Category Archives: Vsys on the scene

Totem’s new “Tribe V and Tribe Sub”

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When I first discovered Totem Acoustics at CES last year, I absolutely fell in love with the Canadian  company. My absolute favorite is the Tribe series they make.
A few weeks ago at CEDIA I stopped by their booth so I could say hi to Stephen Libin and Vince to hear the magic of my favorite loudspeakers when I noticed there was a new addition to the Tribe series.The Tribe V is the next evolutionary step toward on-wall perfection. Featuring the Totem’s Torrent driver, the Tribe V provides the highest caliber on-wall performance available.

The sound that comes from these beautifully Canadian crafted on-wall loudspeakers were so amazing that I had to literally hug them twice. Yes, they are that awesome.

Let me just say that most but not all people love to hear speakers, and definitely don’t want to see them. That being said, the compliment to my new best friend is the Tribe Sub.


The Tribe Sub can be used in any direction, horizontal, vertical, straight or flat (Yeah that’s right). This on-wall beauty comes fully equipped with a stand to move it around and absorbent back feet to lay it on its back. It can even be slipped under the couch!

I am not trying to say that the amount of bass that comes from the Tribe V are not enough to please you, because remember I said that I had to hug them (Yeah That happened). The pairing of the Tribe sub and Tribe V is no less than awe-inspiring, and my brain was taken to another dimension in sound.

Totem Acoustics have never ceased to amaze me in their products. They are all about “Little speakers can produce Big sound” and that is exactly what they are doing.

Tribe V

Design features

  • Vertical or horizontal on-wall mounting
  • Magnetic grill included
  • Available in white, black and Design multicoated
    polyester finishes

Technical features

  • 4 Totem Torrent drivers per unit
  • High-efficiency tweeters with aluminum faceplate
  • 8 ohm impedance load

Tribe Sub

Design features:

  • Advanced design for simplicity of usage
  • Vertical or horizontal on-wall mounting
  • Ultra-flexible positioning for optimal sound-effect
  • Available in white, black and Design multicoated polyester finishes
  • Supplied stand for in-room placement

Technical features:

  • 2 ballistic carbon-fiber 8 Inch active woofers
  • Comes with external 500 Watt Totem/Bash
  • Each amplifier can operate 2 sub modules
  • Cloth magnetic grill, stand & hardware included
  • Supported by 6 super-absorbent back-feet
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James Loudspeaker’s “Spot 3″

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Last Friday the Vsys Automation crew and myself of course, were lucky enough to witness a new Design/Prototype in development at the James Loudspeaker facility in Beautiful Napa CA. James Loudspeaker is working together with No.8 Lighting to develop what the engineers at James Loudspeaker are calling code name “Spot 3″.

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Spot 3 is 3″ driver built into one of No.8′s lighting fixtures, that just happens to be an LED fixture. The LED technology was developed by “XIADO” and it has the equivalent of a 75W incandescent bulb. When asking the engineers on the challenges in making this 3″ speaker and LED light fixture in one, other than the obvious, they said one of the more difficult features was being able to rotate and swivel the light and being able to change the light in the field. BTW it looks like they have got that figured out on their first design, but only time will tell. Now I have only seen and heard the prototype, but for a 3″ driver and light combo it looks and sounds amazing! Did I mention that currently (When I was there) the Spot 3 was only being driven by 15W super sexy and sleek prototype amplifier/control unit with built in BlueTooth. I say currently because Michael J. Park, Chief Technology Officer plans on upping that to about 50-75W.

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I must say that at first glance of the Spot 3, I thought that I was starring at Tony Stark’s “Arc Reactor“, the amazing audio produced proved otherwise. I also could not believe when I entered the room, the amount of brilliant bass, that it was emanating from this tiny wonder, hands on with the prototype and prints also proved me wrong.

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One of my favorite things about this Speaker/Light is the connection is so easy it is impossible to reverse polarity! You may be asking yourself, How is this possible? Currently to connect this speaker to its counterpart, it is a simple RJ11 connector, but most likely is going to change to a RJ45 Ethernet connection for doubling up on wires.

More info on this when it is available, but expect to see the Spot 3 and it’s amp/controller at the end of the year from your local James Loudspeaker dealer, our visit them on their website here.

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The Samsung UN55C9000

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About one month ago I was at my local AVAD with a few of the other Designers from Vsys Automation in Livermore Ca putting my brain to good use at one of the many trainings that a True Integrator must attend to stay on top of the cutting edge of technology these days. When I was on my break I was able to roam the warehouse and unbox a Samsung 9000 series Television.

