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The Soundbar Setup

If you’re on a budget or have a small movie room, you might start with a soundbar like the Sonos Arc. The Arc has 11 drivers and can replicate the sound field of a five-channel surround system on its own. The Arc also supports Dolby Atmos signals and features two up-firing drivers to create a sense of height.

We could go on about its features, but the point we want to drive home is that it’s possible to enjoy surround sound with just a soundbar—if you know which one to look for. Still, we’d recommend pairing it with at least a subwoofer for some punching bass and a more immersive audio experience.

The Standard 5.1 Setup

5.1 might be the most basic surround setup, but it’s a step up from any soundbar-based system. Unlike a soundbar, a 5.1 setup uses separate speakers that sit around you to envelop you in the action. This configuration includes three front speakers, two surround speakers, and one subwoofer.

While the Arc is already powered, a 5.1 setup will usually require a receiver or processor/amp combo to decode audio formats and power your speakers (we’ll talk more on that in the next blog). If you choose a 5.1 system, make sure your front left and right speakers are angled inward toward the listening position, your surrounds are on either side of the listening position, and all speakers are at ear level.

SEE ALSO: Home Theater FAQ: Choosing the Best Seating Type and Placement

Palladiom Shades

What makes Palladiom shades different? It goes beyond the contemporary colors and fabrics. They’re designed for exposed applications and don't need a fascia, pocket, or recess. Exposed doesn’t mean unsightly, as hand-finished aluminum brackets that match the equally elegant keypads show off the sleek industrial design. Palladiom shading is the epitome of form following function elegantly.

When it comes to function, Lutron excels with superior innovation. Lutron motors are the envy of the industry for power, efficiency, and quiet operation. The company’s patented Hembar Alignment system (available throughout the shading lines) synchronizes shade movement within 1/8 of an inch for perfectly choreographed operation in your Salt Lake City, UT home.

The Palladiom line is an ideal choice for today's industrial, mid-century, and modern styles. With new warm brass finishes and graphite and opal white brackets, they add the perfect modern touch to eclectic interiors.

SEE ALSO: Four Unique Ways to Use Motorized Shades and Window Treatments

Palladiom Wall Controls

Lutron's Palladiom wall stations feature the same attention to detail in industrial design. Made of complementary materials and colors featuring matte, glass, and metal finishes, they add elegance to your walls and consolidate control of multiple functions into one interface. The keypads work with HomeWorks QS, Lutron’s most sophisticated lighting control system. One button can turn on and off lighting throughout your entire property. HomeWorks also integrates control of Lutron motorized shades and smart thermostats. You can create scenes to make them all partner to set the ideal atmosphere for any activity with lights, shading, and temperature control.

In our last blog, we introduced Lutron, the pioneer of lighting control systems. Now part of the Lutron portfolio is Ketra, a leader in tunable LED solutions that bring lighting personalization to the home. Below, learn how to transform your home with Ketra tunable LEDs + Lutron lighting control.

1. Blur the Boundaries Between Indoors and Outdoors

Enjoy the perfect light at any time with dynamic LEDs that simulate daylight. Remember the evolving hues and intensity of the sun that we described earlier? Ketra tunable light fixtures can bring that same experience into the home by mimicking the color temperature and brightness of natural light from morning to night. You’ll feel more connected to nature, more focused during the day, and more relaxed at night—even if you forget to step outside into the natural light of Bountiful, UT at all.

2. Set the Scene for Cocktail Hour

When you envision an evening at your favorite cocktail bar, what does the lighting look like? It’s probably low and warm to help create a comfortable and intimate atmosphere. With Ketra lighting at home, you can recreate the same ambiance with ease. Keep kitchen and dining room lights bright and at a warm-white temperature as you prepare for cocktail hour. Then as guests arrive, dim and warm your lights to set the mood for a cozy evening with friends.

3. Become a Master Entertainer with Striking Colors

Ketra gifts you with a full spectrum of whites and colors from a single light source—17 million shades, to be exact. When it comes to experimenting with light colors, the sky is the limit! Create personalized color palettes for holiday gatherings, game-watching events, weekend parties, and other occasions. Find your favorite shades in a sea of saturated colors and pastels, which never degrade over time, thanks to Ketra’s Color Lock technology.

4. Dial in the Perfect Light with Speed and Precision

Ketra paired with a Lutron HomeWorks control system puts even more power and personalization at your fingertips. Create custom light scenes for entertaining, working, dining, and more, and activate them instantly from a customized wall keypad. When you want to tweak the color or intensity of one or several light fixtures, you can quickly make adjustments using the Lutron Connect app.

Illuminate Every Space Just Right

Lutron offers light products for any space or budget—from single-room apartments to palatial estates. Start small in a few rooms or incorporate smart lighting control everywhere in the home. Wired and wireless dimmers, switches, and custom-configurable keypads replace your standard light switches to make managing your lighting in one, multiple, or all rooms as easy as pressing a button.

Lutron systems grow with you, too. If you begin by adding smart lighting capability to the kitchen and bedrooms but decide to expand to the home theater and patio later, you can! Lutron control systems can support one to 10,000 integrated devices, depending on the system that’s right for you.

Lutron lighting isn’t just smart; it’s beautiful and nourishing. Experience tunable LED lighting that shifts color temperature and intensity throughout the day to bring the benefits of natural light inside your Park City, UT home. Play with a near-infinite palette of light colors to set the mood and elevate your home décor.

SEE ALSO: These Smart Lighting Innovations Can Transform Your Home

Dress Your Interiors with Elegant Shades and Controls

At the touch of a button or through personalized schedules, Lutron motorized window treatments quietly and uniformly fill your home with energizing sunlight by day, then promptly give you privacy when you need it. Choose from various styles and fabrics to coordinate with your unique interior design.

Command Naturally

As we mentioned in the previous blog, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant require a certain order to commands and getting device names right. While they both have made strides in that area, even your four-year-old can process language better (they may not do your bidding, but we won’t go into that here). Josh.ai, on the other hand, has a handle on both the context of your commands and where you want to get something done. When you are in the living room and say, “lower the shades in 3 minutes,” it knows what room you are in and which motorized shades you mean.

Like your personal butler (which you won’t need anymore with Josh.ai), Josh can understand more than one thing at a time. And unlike your four-year-old, it will faithfully do what is asked. A compound directive like “dim the lights to 20%, turn the temperature to 73, and start Firefly Lane on Netflix” will be understood and executed without a puzzled look or a quizzical reply. This is voice control the way it should be.

SEE ALSO: Optimize Your Smart Home System with Remote Access

An App When You Want it

Sometimes it’s easier to manage something at the tap of a screen rather than by voice. Josh.ai has an elegant, intuitive companion app that lets you customize your smart home experience. Organized by rooms, it's easy to manage devices and functions in a room, and you can manage multiple properties too. A powerful personalization feature is profiles, where you can control how guests, kids, and visitors can manage specific parts of your smart home. Of course, Josh also integrates seamlessly with automation systems like Control4, so you can combine all your smart home functionality under one comprehensive control system. 

A Higher Intelligence – with Privacy

Josh.ai was designed as a voice control platform for home automation and not for other reasons. The company behind it does not gather information that can be used for marketing purposes. A unique feature of Josh is superior processing power built into the hardware that processes commands locally versus sending it to the cloud, creating a more secure and private approach to voice control. That power also lets Josh.ai learn your habits and do routine things for you, like lowering your shades on late afternoons in Bountiful, UT, to keep the sun's glare out – and that information stays in your home.