ADA Introduces The 50/500 – First Ever Multi-Room Upgrade & Trade-In Program

Customers of 1st-generation multi-room systems can save $50 per keypad and $500 per mainframe. These customers can also use their existing wiring because ADA’s full suite of distributed audio systems can operate on legacy multi-room system wiring.

July 27, 2009

Audio Design Associates (ADA), the recognized brand of excellence in high-end custom installed electronics, announced the 50/500 Multi-Room Upgrade & Trade-In Program. This effort is intended to impress upon owners of legacy multi-room systems that now is a great time to upgrade their 20th-century legacy systems to state-of-the-art technology featuring 21st-century digital sources including HD or satellite radio, iPods and music servers. End users will receive a $50 credit for each legacy keypad and $500 credit for every 6 to 8 zone mainframe they turn in. Depending on the keypad or touchscreen, this translates into as much as a 25 percent savings on an ADA keypad or touchscreen and a 10% savings on the ADA system mainframe. “While upgrade programs are common in home theater, I have never seen one offered for multi-room simply because today’s systems can’t operate on legacy wiring. In this economy, while consumers might consider upgrading their multi-room system, they typically toss out the idea when confronted with the costs and mess associated with pulling new wire.” noted Richard Stoerger, ADA’s Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “ADA’s award-winning line of multi-room systems including our new Suite 8000 receivers as well as Suite 16, all wire on anything better than two-cans and some string. Whether you have a light gauge/multi-conductor Belden cable or ADS’s proprietary Satin 6 wire, all of our two-way metadata based keypads and touch screens will operate as if they were running on regular Cat-5.” ADA is quick to note the importance of avoiding renovation or construction costs as they can often exceed the cost of the upgrade itself. Specifically, ADA systems wire on legacy Audio Access, Audio Command, AudioEase, ADS and ADA system wiring (just to name a few). ADA can even wire on just a two-conductor IR repeater cable by adding an RF transceiver to the back of the keypad and using the existing two wires for power. “Multi-Room technology dates back over 30 years and by 1990, there were several manufactures producing systems, each with their own type of keypad wiring. While most of these companies no longer exist, ADA has engineered our current line of keypads and touchscreens to operate on legacy ADA Bus cable, a 4-conductor wire, which as it turns out is the least common denominator of cable for most of the legacies.” explains Albert Langella, ADA’s president and chief design engineer. “Just in the last year, we have seen a rapid increase in dealers replacing older multi-room systems that had simply reached their end-of-life. Customers were forced to upgrade and ended up delighted when they found out they could use the existing wiring. By simply changing out controls and the head-end, even connecting to the same speakers, the dealer can keep it simple.” Stoerger concludes: “This is a great time for upgrading an old system for several reasons beyond just our 50/500 trade-in program. Today dealers have the time to focus on this type of work, something that was not the case a year ago. Also, when you factor in that the only cost of upgrading the system involves controls and a mainframe component, the project is generally quick, simple and inexpensive, something that is good for both the customer and the dealer. Most important, while these legacy systems where “hot” during their heyday, our offerings today not only sound better, they also feature metadata that make it easy for people to navigate their music, whether on an iPod, music server, or radio. As more people focus their investments into their home, an ADA multi-room upgrade, especially with the 50-500 trade-in, is a great value.”

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