This beautiful piece of technology had a brushed Steele frame and the stand to match. The very first thing that I noticed was that it was incredibly thin (The LED 9000 features an Ultimate Slim Design of only 0.3 inches in depth!), so thin that one might inquire where the ports are, in an extra box somewhere? No, they are all built into this super sleek LED backlit 3D ready device.

Bring the wonder of 3D straight to your living room with groundbreaking technology from Samsung. Their new 3D TVs add a whole new depth and dimension to scenes to create a completely jaw-dropping experience. Samsung 3D Active Glasses sync up with your 3D TV to produce 3D images, allowing you to watch movies and TV with action that leaps right off the screen. Even your favorite shows can now be transformed to 3D in real time!!??!! Discover a new dimension in TV with Samsung 3D technology.

The groundbreaking touch screen remote does what no other remote can do. With the ability to enter text, as well as stream video from the TV screen to the 3” color screen on the remote, you can take your TV anywhere. A specially designed wall mount complements the TV, with a slimness to match the bezel. The Samsung LinkStick™ makes it easy to wirelessly connect to a world of online content – like Samsung Apps – right on your TV. Speaking of apps, Samsung must have up their game in the last few months, because now you can Stream videos from YouTube, movies from Blockbuster, music from Pandora and see Twitter updates. You’ll enjoy access to all this and more, right on your Samsung Television. Samsung Apps are a growing collection that connects you to your favorite digital content like video, sports, useful information, games, lifestyle and much more. Enhance your world of entertainment with up to the minute access at the touch of a button. But who buys a TV simply for a cool remote?

There are many other features that give this TV that little “something extra” you are looking for, such as Samsung’s All Share technology:
Staying connected has never been easier, thanks to Samsung’s AllShare which syncs up many of your digital devices. Now you can enjoy music, movies and photos from your PC, camera and mobile devices, right on your Samsung TV screen. Wirelessly and effortlessly. You can even connect with multiple PCs. Getting on TV has never been this easy.
Or maybe you are more concerned about the HDMI ports and how many that there are on this unit? Well, there just happens to be 4 on this model and all it takes is one cable to connect your TV to your other audio and video sources. their HDMI slot allows you to import all kinds of content without compression including pictures and videos from your digital camcorders and multimedia PCs. Now enjoying it all on a wide HD screen couldn’t be easier.

OK, so now here are a few of my personal favorite features about this display:

Connect Share

The Connect Share Technology is awesome.Connect. Share. Watch. By simply plugging your USB or HDD directly into your Samsung TV you can easily take movies, music and photos you downloaded from your PC—and watch them on the big screen with friends and family. Take photos and videos from your camera and share them with everyone instantly. With ConnectShare Movie, you really don’t need any connections to get on TV.

SRS TruSurround
Surround yourself with true cinematic sound. SRS TruSurround brings crisp, digital-quality sound to your home with advanced SRS technology. And it’s a great way to fill the room with amazing audio, without having to also fill it with speakers. It takes multi-channel encoded sources, such as Dolby Digital, and reproduces the surround effect using just two speakers. The only downside to this is if you plan on wall mounting this, you will have get new speakers, because this monitors speakers are in the base.

Clear Motion Rate
Action scenes appear smooth, crisp, and clear on Samsung HD TVs. That’s because we know that smooth motion not only depends on Hz, but on the panel, chipset, and backlight technology. All of these components work together to create a jaw-dropping picture on your Samsung HD TV.

Ultra Clear Panel
Get amazing picture quality even with reflective light. Ultra Clear Panel absorbs ambient light and virtually eliminates reflections so there are no distractions. Colors are more vibrant than ever before, blacks are deeper and contrast is enhanced. A Samsung television with Ultra Clear Panel clearly has picture quality you can be proud of.

I am completely in love with this Samsung product, but I think that I am going to wait for the price to drop into my budget. The Samsung UN55C9000 55″ 1080p 3D LED HDTV sells for $6,999.99

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Wine cave Update

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Here are some more picture from my mobile. There is a huge table and (2) Chandeliers. I wouldn’t mind eating my dinner in this wine cave. The kitchen will be put in soon. And i will be getting better pictures later, but for now enjoy!!! 23334454556474

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Wine Cave

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Things are really starting to come along on this project. More info coming soon. Bad photos taken by my iPhone.

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Immersion SDK

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Immersion has an SDK that works with your games to send vibrations to your USB mouse to feel the effects in your games. This thing is awesome! Its like a Dual shock controller on roids.

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