, energy efficient custom home, I started researching the holy grail of a "smart home" which I wanted to incorporate into my lifestyle. While there are many systems out here, there is only one that works easily, is effectively controlled and financially makes sense. That system is Control 4. As an architect, I wanted to make sure that I got the most value and ease of function for my house. I found Adam Smith of Audio Obsessions after an online search and went to meet him at his showroom.
It was immediately obvious to me that Adam is one of those young guys (who also happens to have a degree in electrical engineering ???? From Carnegie Mellon University ???) that eats, breathes and drinks home automation. He showed me how to do things that I never could have imagined. Now that I am living in my house for just over a year, I realize what a great choice I made. His system controls all my heating and cooling which includes sophisticated ground source geothermal processes as well as 3 steam humidifiers, so that no one wakes up with a dry mouth or nose, all video systems including 9 TVs, all the lighting throughout the house, which is done by creating scenes for different times of the day with different combinations of the lights in each room using motion sensors, all of our audio systems, home security systems cameras, etc.
The beauty of the system is that it is modular, meaning it can grow with your needs. I can also control all of my house functions from an iPad or an iPhone anywhere in the world as long as I have an internet connection.
Adam was more than helpful in providing alternative solutions for each system or item within our home. He also provided all the cabling for within the house (which is extensive) as well as purchasing all the audio and video/TV equipment and installing it. His work was truly turnkey for me. Once we moved in, my wife and I have made hundreds of programming tweaks for which Adam has accommodated us without charge. No matter what I asked him to do he came up with a solution.
As an example, I installed a rainwater roof collection system to fill a water pillow of 2400 gallons to use for irrigation. I wanted to automate the switchover from rainwater to well water for our irrigation system when the water pillow is empty. I know he never did this before, but he engineered a system and bought all the electronic valves and made a manual system automated. Life for all of us is too short doing things manually that can now be done automatically without any thought.
I can send a text or an email to Adam at anytime and his response time is generally within minutes. I have dealt with many sub-contractors over the last 4 decades plus, and no one does service better than Adam. He loves a challenge, no matter how small or how big. "Failure" is not a word that he understands.