CE Pro Podcast

Recorded live from CEDIA Expo/CIX 2025, Rushi Kumar, Vice President of Engineering at DMF Lighting, sits down in the VW Buzz podcast van to discuss how engineering, design, and technology are converging to redefine modern lighting. Kumar traces his journey from Lutron to Crestron to DMF, sharing insights into how LED innovation, digital lighting, and tunable technologies are enabling new levels of...

At CEDIA Expo 2025, Harman Luxury Audio’s Jim Garrett joined Convo by Design host Josh Cooperman inside the Volkswagen ID. Buzz “Podcast Van” to discuss how performance, aesthetics, and lifestyle continue to converge in home entertainment. Garrett highlighted Harman’s collaboration with Samsung, integrator feedback as a driver of innovation, and the company’s push toward discreet, design-friendly...

Recorded live on the Smart Stage at CEDIA Expo/CIX 2025, this episode features Ari Supran, CEO of Sonance, delivering one of the show’s most talked-about presentations: “Practical Uses of AI in the Custom Integration Industry.” In this engaging and highly practical session, Supran walks the audience through how AI is already transforming day-to-day operations inside his company—and how custom inte...

In this exclusive interview conducted during CEDIA Expo/CIX last month in Denver, Buzz Delano, principal consultant at Delano Associates, reflects on the progress he's seen over 30 years in the business. That includes how we've seen design, custom builders, kitchen and bath technology, furniture and decor come to complement audio, video, home theater, networking, windows and shading at e...

Ring account managers Chris Babiak and Tommy Leonard join CE Pro Executive Editor Zachary Comeau to share strategies for growing your integration business with Ring. From creative upselling techniques to cross-industry partnerships and overlooked product features, this conversation is packed with actionable insights to help pros build better systems, increase referrals, and boost recurring revenue...

In this episode of the CE Pro Podcast, Paul Williams, Managing Director of Home Management Solutions at Nice, discusses his recent advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill as part of CEDIA’s second annual Smart Home Day. The conversation focuses on why direct engagement with lawmakers is essential for the continued growth and innovation of the smart home industry. Williams outlines several key policy issu...

Through the publication of his book Richard Charschan, president of AcousticSmart, aims to educate interior designers and architects on the benefits of properly designed home theaters. 

On the latest CE Pro Podcast, Joel Silver of ISF, Jason Dustal of Murideo and AVPro Edge, and Robert Zohn of Value Electronics, explain how even simple calibration adjustments can create happier clients. 

Before lighting fixtures and power management became hot categories in custom integration, the big buzz was about the impact of wireless audio. With multipurpose media rooms becoming the norm, we spoke with WiSA (Wireless Speaker and Audio Association President Tony Ostrom about the state of wireless audio and especially in surround sound settings and other applications as well, in this week’s CE...

In the world of interior lighting, artwork needs to be specially lit if homeowners want to capture the essence of beauty the artist originally intended. Step outside and you’ll find that to be no different, only instead of the artist being Basquiat or Monet, it’s good old mother nature (and of course the architect that helped design the home). WAC President Patrick Laidlaw says it’s this realizati...

Daryl Friedman admits he doesn’t have time for hobbies these days leading CEDIA as global president & CEO. It didn’t help that the former GRAMMY executive took reins of those roles in 2021, when the pandemic was experiencing a surge. He came into CEDIA and embarked on a worldwide tour of the organization’s conferences and meetings with integrator members.  Thankfully, I was able to capture 30...

HDMI Licensing President Rob Tobias chats about AI's impact on AV, improving immersive experiences, Blu-ray discs vs. streaming content, identifying counterfeit cables and more. 

One of the most enduring companies serving the custom integration industry is Russound. The New Hampshire-based company has some exciting products for 2024, highlighted by its AVA-Series of mini-AV receivers (AVRs) to expand its audio riches for the CEDIA channel. In the latest edition of the CE Pro Podcast, Russound CEO Charlie Porritt joins to chat about the latest happenings and R&D develop...

