INDIANAPOLIS –
The AVC Group has developed
a way to integrate the Niles-branded IntelliControl
ICS multi-room-audio system with one of
Elan’s g! home-system controllers, giving installers
an opportunity to upgrade previously installed
Niles systems.
The development is part of the AVC Group’s
“commitment to pursue a long-term complementary
product-development strategy while maintaining
the strength and integrity of each individual brand,”
said group president Mark Terry. Nortek-owned
AVC also owns the Xantech, Sunfire and Aton
brands.
At a minimum, the new option gives Niles installers
that qualify to sell Elan products, and vice versa,
the opportunity to offer wireless Wi-Fi control of
a Niles system from an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.
Niles dealers would also get the opportunity to add
an “affordable bridge” that integrates control of
multiple home systems with control of a Niles audio
system.
To make these capabilities possible, Elan added
Niles drivers to the $1,100 g! series HC4 controller,
enabling RS-232 communication between the controller
and Niles’s 12×60-watt GXR2 six-source,six-zone receiver, which can be linked with other
GXR2 receivers to create a 30-zone audio system.
An HC4 added to a Niles system will deliver wireless
Wi-Fi control from Apple’s mobile devices, but
installers could also connect multiple home systems
to the controllers’ multiple wired inputs and outputs
to control those systems. To control the systems, installers
would also have to swap out previously installed
Niles in-wall keypads for Elan g! series touchpads
and touchscreens. The new touchpads and
touchscreens would reuse the currently installed
CAT-5 cables that ran to the Niles keypads, though
new terminations would be needed to plug in the
Elan touchpads and touchscreens. Installers would
also have to enlarge the Niles keypad cutout.
The six-zone Niles GXR2 features six bays to add
a mix of AM/FM tuner modules, HD Radio modules,
satellite-radio modules, iPod-interface modules,
and source-input modules that connect to music
servers and other outboard music sources. The
GXR2 also streams Pandora Internet Radio, the
Rhapsody music service and music stored on a networked
PC. More than 15,000 Niles systems have
been installed since its launch in 2005.
Elan’s g! series controllers, including the HC4,
offer more limited multi-room-audio options than the
Niles system, with the HC4 featuring only one audio-
output zone. It connects to outboard networkattached
storage drives to distribute audio.
“This initial integration of the Niles ICS system
with the Elan g! control platform makes it possible
for our loyal base of Niles ICS customers to immediately
access the benefits of whole home automation
featured in the Elan g! control system,” Terry said.
