Entertainment Hub Middleburg FL

Source: CUSTOM HOME Magazine
Publication date: March 1, 2004

By Rebecca Day

Twenty years ago, when PC makers were trying to convince a skeptical public about the benefits of a home computer, they offered the promise of storing recipes on a hard drive and using number-crunching software to simplify tax returns. It wasn't an alluring sell. Early on, few foresaw the sweeping advances that the Internet would bring. The idea that the home computer would one day become the central vault for family entertainment was as remote as MP3 music.

But a look at the latest wave of audio/video products shows that's just what's happening. Sure, consumers might still bring home a DVD from Blockbuster, but a new generation of products is changing the organizational chart of the electronic home. Legitimate music-download services are pointing to the future of music and movie distribution, and network-friendly audio and video products are becoming peripherals to the PC.

The TX-NR801 from Onkyo features a 700-watt, 7.1-channel A/V receiver and Net-Tune software that can distribute music to up to 12 rooms in a house.

Whether the revolution occurs next year or next decade, it's all more fodder for structured wiring. The high-bandwidth wires of a networked home will be the pipelines supplying the connected audio and video products of today and tomorrow. Unlike custom-distributed audio and video systems affordable only to wealthy homeowners, these PC-based solutions are affordable to common homeowners.

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