Category of under $60k theater.

Pics: [Link: cedia.net]

More info: [Link: svconline.com]

Specs and equipment:

1. 1 Marantz VP-12S3
2. 1 Stewart 4-way mask screen
3. 2 Bay Audio JAM
4. 1 Bay Audio JAM Center
5. 4 Bay Audio 780
6. 2 Bay Audio JAM Sub
7. 1 Panamax MAX5300
8. 1 Panamax MAX-INWALL
9. 1 Niles Intellicontrol
10. 1 Lutron Grafik Eye
11. 1 Middle Atlantic equipment rack
12. 1 Acoustic Innovations Showcase Theater
13. 6 Acoustic Innovations Bridgepoint
14. 1 Marantz MV-8300
15. 1 Marantz SR-9300
16. 1 Marantz DV-8400

201 hours of labor.

Okay, now I'm not a math genius, but how do you get a AI showcase theater, $13k stewart screen, VP12 PJ, 6 chairs, some nice speakers (I think), pretty good equipment and a rack, plus 201 hours of labor for less than $60k? Good thing no consumers know about CEDIA and see this stuff or they might expect all of us to give our stuff away too.

EBay

Ebay, and I guess if you work for about 7.50 hr and discount the heck out of the gear, it might come in close to that.
Oh yea,if the client bought the screen and a few other things from someone else does that count in your total?

I work for beer

Creative accounting? New math?

Or better yet.....

How to lie and win an award. This company can now claim to be an award winning company.

Want to bet that they will not mention the dollar amount in any forthcoming advertisements?

Maybe we should all just hire them to do our projects!!

Dont think that'll work. They probably closed down this week as they are featured in the current CE-Pro magazine (or some other industry rag I have).

maybe that was a $60k deposit and they were confused.

I entered one of my rooms back in 2000 and lost to a much inferior room. That is what convinced me that CEDIA was all political and not really about what was the best in that category. Hershelmann was head of that (at the time), but I really have no idea how much he really had to do with it.

Anyway, I vowed never again. It was expensive and there was a lot of preparation and time to enter. I don't mind losing to a superior room - but when I lost to some lame POS room, all becasue of political reasons, or someone stuffing the ballot box, I'm out.

CEDIA is such a joke and really...has been for quite some time.

agree...cedia is a joke...a bad joke

I think that the dollar amount CEDIA counts is for A/V equipment only, not furnishings, decor, labor, etc.

The labor hours do seem dramatically under-estimated.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets all pissed off looking at the "award winning" sytems. I've seen some pretty crazappy stuff. Like IR emitters on the face of gear that i know has reliable IR in jacks.

I always wonder about the amounts and the essays. Seems some companies provide nothing more than the gear and the installation while others manage the whole project. If a general contractor does all of the trimwork, carpet, painting, etc. then is the budget listed only for the gear and AI Stuff????

The company here is a fellow Bay Audio dealer (yes those are very nice speakers!!!) They are well respected . Maybe the above scenario is the case. If so then the price for gear & labor seems right but it doesn't reflect the entire end price of the room to the client. A caveat we should take into account.

The problem as I see it?

The general public sees a number such as this, and fully expects that any comparable system should run that same amount. And no amount of explanation will make said client feel good about the number being substantially higher....

If that 60k room actually cost 90k, then put it in that class and publish the REAL number.

Price should be from vanilla box to complete. Hell that takes in drywall... maybe from bare floor to complete would be a better start.

Notice in the magazines they show you what was there before and what it took to get to the end. Maybe that needs to be posted in the price.