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Get the popcorn ready: By this time next year, you’ll be able to watch first-run movies in your home screening room the same day they’re released in movie theaters, thanks to a new system set to launch by Prima Cinema.

The California-based company is planning to offer home theater owners a “true home theater experience” with a $35,000 digital system that enables them to watch brand new movies at home, at a cost of about $500 per film.

“This is definitely a service that will be attractive to the true ‘movie buffs’ among our high-end clients,” explains Chris Brody, president and CEO of Crescendo Designs. “The ability to watch first-run movies at home has long been a perk for a small circle of Hollywood powerbrokers—not anymore.

“At Crescendo, we’re always looking for innovations that take the home theater experience to a whole new level,” he adds. “The Prima Cinema innovation is a very exciting one.” The new Prima Cinema system launch is backed by Best Buy’s venture capital arm and GE-owned movie studio Universal Pictures.

Crescendo Designs president and co-founder Chris Brody has been named one of the “2011 Young Turks of CE” by CustomRetailer, a leading business strategy magazine for the residential A/V and automation integration electronics professional.

Celebrating “the industry’s best and brightest who are shaping the products and services of today and tomorrow,” Chris was selected as a winner in the publication’s second-annual competition for helping to “transform Crescendo Designs into one of the leading designers and installers of high-end home technology from Manhattan to Montauk.” An entrepreneur who began his retail career in technology more than a decade ago when he started an online A/V company, Chris moved into the luxury residential market in 2002 when he founded Crescendo with his brother Mike.

Now, according to the magazine’s January profile, “Crescendo Designs introduces the latest programs to help homeowners control everything from lighting to the hot tub’s temperature remotely by downloading an app for their iPhone or logging onto Crescendo’s homepage.” Contact Chris now.

Now, electrical outlets, dimmers and keypads in granite, marble and wood all but disappear with an innovative solid surface solution from TRUFIG. Recognized for making electronics unobtrusive and almost invisible in sheetrock, TRUFIG’s new award-winning system can produce the same results in these high-end, natural finishes.

Like the original product, the new TRUFIG Solid Surface Solutions do a great job of hiding in-wall electronics on unconventional surfaces.

To make sure your TRUFIG solid-surface solution is an undetectable as it is beautiful speak to your Crescendo Designs professional.

Billed as the “best way to experience the web, email, photos and video,” the increasingly popular iPad may now be the best way for your clients to control their homes, too.

At Crescendo, we’re skillfully integrating the iPad into high-end systems such as those offered by Crestron, Control 4 and Savant – in both new installs and retrofits – enabling homeowners to control everything from their lighting and pool to their audio/video, motorized shades and security systems. Learn more about total home control options offered by Crescendo Designs.

Seeing is Believing

Savant has introduced TrueImage Control™ – an innovative intuitive user interface (UI) that enables homeowners to initiate commands via actual images of the smart products in their home—to all their in-wall and tabletop touch panels.

Now available at Crescendo Designs, with TrueImage Control you simply touch an actual in-room photo of the appliance you’d like to control. Not only does the item function when its image is pressed, it also illuminates on the touch panel confirming the command.

“Virtually any smart home technology can be controlled with TrueImage,” says Chris Brody, president of Crescendo Design. “With real, professionally photographed images of each system component—and its surroundings—it reflects each client’s style and home décor.” Images of each room are loaded into the ROSIE control platform, enabling users to navigate and control all facets of their home technology using TrueImage Control.

To see the difference Savant’s TrueImage Control makes, visit the visit Crescendo Designs’ 3,300-square foot, state-of-the-art showroom on Southampton’s Main Street.

A strong believer in giving back to the local community, Crescendo Designs recently participated in the “Evening at Bedell Cellars” benefit for the Parrish Art Museum, which is devoted to the collection, preservation, interpretation and dissemination of American art with particular focus on the art of the East End of Long Island.

Sponsored by the Museum’s Business Council, the annual event offers members of the business community an opportunity to socialize while enjoying Bedell wines, seasonal hors d’oeuvres, live music and a silent auction the beautiful winery and vineyard in Cutchogue on the North Fork.

Crescendo donated an outdoor movie system rental for the silent auction, which  helped raise funds for the Museum’s ongoing programs designed to bring art and people together through exhibitions, collections, educational activities and publications related specifically to American culture, both past and present.

Crescendo Designs is now an authorized dealer for Savant, the industry’s only Apple®-based home theater control and automation solution. With Savant’s technology, you can use iPad™, iPhone® or iPod touch® to control your whole house audio and video, lighting control systems, security, climate, communications, internet and ancillary services.

Imagine coming home from a hard day. Your favorite music starts playing and your hot tub jets spring into action. Another tap closes a privacy curtain and dims the lights in your home theater room. The movie of your choice cues in preparation for viewing at your leisure.

It’s the total “welcome home” seamless experience – and now it’s available exclusively at Crescendo.