Vetting a new vendor for your portfolio can be a daunting process, but that’s where your industry networking comes in handy. Down in Florida, Anthony Petrone, founder and CEO of Wellington-based Petrone Technology Group, was seeking an outdoor audio solution and his dealer friends kept pushing him toward Coastal Source.  Hear how the match was an immediate success and why Coastal Source CEO Franco...

Everyone knows about CEDIA, the leading association for the custom integration industry. Chances are you’ve attended CEDIA Expo and taken CEDIA instructor-led technology courses. But did you know about all the stuff the association engages in behind the scenes to benefit the entire industry? In case you didn’t, I talked to Darren Reaman, director of government affairs at CEDIA, to discuss the grou...

The fall and early winter periods are important times of the year in the world of home AV.  For many homeowners, it means buying new AV systems in preparation for a winter of staying home and watching movies, streamed content, and sports such as hockey and basketball.  The annual CEDIA Expo, which took place just after Labor Day, the 2023 event in Denver marked a milestone period for the electroni...

Following a successful CEDIA Expo 2023 in which home audio – particularly immersive audio – was front-and-center on the show floor, it was time to talk surround sound with our “Audio Guys” regulars on the latest CE Pro Podcast. Joined by CE Pro All-Star Band keyboard player Steve Haas, who is a nationally recognized acoustician in the residential and commercial audio markets, along with the CE Pro...

This year, Nationwide Marketing Group expanded its reach with the rebranding of its residential dealer group to Oasys Residential Technology Group and launched a commercial counterpart, the Ellipsys Commercial Technology Group, in addition to the well-established Azione Unlimited.  The leaders of those organizations – Richard Glikes, president and chief creative officer of Azione Unlimited, Hank A...

We just wrapped up CEDIA Expo 2023, and beyond the usual product innovations and education sessions, CEDIA hosted its annual awards banquet where it honors a Lifetime Achievement Award winner and often, but not always, a special CEDIA Fellow recognition.  This year the special CEDIA Fellow recipient was James Chen, managing director of Kordz. We were privileged to have Chen connect with us from Au...

One of the highlights at CEDIA Expo every year are the amazing home theater and audiophile demo rooms, and it looks like this year will be no different. One in particular that’s sure to stand out at CEDIA Expo 2023 in Denver (Sept. 7-9) is the 11.6.6-channel Dolby Atmos theater being staged by Seymour-Screen Excellence, StormAudio, Grimani Systems, and RowOne Seating.  The brands say it will be th...

While the show floor and demo rooms focused on new products are always the center of attention at CEDIA Expo, it’s always a good reminder that the annual tradeshow also delivers tons of education and training opportunities too. To help get CEDIA Expo attendees thinking about what kinds of sessions to add into their schedules this year in Denver, I spoke with Mandy Beckner, vice president of educat...

Veteran CE pros may remember Blake Vackar from his first stint on the sales side of leading screen and shades manufacturer Screen Innovations. Well, after a brief detour, Vackar is back at SI at Brand Ambassador and Screen Evangelist and ready to meet with integrators to evangelize the opportunities in those categories.  What does all that entail? The big takeaway for integrators is that big scree...

This week we have back one of our favorite guests here on the CE Pro Podcast, UK-based Together For Cinema founder and industry do-gooder Ian Morrish.  This time around, Morrish updates us on Together For Cinema’s 2023 children’s hospice home theater projects, donations and sponsors, as well as the group’s new status as a Community Interest Company, and another big fundraiser event happening in Ju...

With a portfolio of some of the most revered brands in home audio, few manufacturers can match the allure of Harman Luxury Audio. Jim Garrett, senior director, product strategy and planning for Harman Luxury Audio, is a long-time home audio market veteran and enthusiast. Harman’s stable of brands includes Mark Levinson, JBL, JBL Synthesis, Arcam, Lexicon, and Revel , and in the latest CE Pro Podca...

The last time we talked to DoorBird, the IP doorstation specialist had recently expanded its North American offices from San Francisco to add an East Coast base in Jacksonville, Fla., where Justin Clark heads up sales for the Americas, Australia & New Zealand, and assists dealers in various ways.  He rejoins the podcast with even more to discuss this time around. During this week’s CE Pro Podc...