Helps raise funds for Southampton Fresh Air Home

Crescendo Designs recently helped raise thousands of dollars for the Southampton Fresh Air Home for physically challenged children at their annual Decorators-Designers-Dealers Sale and Auction Benefit Gala.

One of the highlights of Southampton’s summer season, the star-studded event attracts over 500 guests and raises about 40 percent of the operating budget for the non-profit organization, which provides a unique and caring residential camping experience for special needs children – and a much-needed respite for the families who care for them.

“I can’t think of a more worthwhile organization – or a more fantastic Southampton event – for Crescendo Designs to participate in than this benefit for the Fresh Air Home. For more than 100 years, they’ve made summers special for countless deserving kids and their families,” says Mike Brody, Vice President of Crescendo Designs.

Crescendo not only contributed an Outdoor Movie Night to the Gala’s Silent Auction, we also donated flat screen TV rentals to the event itself so that guests could get a good look at all Auction items up for bid, watch the Fresh Air Home’s video as well as the Kentucky Derby. Visit www.hamptonsoutdoormovies.com for more information.

The “Small” outdoor movie screen greeted guests and a movie night was donated by Crescendo for the Silent Auction to benefit the Fresh Air Home.

SFAH Volunteer Dr. Michael Schessel shows off a silent auction item in style!

Southampton Fresh Air Home Chairman Pamela Michaelcheck with Crescendo Principal Mike Brody.

Crescendo donated Flat Screen TV Rentals so that guests could see the FAH video loop, watch the Kentucky Derby, and get a clear picture of auction items up for bid.

SFAH Business Manager Tom Naro greets guests at the entrance to the event.

The diamond: it’s the ultimate tweeter material – and the magic ingredient in the new flagship 800 Series Diamond speakers from Bowers-Wilkin. Legendary among professional recording studios and serious sound enthusiasts alike, the incredible precision and clarity of diamond is now available for the first time in every speaker in the range. The range encompasses speakers of all sizes and applications, from mighty studio monitors to bookshelf speakers that will fit snugly into your home decor. But while every speaker is different, each has a tweeter made from pure diamond, and sound quality that will leave you speechless.

Read about the 800 Series Diamond speakers then visit our Southampton showroom and hear the difference a diamond can make.

Going green can be fun, fashionable and functional, and this Bridgehampton waterfront home has the energy savings – and entertainment value – to prove it. Featuring advanced home control and entertainment technology designed and installed by Crescendo, this contemporary retreat is as environmentally friendly as it is enjoyable.

The 5,500-foot home includes a state-of-the-art Lutron system that enables the owner to control all lights from a single switch, automatic scenes based on sun patterns or set them to “vacation mode” to replicate their usual light usage for added security. A complementary Lutron motorized shade system is tied into a Crestron total home control system, which directs the shades to “follow the sun” using a built-in GPS locator so the home remains comfortable – and more energy efficient – all year long.

The Crestron system not only keeps control of the environment, it helps keep this homeowner entertained, too. An avid audiophile and concertgoer, he can listen to music from an iPod, satellite radio or CD player in any room, across the entire house – or even on the pool deck – thanks to the new multi-room audio system designed and installed by Crescendo, while his living room DVD player allows him to enjoy his large collection of concert DVDs from any TV or speaker in the house.

When the owner is not at home, all system features – HVAC, security, lighting, arm/disarm and garage door – can be controlled remotely from his iPhone, or online via Crescendo’s website. To have Crescendo help you design and install the home technology and entertainment system for your next project, contact us.

Runco ColourPalette Collection Available at Crescendo Designs

Today’s discerning homeowner should never have to sacrifice high style for high technology: With the new Runco ColourPalette™ collection, available at Southampton’s Crescendo Designs, they won’t have to.

The perfect synergy between color and technology, Runco now offers its extensive line of home theater projectors, plasma displays and LCD displays in 13 fantastic colors, making them a stunning addition to today’s luxury home. Beyond the custom palette, Runco also offers exact color matching from any fabric, paint or surface to ensure the display fits seamlessly with a room’s décor. Color samples area available with each color match – and are optional with the Runco ColourPalette.

“The new, vibrant ColourPalette and custom color matching is sure to be a client favorite,” says Chris Brody, President of Crescendo Design. “It gives designers and architects even greater flexibility when it comes to pairing high-end technology with great interior design.”

To see the ColourPalette, visit Crescendo Designs’ 3,300-square foot, state-of-the-art showroom on Southampton’s Main Street, or call 631.283.2133 for an in-home consultation.

To see all the colors available, visit www.runco.com

Watch your favorite television stars under the stars with a Pantel outdoor weatherproof television. Completely waterproof and featuring the most advanced television technology, a Pantel TV can be set up virtually anywhere so you can enjoy that big blockbuster or big game in high definition – in the great outdoors. Don’t miss a moment: schedule your installation with Crescendo now.